iFi Retro 50

[Deleted User]

I just recieved one from Skip and just wanted to say how happy I am with this sweet little amp. Beautiful tube sound through my Nola Contenders, which are 90db efficient, so there is plenty of power. I'm surprised he hasn't sold of bunch of them. I replaced a Parasound HINT and I greatly prefer the Retro 50 for my application. Anyone looking for a lower powered Integrated, should give one of these serious consideration.

mhardy6647

They are very cool -- nice looking, too.

pp EL84, right? Ca. 14 wpc, give or take.
(plenty of power for real loudspeakers -- not these sissy loudspeakers that are all the rage nowadays).

[Deleted User]

25wpc out of two El84s is a bit of marketing,IMO. But it really doesn't matter since it has plenty for my speakers and room. Another surprise was the sound quality from the DAC and Apt-X. Much better than what I was getting out of the Parasound DAC using wi-fi. Didn't expect that. Thanks, Skip !

Nightfall

Lossy Bluetooth sounds better than lossless wifi? Might just be you like the tube sound better?

mhardy6647

I have the same feeling: For the record RCA receiving tube manual RC-20 says 17 watts for 6BQ5/EL84 pp at 4% THD using 300V on the plates biased into class AB1 (72 mA plate current at zero signal) with up to 14V peak signal feeding grid 1 (8000 ohm plate to plate load impedance).

source: http://www.tubebooks.org/tubedata/RC20.pdf page 165.

The 25 watts might be attainable @ 10% THD (which, in fairness, was the classic standard for rating output tube power in the classic vacuum tube hifi days).

pp 7189 (or "EL84M") might get to 20-25 watts @ that kind of THD but the plate voltage would immolate plain-vanilla EL84s, I think.

Still, the difference between 25 watts and 12 watts is only a hair over 3 dB (i.e., right on the edge of negligible).

And -- fortunately -- IME it is simply not possible to build a bad sounding SE or PP amp around EL84 output tubes (even with very modest iron).

I.e., none of this detracts from a very little cute amplifier design which I am sure gets the job done.

[Deleted User]

Maybe I prefer the Burr-Brown over the ESS sabre. Not sure, what it is. Never had any luck with BT in the past. Still prefer my PX-2 and the T2 tuner but I'm quite happy with the Apt-X sound.

gudnoyez

Congratulations I heard that unit and liked it a lot. I'm sure you are enjoying it, what Parasound DAC were you using prior to this? I would like to own one of these someday

Nightfall

TForan wrote: »

Still prefer my PX-2

Nice TT! I'm actually listening to a record I bought at a concert I went to last night on a PX-3 right now.

PSOVLSK

Congrats and glad you're enjoying it. Very cool piece.

[Deleted User]

Nightfall wrote: »

Lossy Bluetooth sounds better than lossless wifi? Might just be you like the tube sound better?

Maybe it was the Sonos Connect, that is was using for Wi-fi.

mhardy6647

Realizing this is an elderly thread... the "25 watts" specification came up Someplace Else... perusal of the IFI website shows that the 25 watts is a "music power" specification (presumably not unlike the old IHF "music power" spec of the pre-FTC 1974 regulations days). That's probably on the order of 15 watts (per channel) continuous power

https://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/retro-stereo-50/
(see the "tech specs" tab... reproduced below but sans formatting)

Wireless Input
Bluetooth (aptX) 1

Digital Input
USB (DSD512/768kHz/2xDXD) 1
Coaxial (192kHz) 1
Optical (192kHz) 1

Analogue Input
Phono(MM/MC Low/MC High/Line 3) 1
Line 1 1
Line 2 1
3.5mm (share with Line 2) 1

Outputs
Loudspeaker Output 1
3.5mm Headphone Output 1 (Output impedance 3.5mm < 3 Ohm)
6.3mm Headphone Output 1 (Output impedance 6.3mm < 6 Ohm)

Audio Section
Power output (Music) > 25W(majority Class A)
Total Harmonic Distortion(THD) < 0.2% (@ 2.83V/1W)
Output bandwidth 10Hz ~ 60kHz
Frequency Response 10Hz ~ 80kHz
Signal-to-Noise Ratio > Amplifier 101dB (@ max output)
> Phono MM: 90dB(A)
> Phono MC: 80dB(A)
DAC Dynamic Range > 113dB(A)
Tone Control Bass(100Hz) +/-8dB
Treble(10KHz) +/-8dB
Analogue Signal Processing (ASP) XBass, 3D Holographic
Phono Gain 38, 50, 62dB
MM 220pF//47k
MC 200pF//330R
RIAA Accuracy <0.5dB
Tubes 2 x ECF82; 4 x EL84X

Digital Section
PCM 768/705.6/384/352.8/192/176.4/96/88.2/48/44.1kHz
DSD 512/256/128/64 24.6/22.6/12.4/11.2/6.2/5.6/3.1/2.8MHz
DXD 768/705.6/384/352.8kHz
Filters Minimum Phase (PCM 192/176.4/96/88.2/48/44.1kHz)
Bit Perfect (DXD/PCM 768/705.6/384/352.8)
Analogue (DSD)

General
Power Supply AC 100V-240V
Power consumption 75W
~0.1W (Standard mode)
Dimensions (W x H x D) 300 x 153 x 226mm
Weight 5.8kg