RAAL Requisite CA-1a Ribbon Headphone Review

Any thoughts on the JOT-R [baseline]?

You're going from DAC -> Head Amp Bal. Out -> TI-1b -> Ribbon HP Out?

The RAAL website doesn't look like there is a direct purchase option. Any leads on one of them?

 

I reckon there was a run on the Jot-R closeouts on the Schiit site ... I was among that crowd who liked the setup enough to get a backup. Most folks know me here more as a music nerd than a gear aficionado/reviewer, so my lexicon is limited. But I will say that the Jot-R does little to relax the Raal listening experience. It's fairly aggressive in the scheme of amping options and may not be what treble-sensitive folks are looking for. Personally, I can live with a little treble edge because it does showcase the insane detail and transient response, which is why you're buying the Raals to begin with. I had the SR1a and needed a bit more bass and a more traditional fit. The CA1a is not perfect by any stretch (not achievable given the breadth of my tastes), but I have way too much music to keep up with to spend my time cycling through speaker amps etc looking for that better match and constantly being out a bunch of cash. That would be fun, but that's not in this lifetime. The Jot-R is plenty competent IMHO. That being said, I'm building a warmer HP setup for the bedroom for that other experience.

If anyone has a SR1a or CA1a and is desperate to hear the Jot-R, PM and I'm happy to loan it to any Friends or established Contributors.

 

Liked the Jot R, but liked the iFi iCan Pro Signature, which I already had, with the TI-1B a lot more - more plankton, better/wider staging and imaging. Heard good things about the Aegir and came across one for a steal here so grabbed it. The Aegir sounded great - way more controlled sound, more warmth and heft, but still crazy plankton, transients, and resolution.

I was using the iFi as a pre at this point but found it added some pretty significant hiss to the chain, so I picked up a Freya+. Really thought I’d like the tube stage, but found it to be pretty underwhelming to me. Passive is doing it for me right now.

I’d be curious to hear impressions on the MJ3 vs Aegir. Based on my reading it looked like the MJ3 was not going to deliver enough power to the transformer interface for more than pretty quiet listening.

I’ve also had good outcomes with adding a Lokius to the chain. Little bit of a bass shelf, slight ~3k bump and then just a little off the top.

 

I found the dac1541 headphone out to TI-1a/b to be a really synergistic pairing as well, better than the JotR with the CA-1a. Timbre was excellent and it did a nice job tempering a little of the brittle nature of the JotR pair while maintaining the character of the headphone.

 

You know, I forgot to add that tonally it did seem a bit off to me, but Mitch’s filters cleaned that up to my ears. Would love to try the Tyr’s but that’s not in my budget for the foreseeable future and I definitely don’t have space for them on or near my desk.

Will have to think hard about trying a MJ3…

 

Wish there was a way to share the LuFo with you lot, it weighs a friggin ton and I have no doubt that the highly impractical MOVs would break free of their chassis while in transit.

But it has the voltage swing likely to breath life into these ribbons

Hopefully they have a pair at Axpona for me to hear.

 

The foam on the pads are attached to a thin plastic ring, and the ring clips onto the headphone. While you could just cut all of the foam off of the ring, I wonder how hard it would be to 3D print a ring to allow for the use of conventional pads, like ZMF or Dekoni pads?

 

Probably a little finicky to measure and get printed well but not impossible. I’d be a little worried about what different size pads may do in terms of fit and alignment against the ear cups and creating weird surfaces/angles that would mess with the sound by creating weird reflections.

 

Just to confirm, the LiB was a typo and not a new Yggdrasil flavor, right?

 

Yes.

 

Apparently, something new coming from RAAL soon.

 

Going on 20 days later....

Does anyone know anything about this new ribbon driver?

 

Not particularly, Aleksandar R said on the head-fi thread that he'd provide more info on Feb. 1. The cheaper one has two ribbons, the more expensive one three. The multiple ribbons are designed to complement each other, tuned or designed to counteract or offset the errors in the other (don't ask me how). Both headphones can be driven by the same amps and interfaces as for the SR1a/b and CA-1a, apparently.

Alas, from the unreadable 6moons site, pricing is said to be 5.7k & 8.6k euros, which would probably translate to somewhere in the region of $6k & $9k+ USD, given the exchange rate and taxes. https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/raal-1995-magna-immanis/

I lost interest when I saw they're going for the money-no-object (or more-money-than-sense) crowds with these prices. I'll check them out at CanJam, just out of curiosity.

 

Thanks, Tchoupitoulas, for the update.... and the link.

 

I’m surprised at the pricing given what they accomplished at the prices for their first two efforts, but I am also one of the ones saying the CA1a wouldn’t be out of place as a $4000 headphone. I’m definitely curious about what they are cooking up.

I’ve also seen speculation that the “naked” pricing will be lower than the $6/9k quoted in the article.