[Vinnie R.]

I am now listening to the Signature 70 Monoblocks (prototypes) and they sound SWEET!    

I've never pushed my B200 drivers so hard and man can they take the juice!   So far these un-burned-in monoblocks are doing everything that the Signature 30 does, and more!  Monoblock operation is clearly giving an audible improvement in terms of even better soundstaging, imaging, and space.  Each channel now has a dedicated high current SLA battery supply and double the max output current.   I tried wiring two 6-ohm B200s in parallel and brought that volume UP... freakin' unbelievable amount of punch and control of those drivers!       I've never heard them sound so good!  I'm going to burn-in these babies... I have a very, very good feeling about what they are going to do 

Next weekend I'll be away testing with speakers that need a clean dose of current (Quad 57s are on my list and I later hope to try 'em with some Maggies and other more difficult to drive speakers).    I am really looking forward to finalizing the Signature 70s soon and getting ready for production.  I need to finalize pricing and then I'll open the doors to pre-orders approx 1 month or so before production begins...just like I did with the Sig 30s.  My guess is that production will begin sometime this November.  I need to start ordering more parts 

Here are the latest details

The Signature 70 Monoblocks:

-- Same enclosure as the Signature 30, but the rear panel will be configured for only one channel. 

-- Same faceplate, but will be laser etched "Signature 70... High Current SLA Battery Powered Monoblock Amplifier"

-- The Signature 30 board will be custom modified to configure the TK2051 chipset into “paralleled-output mode”… doubling the max output current sourcing capability.  Into a 4-ohm load, this will provide a very clean 70 to 75 watts.

-- All the same internal parts, wiring, batteries, 24-hour play time, charger, etc. as the Signature 30.  A DACT CT-2 Mono precision stepped attenuator will be used instead of the stereo version used in the Signature 30.  Same custom machined aluminum knob. 

-- Same volume controlled RCA output jack (one per monoblock since there is only one channel per monoblock  ) for connecting to a powered subwoofer or another amplifier for bi-amping. 

-- Same "rich, well-balanced musical presentation that exhibits the best sonic attributes of solid state amplification (rock solid bass, dynamics, and control) and SET tube amplification (midrange warmth, rich tonalities and a smooth non-fatiguing upper frequency resolution)" that has made the Signature 30 highly regarded, AND expect improved soundstaging, imaging, and space... and SLAM when needed! 

-- Same 5-year warranty

-- Same no-risk 30-day money back return policy

-- Still all hand-made in the State of Connecticut, USA (by Vino Rosso  )


Thanks for all your interest have a good weekend!

Best regards,

Vinnie

[Zero]

      Purrfect..

[Dmason]

This is it.

[PLMONROE]

Vinnie, I realize you are still setting price, however could you hazzard a guess on it- -plus or minus $750? (We won't hold you to it) aa
 
     

[TheSloth]

Vinnie, I realize you are still setting price, however could you hazzard a guess on it- -plus or minus $750? (We won't hold you to it) aa
 
     

Considering it basically has almost the exact same innards (and case) as the Sig 30, minus a few jacks and 1 channel of the attenuator, I wouldn't expect it to be a great deal less than the $1499 of the 30...

[PLMONROE]

On the otherhand being a 70 watt monoblock I suspect a more apt price comparison might  be in the ballpark of that of two 30s. Vinnie?

Paul

[Vinnie R.]

All,

I know you won't hold me to it (I hope  ), but my guess so far is that the pair of Signature 70 Monoblocks will cost $2799.00 + shipping.

For those who would need an odd number of Sig 70s (e.g. 5 channel home theater application), this is not a problem and the price for one unit will be half the cost of what the pair ends up selling for. 

And the Sig 70s will use the same new packing that I am using for the Signature 30s.  Each unit will mostly likely be shipped in its own box.  The new packaging is quite a bit more expensive, but is soooo much better and this is the way it has to be going forward.   

Best regards,

Vinnie

[PLMONROE]

I Want a pair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Let us know when you are taking deposits.

Paul

[jkelly]

Vinnie,

Do I need the pot on these monoblocks? 

Jeff

[lonewolfny42]

Hey Vinnie....When are the Signature 150 Monoblocks arriving ? Guess after the 70's right.... 
Good luck with the new Monoblocks....sounds very good....looking forward to hearing them.
And....try to keep busy....

