Hello WBF. I’m new to the forum and this is my first post. Delighted to share we’ve had the all-new Riviera Labs APL-1 & AFS-32 combo running in our listening room for about a month now. Right from the get-go, this combo is sounding immediately right-on and got right-in about it, the music that is. The experience is instant and brings about an immediate sense of release, a sense of decoupling and trace from hifi leanings and associated processes. The sound is so full bodied, so fast-acting and fast-resolving and wonderfully engaging, so very present and nature-like.
So far, all good,— we couldn’t be happier here at our Red Hook Brooklyn listening room. And after the initial month of listening using Riviera Labs supplied tubes, we thought to end the week and treat our collective selves to a late and fun Friday afternoon tube rolling session. We were always wholly impressed with the tubes supplied by Riviera Labs, and It took a wickedly good set of vintage Siemens to win us over in ways some might regard as an improvement. Also in the mix was a vintage Mullard pair, which had superb qualities- qualities we could see people lean towards as a preference. Where we ended up though was with the original tubes back in the AFS-32, and the vintage Siemens in the APL-1 to enjoy for the time being. The takeaway for us is the stupendous versatility of the Riviera Labs in allowing for such ease of experimentation/rolling of tubes. This is especially welcome knowing we can come back to the standard supplied stock tubes and feel whole again, that it’s not only rare NOS tube of yesteryear that get this combo going. However, it’s great to be able to do that too when we fancy.
We also have the Riviera Labs APL10 Pure Class A Tube Preamplifier & AFM25 Pure Class A Hybrid Mono Power Amplifier(s), plus the LEVANTE Hybrid Integrated Amplifier as well to listen to, so if you’re in the Brooklyn, New York area and interested in Riviera Labs, get in touch!
So far, all good,— we couldn’t be happier here at our Red Hook Brooklyn listening room. And after the initial month of listening using Riviera Labs supplied tubes, we thought to end the week and treat our collective selves to a late and fun Friday afternoon tube rolling session. We were always wholly impressed with the tubes supplied by Riviera Labs, and It took a wickedly good set of vintage Siemens to win us over in ways some might regard as an improvement. Also in the mix was a vintage Mullard pair, which had superb qualities- qualities we could see people lean towards as a preference. Where we ended up though was with the original tubes back in the AFS-32, and the vintage Siemens in the APL-1 to enjoy for the time being. The takeaway for us is the stupendous versatility of the Riviera Labs in allowing for such ease of experimentation/rolling of tubes. This is especially welcome knowing we can come back to the standard supplied stock tubes and feel whole again, that it’s not only rare NOS tube of yesteryear that get this combo going. However, it’s great to be able to do that too when we fancy.
We also have the Riviera Labs APL10 Pure Class A Tube Preamplifier & AFM25 Pure Class A Hybrid Mono Power Amplifier(s), plus the LEVANTE Hybrid Integrated Amplifier as well to listen to, so if you’re in the Brooklyn, New York area and interested in Riviera Labs, get in touch!
