December 5, 2025
In my system, the Rhumba Extreme has been nothing short of transformative.
When I first brought the Extreme home, I listened to it all week. The more I listened the more I knew that I would not be returning it… Even with my least favorite power cord and tubes, the Extreme clearly bested my [____], by a lot. With the preferred PC and tubes it just walked all over it in every aspect, plain and simple.
The last bit of top end sparkle and detail that I had been chasing for years is finally mine. Crystal clear and detailed without a hint of grain or brightness. The mids are rich and meaty, beautifully textured and layered. It was the bottom end which really surprised me. It is DEEEP!! No mush or gray area, think razor sharp. The sound stage is wide and deep. Performers and instruments are located and placed properly with space around them. The stage extends well outside of the speakers and makes them just disappear.
The attack is quick like a shot, while the decay is gradual. This presents a BIG sound and really makes you feel that you are listening live. The music doesn’t sound reproduced. It is conveyed. The sound is rhythmic and quick, with wonderful impact. It is ruler flat with no bloat or bloom.
I spent a lot of money on this and feel like I made out like a bandit for the added amount of enjoyment and pleasure that it has afforded me.
October 19,2025
Hello Andy,
I just wanted to let you know how pleased I am with the Rhumba Extreme you sent me.
It so improved the sound quality of my two channel vinyl playback that my wife said it sounds like we got new speakers.
Like your website says, it allows you to believe you’re listening to a live performance. One improvement I wasn’t ready for is the quality of the midrange. It just sounds more authentic than before.
“Magical” is a good word for what we heard.
Thanks,
Gary – Monument, CO
March 5, 2024
Dear Andy:
Three years ago, I was shopping for a system and a famous audio dealer in NYC urged me to purchase the Backert Labs Rhumba Extreme 1.3, a company and preamplifier about which I knew nothing. He insisted that I build my new system around this pre-amp, and no other, because the Backert Labs preamp was just that good.
My first discovery: it’s as easy as owning solid-state. At first I thought a tube pre-amp would require maintenance and adjustment, which was a bit intimidating. But when I learned that your preamp is self-biasing and easy on the tubes, I warmed to the idea of tube sound with the simplicity of solid-state. I purchased the Rhumba Extreme 1.3, assembled the rest of my dream system, and sat back and enjoyed the music.
I would have happily continued down this pleasant road, but for your suggestion a couple of years later that I try other tubes to experience the sonic difference the Backert could provide. After we talked about it I read your informative blog entries, and located internet-based tube dealers. I got my first pair of NOS tubes and put them in the Rhumba Extreme (as you know, it’s easier than changing a lightbulb). I listened to the marvelous results. It was the start of a wonderful journey in gorgeous sound.
My favorite qualities: I just love this thing. With its self-biasing feature, easy access to the tubes, use of only 2 tubes, use of a low-distortion miniature tube-type, and use of a tube that is common and affordable, your Rhumba Extreme is the dream audiophile preamp. Out of the box, it’s great as-is. But if you want to explore the rewards of tube sound, nothing could be easier. What an amazing product.
Thank you!
Very truly yours,
G. L.
Nothing short of magical. Perfectly quiet and at the ready. Only after the source material ends will you realize what it has really just delivered.
It is difficult for me to convey in writing what I have been experiencing. I’m now completely calm, almost like staring at a vast still lake or beautiful mountain. Each time I listen to the Rhumba Extreme, I hear details that I’ve never heard before, textures that I didn’t know were on the recording, and more of each instrument.
I can now easily select just one instrument and listen to the way it’s being played, the attack and decay of notes, and the qualities of the actual instrument (like, “Listen to that low tom-tom…”). It is impossible not to be drawn into the emotion being conveyed. Truly amazing. Why did I wait so long to upgrade my pre???
Dear Andy,
I wanted to send along some notes about what I’m hearing. First, this thing is fast. It captures everything that the musicians are doing in much more detail… Nothing gets slurred over or buried. I love hearing those pedals working inside the wooden piano, the dampening of strings, the decay of notes with their harmonics.
Earlier I listened to some singers harmonizing, and I could hear each of their voices (and the interaction thereof) so much more clearly than I’d ever heard before. And there is no need to turn it up — The music conveys the expressions of the artists with ease, because now I can simply hear more of it.
It’s a new world!
-John S., Pennsylvania