                                         Chris

[hmen]

Vinnie,
 Will these be available with balanced inputs?

[Vinnie R.]

Vinnie,

Do I need the pot on these monoblocks? 

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

I do not use a pot.  It is a stepped attenuator by DACT (www.dact.com)... the CT2, just like the one used in the Signature 30 (only a one-channel version instead of a two-channel version).

Just like the Signature 30, the Signature 70 will only be available with the DACT.  Trust me... the sound was carefully voiced with the DACT installed and it adds the loading to the input stage that I was looking for.  If you want to use an active preamp, the DACT will allow you to set the gain of monoblocks to give you the most useable range of volume control using your preamp.  I prefer no preamp at all though.  Just find a sweet sounding source that you love and feed your it directly in and use the DACT to control the volume.  If your source has a built in volume control (e.g. Olive Media Servers), that will work too! 

Hey Vinnie....When are the Signature 150 Monoblocks arriving ? Guess after the 70's right.... 

Hi Chris,

I'm not sure that I'll be going more powerful than the Sig 70s.  The high wattage amps generally need higher voltage rails and are more complex and not as practical to design with SLA power.  And yes, I'll try my best to keep busy! 

Will these be available with balanced inputs?

Hi hmen,

The input to the Tripath chipset (and all of Tripath chips, I believe) is only single-ended, so there will be no balanced inputs as they would be pointless in this case. 

I Want a pair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Let us know when you are taking deposits.

Hi Paul,

I'll be accepting pre-orders soon enough and will post about them when ready.  Pre-ordering is the best way to beat the lines.  My currrent Sig 30 lead time is still 5 to 6 weeks, and I am still getting ready for the production of the Signature 3S (I received quite a few pre-orders of these as well). 


All,
Thanks for your continued interest and support with the new RWA Signature products.    (I don't know why I put this smiley in... I guess because it is something new  )



Best regards,

Vinnie

[-Richard-]

Hi Vinnie ~

As an intense admirer of your genius and skill in being able to fashion World Class
amplifiers like the Signature 30... which I own and love... I cannot but feel the excitement
that your soon-to-appear monoblocks creates in me ~

So I would like to add my voice to the growing chorus of your friends and admirers
who, like me, are eagerly awaiting the "official" birth of this new masterpiece ~

I am counting on being an early "adapter" of your newest design... 70 watts should be
enough to generate sonic bliss with any speaker combination one would care to gather
together... I am tempted to say that if someone needs more than 70 watts of your
sonic ambrosia to adequately fuel their speakers, than they should rethink their speaker
choices ~

Warmest Regards ~ Richard ~

[lonewolfny42]

70 watts should be
enough to generate sonic bliss with any speaker combination one would care to gather
together... I am tempted to say that if someone needs more than 70 watts of your
sonic ambrosia to adequately fuel their speakers, than they should rethink their speaker
choices ~

Richard.....I was kidding with Vinnie, but I do enjoy extra wattage. Turn it up and....Rock the Nation...

                                       Chris

[-Richard-]

Hi Chris ~

Your humor and wisdom are always refreshing ~

I have come to believe that poor speaker design is at the heart of this unfortunate trend toward
mega-watt amps... it seems that there is some sort of psychological need that is only
satisfied with the idea of the "more"... more "power" ~

We are very good at building operative paradigms that require unreasonable "energy" to drive
them... our entire society is a perfect example of a totally unreasonable "model" of how a
a society should function in harmony with the earth's precious resources ~

Highly efficient speakers require only modest power to drive them... this is very good model
to implement in one's home brew audio system ~

I think Vinnie's 70 watt monoblock's should be all the power we would ever need... it will
allow some of us to play large scale music convincingly if that is one's interest... personally, I
rarely play large scale music, preferring the intimacy of small ensemble works and the voice
for my musical enjoyment... and one should watch the serious/dangerous effects of exposing
themselves to loud SPL's... hearing loss is irreversible ~

Dmason feels that Vinnie's Signature series of amplifiers are comparable to SET amplifiers in
almost every important way... and I concur whole-heartedly with his assessment... they
sound rich and smooth and marvelously resolved ~

That would make the new Signature 70 monoblocks true collectors items ~

I suspect that in time... we may look back to see that the Signature 30 and Signature 70
amplifiers are/were the high water mark in highly sophisticated digital SS design ~

Warm Regards ~ Richard ~

[studley]

Next weekend I'll be away testing with speakers that need a clean dose of current (Quad 57s are on my list and I later hope to try 'em with some Maggies and other more difficult to drive speakers).    I am really looking forward to finalizing the Signature 70s soon and getting ready for production.  I need to finalize pricing and then I'll open the doors to pre-orders approx 1 month or so before production begins...just like I did with the Sig 30s. 


