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Hi Fi Reviews
Redgum RGCD2 (The Beast!)
From the
desk of Ray Hogan: For my 50th birthday a
replacement for my aged and unreliable cd player seemed the
obvious present. "Which one?" was the real question. Answer: One
with excellent sound quality, built to last and costing no more
than $1,200.
After researching the usual
suspects, I chose a machine that more than met my requirements
for less than $1,000 and was available direct from the designer
and manufacturer right here in Oz. And I got it a month early!
The Perfect Beast comes from
Redgum Audio, Australia. The "Ugly DACling", as he prefers to
call it, is genetically engineered in Melbourne by Ian Robinson
using the finest ingredients. Add electricity for superb sound
quality. A simple formula!
The RGCD 2 is basically a high
quality Digital to Analogue Converter (or DAC) plus a CD-ROM for
disc transport and laser optics. It has a distinctly
craftsman-like look and feel and is heavier than "equivalent"
mass-produced players.
The distinctive solid Redgum
fascia, characteristic of all Redgum products, drops down to
reveal the power switch and the CD-ROM, which is mounted in the
case with high quality electronics and one of the most revered
DACs on the planet.
The no-frills arrangement for CD
transport lacks all convenience features, including a display.
As delivered, it is strictly a "hands-on" machine in all
respects, but the DAC, which can also be had without the CD-ROM,
can take the digital output of other transports, such as a DVD
player, thus restoring all creature comforts found in a typical
compact disc player. The "UglyDACling" thus provides a neat way
of gaining and maintaining audiophile sound quality when
upgrading your DVD player. (The in-built CD-ROM can serve as a
convenient "spare" transport.)
The Bottom Line
In a word, the sound quality is
brilliant. It exceeded my expectations and justified the
decision to purchase factory direct, without an audition. (I've
been known in the past to take risks, but a money-back guarantee
provided a parachute if required.)
The RG CD 2 breathes vitality,
power and energy into cds and reveals musical information you
never knew was there! Just the excuse to play all your cds again
to check what you've been missing. At maximum volume of course!
It reproduces the subtle nuances
and detail of the music with razor sharp focus and clarity, and
handles the loud stuff with precision and control. Bass
performance is particularly tight and precise.
As an Equal Opportunity machine
it treats all music, from quiet country/folk to hard rock,
equally accurately and with aplomb. No vices or prejudices here.
Frank Zappa has never sounded so
good!! Ditto for everyone else!
One gets the distinct impression
the performance is going down right in your room.
What more could you ask for?
You can even email Ian and get
the "good oil" for yourself.
__________________________________________
From: Ray Hogan
To:
Lindy Gerber
Subject: More of the Beast
Unleashed!! (The Beast = Redgum RGCD2 Ed.)
My new cable arrived this morning
and I have been listening to "it" for an hour or two. Without the
facility to conduct a direct A/B test and not knowing what period
to allow for "burn-in", I can say it does what I hoped it would do
and probably a bit more.
Firstly, the bass is less woolly and more
controlled/focussed and so is the rest of the audio spectrum. The
music also seems to have more punch, bite or attack (highly
technical terms!!) in addition to more detail. Provides a more
lively sound stage. Sounds great! Without listening to the CD-ROM
drive of the Beast again (which I will do), I would say it
presents the same "WOW" factor as my initial listen to the Beast.
I had noted that the DVD transport/Neotech cable did not produce
as clean a sound as The Beast as delivered, but I accepted this as
a price to pay for a bit more convenience. Of course all this
means is I am now able to conveniently extract more of the
(latent) potential of The Beast by feeding it bigger, better,
brighter and faster bits! The Beast deserves the best diet of
enhanced electrons you can afford!!
Rock On!!
Ray Hogan
Music is the Best! I used to
be Snow White, but I drifted.
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