Rhumba Extreme review
At Backert Labs we build our tube preamps in Pennsylvania using aluminum chassis machined for us in the USA, circuit boards made in the USA, and designs crafted by Bob Backert in Pennsylvania. We make no other products and focus 100% on tube preamps. We patented Bob Backert's GreenForce power supply in 2012 and use it to power every preamplifier we make. Every preamp we make also features a tube access door that gives immediate, easy access to your tubes with no screws. For those who are not experienced with tubes we make it easy to own a Backert Labs, with 4 separate technologies that extend tube life, so you will probably never need to think about the tubes in your preamplifier.
Our preamps work well with any power amp, whether it is a solid-state power amplifier or a tube power amp, because we have exceptionally low output impedance and our other parameters are very much middle of the road. Our tube preamplifiers are made with no screws showing and no vent holes, to emphasize the clean design of our chassis. In our linestage preamps, we only use 2 tubes, which are 12au7 and of course any 12au7-equivalent, which means that it is easy and affordable to experiment with different tube brands to achieve the sound you are looking for because the 12au7 is one of the most plentiful vacuum tubes on the market. .
For those who are curious about the advantages of solid-state vs. tube designs, we have created a Preamp Blog that addresses many different questions, including whether it's good to use a solid-state power amp with a tube preamp. The Blog also talks about which tubes sound the best, and whether it's necessary to learn about NOS tubes in order to get the best sound quality. We believe the best tube preamp in the world is one which allows users to experiment with vacuum tubes *or* to simply listen to music without even thinking about vacuum tubes, if that is the user's desire.