Sometimes it’s good to step outside your comfort zone. In fact, I relish new and novel experiences. It’s a major reason I enjoy attending hi-fi shows and events: for the chance to see and hear new things—new hi-fi equipment, especially equipment that’s ground-breaking or unusual.
Sometimes a component speaks to you visually first. It reminds me of an expression about food presentation that loosely translates to “You eat with your eyes first.”1 Sometimes, you listen with your eyes first, too.
Love at first sight is too strong, but the first time I laid eyes on the HiFi Rose RA180 integrated amplifier, I was smitten. It was on static display at AXPONA in all its silvery, mechanical glory. “Output level meters and a full suite of controls grace the RA180’s solid aluminum chassis’ front panel,” I wrote in my show report.2 “In a nod to mechanics, the volume control’s moving cogs are visible behind a clear hexagonal covering”; putting the insides on the outside, a modernist touch. “The large volume control dial is topped with a chromed HiFi Rose brand symbol. The knobs, dials, and cockpit-style toggle levers have a nice, sturdy feel. Bonus: When you use the included IR remote control to switch sources or adjust volume, you can see the physical dials move (and they make a little sound).”
The next day, the RA180 was making music, and I returned to hear it, briefly, driving a pair of Piega Coax 711 floorstanding speakers from Switzerland. “I … recall highly resolved detail that stayed natural, not overhyped,” I wrote. “The deep voices of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen came to life on a couple of live tracks. Bass was substantial; highs were airy and smooth.”
Nagra or Brazil (the movie)?
Intentional or not, it’s hard not to notice a resemblance to Nagra styling in the RA180’s knobs and dials—but in its stylized, even gratuitous mechanical features, there’s a steampunk element, too. It’s pure-analog (class-D, although HiFi Rose calls it “class-AD”) with four channels to facilitate biamping or bridging (so-called BTL mode). A small switch on back toggles between the modes. (Speaker cables must also