Vinnie

Vinnie

Please do report back on how they perform with those difficult speaker loads - if they can handle the impedance curve of the 57s then they should definitely be able to handle my 989s.

And here's a suggestion for you.  How about a healthy discount for those customers willing to pre-order?  I predict a flood of orders if you are willing to take this risk.

Rgds
Ian

[Vinnie R.]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your interest and enthusiasm regarding the upcoming Signature 70s Monoblocks.

I have been burning them in for the last two days using 4-ohm power resistors (cranking up the volume knob and letting them unleash into these loads), and they are really sounding superb with my B200 OBs with BSC circuit installed.  The do everything the Sig 30s do, but even better in terms of bottom end weight (and control at louder levels!).  Going with Monoblocks definitely gives better soundstaging, imaging, and isolation between the two channels.  The whole presentation is a little bit more 3-D.  I am finding that the 70s are a tad bit smoother too, but in a good way.

That would make the new Signature 70 monoblocks true collectors items ~
I suspect that in time... we may look back to see that the Signature 30 and Signature 70 amplifiers are/were the high water mark in highly sophisticated digital SS design ~

Hi Richard,

That would make me very proud and I do hope that with the Signature 70s, more people will be interested in using them to power their less efficient and/or difficult load speakers.  For the OB crowd, you can power two B200s wired in parallel per channel, or use the Sig 70s to power the bass drivers (e.g. a 4-ohm bass driver that is reasonably efficient) and a Sig 30 for the rest  .  Lots of combinations, and the volume controlled RCA outputs allow for easy daisy-chaining.   

Please do report back on how they perform with those difficult speaker loads - if they can handle the impedance curve of the 57s then they should definitely be able to handle my 989s.

And here's a suggestion for you.  How about a healthy discount for those customers willing to pre-order?  I predict a flood of orders if you are willing to take this risk.

Hi Ian,

I will certainly report back my findings!

As for a healthy discount for pre-ordering, I'll see what I can do.  I plan to post about preording soon (possibly by the weekend).  Parts are now being ordered and I am working on having the new enclosures made.  If all goes well, I should be able to actually start production of the Signature 70s next month! 

Thanks again, everyone!

Vinnie

[Vinnie R.]

Here is a link to the new Signature 70 preordering post:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=32204.msg285613;topicseen#new

[nonoise]

Richard:

I feel you have made a very good point about this need for more in our society. Big cars, buildings, yachts and mansions are a sign (signal?) of something way out of align to our needs. We need to do things 'with regard' to outcomes and not our lusts. I've learned that poor speaker design is indeed at the heart of all this thirst for power. Kevlar, aramid, carbon impregnated, diamond dust and the like certainly need power of a certain magnitude just to set in motion, let alone control, and then, with exotic enclosures, lined internally of unobtainum, and other exotics, to silence the cacaphony going on inside the cabinets. The best materials for cones are already here and cheaply available: paper, banana, hemp. One properly designed driver is all that is needed. High sensitiivty and state of the art designs like Vinnie's make it painfully obvious the direction audio needs to be going. It may take awhile, but its nice to be in the vanguard.

Regards,
Tim

[Vinnie R.]

 The best materials for cones are already here and cheaply available: paper, banana, hemp. One properly designed driver is all that is needed. High sensitiivty and state of the art designs like Vinnie's make it painfully obvious the direction audio needs to be going. It may take awhile, but its nice to be in the vanguard.

Regards,
Tim

Hi Tim,

Preech on! 

I am going to get to listen to the Horn Shoppe Horns this weekend (with the older driver, not the Fostex 126E), along with the DeVore Gibbons Super 8s (and the Super 9 prototypes  ).  We'll be using the Sig 30 and Sig 70s 

I am also hoping to get to try some other speakers that need more current (e.g. MMGs) with the Sig 70s...

Best regards,

Vinnie