Integra Research RDA-7.1 Amplifier Review

[gene]

I thought I would let the cat out of the bag a little early for our forum members. Here is my review of the Integra Research RDA-7.1 Multi Channel Amplifier. It will be on our homepage tomorrow followed by the RDC-7.1 A/V Processor this Friday.

 

[Audiosouse]

Please tell me you're wife picked out that carpet Gene, or you use it under the car to change the oil.

 

[gene]

LOL, thats a throw rug and I didn't pick it

 

[surveyor]

I thought I would let the cat out of the bag a little early for our forum members. Here is my review of the Integra Research RDA-7.1 Multi Channel Amplifier. It will be on our homepage tomorrow followed by the RDC-7.1 A/V Processor this Friday.

It looks like a very nice amp!
Is it a class AB amp?

Cheers

 

[Audiosouse]

Great Article

Great article Gene! I'm unawaware of any other 7 channel amp that mathces those specs. I'm glad you said it was Onkyo's division, seems like their web site desparately wants to hide that. In fact, they had me thinking it was a different company altogether! At this price level, I guess that's the point. After all, Mercedes owners dread the possiblility that Chrysler parts might one day find their way into their cars.

I love how you can configure the RDC-7.1 A/V Processor online via it's modular design. A design all manufacturers should strive to follow for their pre/pros and receivers!

 

[jaxvon]

Gene, you've got a bad link at the end of the article. The link that is supposed to go to Integra Research instead links to Yamaha!

Other than that, great article!

 

[gene]

RE: Bad Link

Clint must have fixed it b/c I don't see it. Thanks for pointing that out

 

[surveyor]

LOL, thats a throw rug and I didn't pick it

I like the rug.

 

[Razvan]

I'm somewhat confused after reading your review, is the RDA-7.1 an ATI amp or a BAT amp?

Also, can you please check what DAC's are used in the RDC-7.1? Are the DAC's the Wolfson WM8719?

Thanks,

R

 

[corentin]

Is the sound somehow improved over the RDA-7?

 

[gene]

The RDA-7 and RDA-7.1 are virtually identical, except for cosmetics acccording to Integra Research as well as our former testing of the RDA-7.

The heart of the amp is ATI which is easily seen by peering at the backpanel, transformers, and amp topology. I am not sure of the exact extent in which BAT was involved other than name.

I cannot verify DAC models since the units are already boxed up. They requested these samples back to deliver for other reviews. Sorry.

The RDC-7.1 review should be up later today. Stay tuned...

 

[Razvan]

The heart of the amp is ATI which is easily seen by peering at the backpanel, transformers, and amp topology. I am not sure of the exact extent in which BAT was involved other than name.

According to BAT the RDA-7.1 "was completely designed by BAT, production shifted to ATI". So the RDA-7.1 is basically a BAT amp and not an ATI amp.

R

 

[gene]

According to BAT the RDA-7.1 "was completely designed by BAT, production shifted to ATI". So the RDA-7.1 is basically a BAT amp and not an ATI amp.

Weird that you are still hanging on to that notion after all of this time. Take the top off of both ATI and RDA-7.1 amp and you will see almost identicle power supplies, board layouts, back panel chassis layout and the fact that BAT doesn't produce a 7CH amp, especially with one common power supply. Not to mention the fact that Integra Research never disputed our comments regarding this in our review.

Regardless its a great amp so enjoy it!

 

[Victor Khomenko]

The "notion" of truth

Dear Gene,

That the RDA-7 amplifier was COMPLETELY designed by BAT is not a "notion"... it is truth.

The amplifier was fully and completely designed from ground up by the BAT design team, including all electronic circuits, mechanical design, based on requirements and criteria set forth by Integra Research. The industrial design of the front panel was done by Onkyo corporation. Early on the decision was made by BAT that BAT would not be producing the model, and ATI was set as a contractor. In fact, the early production happened at another company.

I truly wish you had your facts set straight before writing the review, as the truth is so easily obtainable. A simple email would have been sufficient.

I hope this finally settles the issue.

With kind regards,

Victor Khomenko
Balanced Audio Technology

 

[Victor Khomenko]

Setting record straight

>>>The RDA-7 and RDA-7.1 are virtually identical, except for cosmetics acccording to Integra Research as well as our former testing of the RDA-7.

