[radarnyc]

Now you can argue he's comparing stock to stock, when the Sig 15 is up against the First Watt SIT-2. But the FW is $5,000 without a volume control. For the multi-grand difference, most of us could pop for a NOS tube or two.

Yeah...the SIT-2, as a power amp, has no remote and single input source; requires preamp.

I'm ready to buy a sig15, anyone else?

[genjamon]

I'm VERY interested in this - I also have Tekton Lores and have been eyeing the Signature 15 very carefully.  I greatly enjoyed the Sig. 30 and then 30.2 for a couple years before experimenting in different (less expensive) directions.  In the meantime, the LFP-V variants have come out, and now this Sig 15 seems to have it all in one package.  Could be just the thing to marry with my Tranquility SE DAC that I'm quite happy with and also the Lores.

More customer feedback here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=98262.msg1032562#msg1032562

Next Signature 15 review will be from Tone Audio, and one will also be going to:

http://parttimeaudiophile.com/

He has the Tekton Lores (excellent value and amazing combo with the Signature 15!) and
the Tekton Pendragons:

http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2012/01/02/part-one-introducing-the-tekton-pendragon-option-ii/

I want to hear them!!!

Vinnie

[roscoeiii]

Genjamon,

I think that would be a pretty fabublous set up. With a tube buffer an remote and clean battery power? Wow.

[FMRadioman]

I think that the following sums up Srajan's review the best:

"It still felt like rich caffe latte with cream, slightly chocolaty in fact. But the caffeine content had gone up to approach single espresso level." 

[genjamon]

I've now read the review twice. It has MANY great things to say about this amp, which IMO are well deserved. And yes, again, the BM award is great. But IMO Srajan missed the boat...

Here he is trying the amp with different cables to get a little more of this or that out of the system, yet he's running with stock JJs. For much less than the cables he could have brought the amp to a whole 'nother playing field just by rolling tubes. For perspective, I could not even listen to my gear with stock tubes. So he has never really heard what this amp can deliver. Its like running an Indy car on budget tires.

Now you can argue he's comparing stock to stock, when the Sig 15 is up against the First Watt SIT-2. But the FW is $5,000 without a volume control. For the multi-grand difference, most of us could pop for a NOS tube or two.

I'm not trying to be sour grapes, a Blue Moon Award is fantastic! And Vinnie and crew should be proud to receive this recognition. But for a $100 to couple hundred in NOS tubes, Srajan could have taken this amp out on the audio Autobahan and run against some pricy supercars. So thanks Srajan for recognizing the greatness of this amp. I only wish you could have heard it as I do in my listening room.

Respectfully, Kent

P.S. I have Srajan to thank for finding RWA. If not for his initial review of the Sig 30, and an e-mail exchange we had in the same timeframe, I might still be running a space heater as my power source. He was the man that provided the impetus for me to put the original Sig 30 side by side with an F1. Yes, the exercise set me back more than $250 in restocking fees to return the F1. But my five+ year relationship with Vinnie and his products more than justifies this small investment in great sound.

Congratulations again Vinnie. Job well done!

As I've been heavily considering a Signature 15, the more I think about Srajan's review, the more ridiculous it seems.  I just finished reading the Soundstage review of the Eximus - the DAC/pre combo unit that Srajan had to pair with the First Watt SIT-2 amplifier.  Not only are Kent's comments/criticisms interestingly valid, I suspect, but this Eximus unit also doesn't sound like a relative worth comparing to the RWA sound.  It clearly sounds like it's cut from a different cloth.  The Soundstage review uses terms like "crystalline" and describes a sound that is highly detailed, very precise imaging, and "transparent".  Not that Vinnie's products don't have good imaging and soundstaging, great detail, and the like, but the Eximus sounds like a unit that goes a bit if a different direction toward the more hyper-detailed end vs. Vinnie's more organic approach.

So, you pair the Eximus detail DAC/pre with the much more expensive SIT-2, already a pretty different game than the tube/SS hybrid Signature 15 unit, plus you don't even try any tube swapping.  Seems to me 6moons rushed this review a good bit.  You can't tell me Srajan didn't have access to a tube pre or something more akin to the Signature 15's tube buffer to play with and a couple extra tubes to swap.

I also don't want to dog on Srajan or 6moons too much, as I've really appreciated the (albeit sometimes a bit wordy) reading and insights over the years.  I just can't help but feel like the new RWA creation got a bit of the short shrift, and as a potentially interested party, I'm left feeling like the Signature 15's first professional review left me with as many questions as it answered.

[Alwayswantmore]

My answer to audio is the same as pro drum gear. Use reviews to narrow your selections. Use you ears and a good return policy to determine which purchases are right for you.

As I've been heavily considering a Signature 15, the more I think about Srajan's review, the more ridiculous it seems.  I just finished reading the Soundstage review of the Eximus - the DAC/pre combo unit that Srajan had to pair with the First Watt SIT-2 amplifier.  Not only are Kent's comments/criticisms interestingly valid, I suspect, but this Eximus unit also doesn't sound like a relative worth comparing to the RWA sound.  It clearly sounds like it's cut from a different cloth.  The Soundstage review uses terms like "crystalline" and describes a sound that is highly detailed, very precise imaging, and "transparent".  Not that Vinnie's products don't have good imaging and soundstaging, great detail, and the like, but the Eximus sounds like a unit that goes a bit if a different direction toward the more hyper-detailed end vs. Vinnie's more organic approach.

So, you pair the Eximus detail DAC/pre with the much more expensive SIT-2, already a pretty different game than the tube/SS hybrid Signature 15 unit, plus you don't even try any tube swapping.  Seems to me 6moons rushed this review a good bit.  You can't tell me Srajan didn't have access to a tube pre or something more akin to the Signature 15's tube buffer to play with and a couple extra tubes to swap.

I also don't want to dog on Srajan or 6moons too much, as I've really appreciated the (albeit sometimes a bit wordy) reading and insights over the years.  I just can't help but feel like the new RWA creation got a bit of the short shrift, and as a potentially interested party, I'm left feeling like the Signature 15's first professional review left me with as many questions as it answered.

[genjamon]

No doubt.  I'm at a disadvantage, living in the middle of Kansas without access to dealers or other means to hear before I buy, so I have to rely on reviews and forums more than would be ideal.  Still, I have great confidence in Vinnie's products given my positive experiences as a past owner.  The insight I have given my past ownership is what leads me to be interested once again and also to be disappointed that the review wasn't very helpful in triangulating my expectations between that experience, your own comments, Kent, and those of the review.  I'm hoping the upcoming additional reviews shed some additional light.

Luckily, Vinnie has a good return policy, and when I'm ready that will serve this process very well.  I just don't want to pull the trigger before I'm really ready - wouldn't want to waste his time/money or any of my own if I wasn't fully committed to exploring that route yet.

My answer to audio is the same as pro drum gear. Use reviews to narrow your selections. Use you ears and a good return policy to determine which purchases are right for you.