[khal]

Dear all,
I bought an rm9 2 on a whim about 6 months ago from aguy in Singapore. Heard a number of good things about it, but having never owned a tube amp before (accept listening to some belonging to friends). But it has turned out to be perhaps the best amp I've ever owned (which includes Pass x250s, Sugden pure class a, Sonneteer Orton, NVA ap80). Am running out of the variable outputs of my audio aero capitole mk2 at present. I am hoping that some of the folks here could recommend some of the more successful preamps to use with the rm9? as well as the cables that have worked well? Thanks very much to all in advance.
take care
Khal

[rbwalt]

Hi Khal. welcome to the music reference family. i had a RM9MK2 for 11 yrs. yes it is a very good sounding amp. here is what i recommend for it. send it in to roger at MR for a complete going over. it will be well worth it. the amps had very few problem areas but one of them is that the driver tube sockets can work lose from the circut board. the trim pots can get dirty and maybe need to be replaced. no big deal. now on to tubes. the driver tubes are V1 and V2. V1's are the front ones. do not interchange the tubes unless they are the same. the amp sounds great with Nos Siemens EL34's. you did not say what was in there now. i recommend that you get your tubes from MR as roger knows and tests his tubes for his amps like no one else. also try placing the amp on brass cones. 3 work best. i have walker valid cones and pucks under mine and it makes a very difference.

now for the pre-amp. i used a RM5MK2 with mine for a long time it worked  and sounded  fine. i now use a joule electra 150SE and it is a great pre. now i did not mention that amp that i am using now. it is a MR RM9SE.Roger made about 18 or so of them and it is a great sounding amp. as far as speaker cables go i think allot depends on your speakers. i am using all cardas clear in mine but a jps kaptavator power cord on the amp with cardas GR power cords on the front end. i have been a cardas fan for ever.

rob.

if you have anymore questions just ask. you can checkout my system here under R rbwalt

[Ericus Rex]

I ran my Mk I with both a Music Reference RM-5 Mk III and a Counterpoint SA-5.1.  I enjoyed the sound with both those pres but I think the synergy was a little better with the Music Reference, not surprisingly.  If you're patient, you can find them on the used market for $500-600 usually.  Mine never gave me one lick of trouble.

I agree with Rob about the Music Reference tubes.  They have always been the quietest and most reliable tubes I've used.

[rbwalt]

yea i never had any issues with my rm5mk2. for 5 to 6 hundred  you can't go wrong for the money. there other's that are better but it is going to cost much more. i think roger has a few brand new RM1/2's that he will sell but they are not cheap.

rob.

[Clio09]

Congratulations on your purchase. I'm sure you will be happy with this amp for many years to come. For preamps, the previous recommendations for Music Reference preamps to mate with the RM9 is very good advice. However, given the specs on the RM9 you could also use a passive preamp with excellent results. I used a Joule Electra and a passive preamp with my RM9 and preferred the latter. Today I use passive preamps with my Music Reference RM10 and EM7. Even something simple like Roger's pot-in-the-box would work fine with the RM9.

As for cables. I use Mogami between the preamp and amp. There are lots of options out there, but one thing to keep in mind is it would be better for you to have a shielded cable in this position. At least that is what Roger told me and based on my experiences I agree. You might look into his line of cables as well.

[rbwalt]

always use the same cables in a system if possible and they should all be shielded and as i said before allot depends on the speakers and other gear.

r.

[khal]

Thanks for all the replies. Its much appreciated. By the way as you mentioned in your post Rob, it would probably be worthwhile to send the amp back to MF for a comprehensive check up. The only problem I think would be the fact that I am in Malaysia and therefore sending the rm9 might be vary expensive. Also, I dont have the original packaging. Does anyone have any thoughts on these matters? At the moment, the amp has some el34s - love the warmth and the sense of 'humanity' on vocals (cant think of a better word am afraid!). Is it possible to retain these qualities while improving other aspects of the spectrum? Again, thanks very much in advance

[wilsynet]

I have not heard the RM-9, but am quite familiar with the RM-10.  If they sound anything alike, with the RM-9 input impedance of 100K ohms, a passive like the Lightspeed Attenuator would work very well.  Of course you'll want to confirm that your source output Z is less than 1K ohms, perhaps even less than 500 ohms.

For a bit more coin and more flexibility regarding input and output Z, the Dodd Buffer Preamp is quite excellent and very transparent, and people have also said good things about the Hornshoppe Truth preamp.

My feeling is that more transparent the better for the Music Reference amps.

[steve f]

The Horn Shoppe Truth is a very nice line stage that buffers any source extremely well.             Another device, especially if you insist on tubes is the Transcendent Sound Grounded Grid preamp.  It is a kit.  You must be able to solder.  Last suggestion is a Morrison ELAD, a two input line stage that is built like a tank and utterly transparent.  I have not had the chance to listen to the Music Reference preamp.  I'm sure it's excellent.

Steve