The two amplifiers are very similar, but the 7.1 has still several significant changes with respect to RDA-7. The power distribution copper bur structure was added as per Integra Research corporation request. Also, some components were changed, and circuit layout updated also based on the Onkyo requests.


>>>The heart of the amp is ATI which is easily seen by peering at the backpanel, transformers, and amp topology. I am not sure of the exact extent in which BAT was involved other than name.

Well, this is simply and clearly untrue. As I stated in my reply elsewhere, the design of that amplifier was done COMPLETELY by BAT, including all circuits and all mechanical design, with documentation then forwarded to ATI, that was selected as a contractor company to actually produce the product.

 

[gene]

Victor;

Thanks for commenting on this issue. Its really odd since I ran into the President of ATI last year at CES and he mentioned it was an ATI designed amp. When I opened up my review unit I saw ATI markings on the transformers with very similar sized xformers of their 2007 series, and also saw alot of similarities in board layouts and back channel chassis, output impedance, bandwidth uniformity, etc, it seemed very clear to me it was an ATI amplifier. Not to mention the fact that the amp had very large dual power transformer power supplies mounted at the front of the chassis much like all ATI multi channel amps, and it was a 7CH design (which to my knowledge there are no 7CH BAT amps in production).

Meanwhile the only multichannel BAT amp that I know of (which incidentally is a 6CH design) is a mono block construction using individual power supplies for each channel.

All in all, based on the information I had at hand, considering the fact that ATI does alot of OEM work for many manufacturers that claim to make their own amplifiers, this amp seemed to have more in common with ATI than it did with BAT.

When I questioned Integra Research on this, I didn't get a very clear answer and certainly no dispute of my review. When I asked for a simple schematic to verify, I was refused b/c they claimed it was a proprietary design.

Regardless; the point of the review wasn't to dwell on this issue but Razvan who has been constant source of provocation in many forums seems to think otherwise.

If it is in fact a BAT design, but ATI manufactured amplifier, than I am more than willing to modify the review by saying it was a cooperative effort between both companies. In many cases, there is more redesign work in making a prototype design into production while attaining UL and other necessary certifications, especially THX Ultra.

 

[Razvan]

Razvan who has been constant source of provocation in many forums seems to think otherwise.

Gene,

Sorry but I just wanted to know the truth. There have been several RDA-7 reviews published in well respected magazines and all mentioned BAT as being the designer - the Audioholics review was the only review claiming that ATI designed the amp.

R

 

[Victor Khomenko]

Hi Gene, and thank you for your reply. The design of that amplifier was truly done from clean slate, without looking at any products on the market. Our goal was to create a musical multi-channel amp, not just an amp for home theater.

The details of our agreement with Integra Research are, of course, confidential. The subject of multiple power transformers versus singe, versus dual was discussed between us and Onkyo representatives at length, and the decision to use two I think was right one given the product positioning.

Onkyo wanted a 7 channel amp, so we designed one, even though you are right, we do not have such a product in our product line - the closest one to that is VK-6200 which has six channels, which we believe is a better fit for OUR business model. Making seven channels fit a narrow chassis was one of the biggest challenges. As I said, the whole design, including the layout, general architecture and everything else was done by our design team.

The decision to use individual transformers in the VK-6200 was dictated by a different product positioning and price point.

Onkyo requested very tough compliance with various standards, including the THX and various safety ones, and the design met all the guidlines.

I too don't want to dwell on this issue, just wanted to clarify a question which was presented to me in an email.

Best of luck with your forum, and thank you for a good review!

Regards,

Victor Khomenko

 

[gene]

Victor;

Thanks again for your feedback. I added a comment about the design in my review based on your discussion here.

http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/IntegraResearchRDA71p4.html


Raz;

There are no DAC's in this amp so you should be all set now

 

[Razvan]

RDA-7.1 vs ATI 2007

FYI I stopped by the ATI factory in Montebello Calif and talked to Mr. Morris Kessler, the owner. He confirmed that the RDA-7.1 amp is not an ATI design, it's all BAT, the amp was manufactured at the ATI factory though. In Mr. Kessler's words the RDA-7.1 is a 'completely different animal' from the ATI 2007.

R