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Recommended Component 2025 – Stereophile
Editors’ Choice Award – 2023 The Absolute Sound
Absolute Pure Sound Integrated Amplifier
An integrated amplifier that looks this stunning better have sound quality to match. And it does! The RA180 delivers stunning performance in every respect. The HiFi Rose RA180 is a state-of-the-art integrated amplifier using the latest innovative technologies. Linearity has been dramatically improved to create near-perfect sound that transcends the boundaries between digital and analog. Enjoy the pure natural sound of the RA180.
"Recommended Component" Honors
Stereophile honored the RA 180 by awarding it the magazine's coveted Recommend Component status for 2025.
According to Stereophile, "JMu [Julie Mullins] fell in love with the appearance of this steampunk-styled, class-D integrated amplifier from Korea when she first saw it at the 2022 AXPONA. She was equally impressed by its sound quality when she installed the RA-180 in her system. It offers a plethora of features—level meters, a phono MC/MM stage, two rows of speaker outputs to allow operation with two pairs of full-range speakers (two channels or four channels), and switchable channel bridging for greater power—and controls for volume, bass, treble, balance, tone control bypass, biamping crossover frequency and high-frequency gain (to drive a supertweeter), and a choice of five phono EQ settings in addition to RIAA."
"JMu concluded that 'The HiFi Rose RA180 is big on speed, energy, clarity, and detail. You get plenty of power in a single chassis.'"
"Quality Significantly Surpassing Its Price Point"
"It offers value both in build and sound quality, significantly surpassing its price point. This unit has the headroom to handle just about any speaker. And while sound quality is certainly the most important criterion, I must say, again, that the industrial design of this unit is spectacular," raves Rives Bird, The Absolute Sound, January 2023, which gave the RA180 an Editors’ Choice Award. "HiFi Rose is a relative newcomer to this market, but there's no doubt the company is here to stay."
"The RA180 has one of the most comprehensive feature sets of any high-end amplifier currently on the current market and makes an ideal partner to the brand’s award-winning music streamers," reports Mark Sparrow in Forbes magazine.
"The Build Quality Screams High-End"
"The build quality screams high-end, while the sound quality could easily be mistaken for a very good Class-AB amp, or maybe even a Class-A amp, with its transparent, smooth and natural sound, but without the heat generation, and with better efficiency," notes Bob Barrett, futureaudiophile.com, June 12, 2024.
"It’s feature-rich, sports a unique aesthetic, and is definitely engaging. At its price point, the RA180 is a good value when compared to the competition. The HiFi Rose RA180 is an integrated that will likely remain in buyers’ systems for years to come."
"An Engrossing Performance"
"The Class D topology, with four GaN transistor amps, offers oodles of power and an engrossing performance, especially when paired with sympathetic speakers," observes Jamie Biesemans, Hi-Fi News, August 2, 2021.
"The RA180 is unlike anything on the market," notes Terry Ellis, pursuitperfectsystem.com. "The level of flexibility on offer is reflective of the value HiFi Rose aim to deliver at all price points, yet the innovative technology and materials used throughout the design set the amplifier up as something capable of astonishing soundscapes."
New-Concept Class AD Amplifier
The traditional power amplifier has developed from Class A to AB to Class D. Class AB was developed to improve the high heat generation and low efficiency of A. Class D has higher efficiency and higher output than AB, and it also significantly improves S/N and THD characteristics compared to Class A and Class AB. However, the sound quality is regarded as inferior to Class A/AB due to the limitations of the digital circuit.
The GaNFET Class AD amplifier developed by HiFi Rose has dramatically improved the performance of the existing Class D amp design by applying innovative new materials and technology. These Gallium Nitride FETs switch on and off at faster speeds than the MOSFETs, resulting in what HiFi Rose calls a "high-speed, perfectly accurate amplification stage" with an analog sound quality.
Dual Amplifier Modules
The RA180 consists of two amplifier modules for sophisticated bi-amplification from a single-chassis component. One amplifier module is dedicated to superior bass/mid-bass, and the other is designed for smooth high-frequency treble in what HiFi Rose calls the "super tweeter" realm. Each amplifier module supports 200-watts at 8 ohms and can output up to 400 watts per channel.
When both modules are individually connected to a speaker’s high and low frequency inputs, the driving force can be greatly improved without being affected by a counter electro-motive force. Alternatively, the Bridge-Tied Load (BTL) mode combines both independent modules for rich, balanced sound using a single pair of speaker cables.
Designed for Excellence in the "Super Tweeter" Realm
The human hearing range has an upper limit of 15-20 kHz. So, is there a need for higher frequency response in hi-fi gear? Transient high frequencies in music extend well beyond 20 kHz, contributing harmonics that give an instrument its distinctive timbre. For example, trumpets have a frequency response that extends to 100 kHz, and 88.2 kHz to 192 kHz sources have a 40 kHz to 96 kHz frequency response.
The RA180 is designed to reproduce a very wide frequency range so that it accommodates high-resolution sound sources with an output range of 20 Hz to 50 kHz, 100 kHz @ -3 dB, 200 kHz @ -6 dB. Crossover adjustability lets you set he base high-frequency output from 600 Hz to 6,000 kHz to match the speakers that you're using. Although these high frequencies may be outside a person’s hearing range, they faithfully support the natural-sounding wide and deep soundstage possessed by the original source.
Balanced Power Supply
The high performance power supply has been exclusively developed for the RA180 by HiFi Rose. It applies fourth generation SiC FET technology to provide high output with less heat. By using a proprietary PFC (power factor circuit), it is designed to be immune to sudden load fluctuations. Support a powerful damping factor of at least 200, and the high output of 1000 watts contributes to the powerful bass and smooth, detailed high frequency response.
Built-in Phono Preamp with Variable EQ
The RA180's built-in phono preamp is purposely designed to accurately reproduce the recording engineer's original intention. Excelling with vinyl records in any genre, it offers low-mid bass crossover and high-frequency roll-off adjustment functions to suit your preferences. Accommodating both MM moving magnet and MC moving coil cartridges via a simple switch selection, the phono stage provides EQ values corresponding to curves from various record manufacturers using parts and circuitry with a 0.1% tolerance.
"One of My Top Ten of All Time"
"In fact this amp that I expected to dislike due to it being Class D has just earned a notch in my top ten integrated amps of all time. I would place this at #3 under the Pass INT250 and Luxman 590 AXII. Crazy to say that but this is a truly remarkable sounding amplifier," observes Steve Huff, stevehuffphoto.com, October 15, 2022.
"It also offers up quite a bit for the money spent. EQ, Phono for MC or MM, Adjustable Crossover, the ability to bi-amp your speakers, the option to use 200WPC or 400WPC mode and the build is also quite nice inside and out."
