A couple of months ago, a customer brought his Hi-Fi Rose into the store. We hooked it up, and were all super impressed with the sound, the screen, fit and finish and value!! After that visit, I was sold.
The original RS150 was released with an AKM chip. The current version has the SABRE ES9038Pro, a chip used in much more expensive streamers. Add to this, a high precision Femto clock and a Linear Power Supply and you have all the goodies in one box.
For those who like their audio by the pound, the RS150 has some real weight to it. Solid built, milled from a solid block of high purity aluminum. Excellent fit an finish. The connections at the back are plenty and easy to reach.
Add the Hi-Fi Rose RSA780 and you have a CD player for your RS150 and a ripper. Add SSD storage into the bottom of the RS150 for ripping those CD’s.
The high-resolution screen is outstanding, 14.9 inches wide and has an immediate “WOW” affect when people walk in the store and see it. Yes, it can be turned off if that’s your thing. All unused inputs and outputs can also be turned off to improve sound quality as well.
The digital outputs allow the connection to an external DAC, although, I must say, the one in the RS150 is excellent.
The front screen is a touch screen, specifically, an IPS Multi-Touch panel. It comes with a remote standard as well. The HiFi Rose software is excellent, but they are currently experiencing a bit of a bug with the QoBuz integration. Tidal is working flawlessly. Yes, it does MQA too. Yes, it’s a Roon endpoint too. It even has HDMI 2.0.
Believe it or not, you can even watch videos on the screen. There is a Rose Connect app for iPhone as well. The HiFi Rose app called Rose Connect is beautiful to use and look at. Reminds me a lot of the Innuos app.
The RS150 has plenty of filter options as well, which I haven’t even begun to experiment with.
Play/watch YouTube videos if that’s your thing. Loads of internet radio stations. Even an old fashion “tuner” type option for local stations. The screen is also completely adjustable for displaying album artwork, VU meters and so much more. It’s got some heavy duty graphics for whatever mode you’re in. If that’s not your thing, you can turn off the display.
There is so much to unpack here in this $5000 package, I am having a hard time getting through it all in this post. Does it sound awesome? Yes. Does it sound better than double, maybe even triple it’s price? Yes.
The bottom line is this: Hi-Fi Rose has put the competition on notice. They are here to stay. They are creative, thinking outside the box and moving the needle and providing tremendous value.
If that wasn’t enough, the new Hi-Fi Rose RA180 integrated amp (due to be shipping soon) also stands to set a new benchmark with the use of GaN FET technology. I’ve heard it. It’s ballsy, musical and smooth sounding.
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