The downsize exercise was complete when I connected the Raal 1995 Immanis headphones to the speaker taps of the AFS-32 via my 16Ω adapter. Aleksandar Radisavljevic had advised care with the volume to not exceed the 3-watt approximate limit above which there is risk of damaging his triple ribbons. So with a somewhat more careful approach than usual I went through a variegated playlist ranging from acoustic solo music to organ, with rock, electronica, pop and metal in between. Compared to my previous experiment with the APL-1 fronting the AIC-10, the AFS-32 offered a similar signature. The noise floor was low if not completely inaudible yet as soon as the music started, I was not bothered by it. The change of character was minor. It included a more forward sound, more pronounced start/stop driver control and a tad airier top end. Furthermore I noticed an intoxicating hall effect by way of a reverb structure that enhanced the recognition of the shape, size and nature of larger venues in live recordings. The beauty of upper-echelon gear like the APL-1 and AFS-32 is that it provides qualities normally seen as incompatible. In this case that meant being accurate, precise, hefty yet also rich, colourful, organic and nuanced. One definition that encompasses it is authenticity when these apparently contrasting qualities already embed in the recorded material. Our electronics must just transfer them intact to the loudspeakers. Of course this is easier said than done. Most components excel in some areas whilst suffering casualties elsewhere.
These Riviera Labs electronics strike me as being musically honest. They don't try to be spectacular with special effects like laser-locked detail, gigantic image projections, subterranean granitic bass or sweetened midrange glow. Their fascination for me rather lies in the tasteful rendition of all kinds of music with a strong anchor in feeling organic, open and dimensional. After several years of successfully tube rolling the AIC-10 and more recently the Horizon 360, I couldn't resist experimenting on the APL-1 and AFS-32. Luckily both use ECC82/12AU7 of which I have plenty of variants mostly from the '50s and '60s because this is also the tube in Riviera's little integrated. After several rotations I gravitated towards the same two types I alternate on the AIC-10: a Mullard CV491 and Telefunken G73R. These two offer markedly different takes. Where the Mullard tends toward a dense midrange-centric sound, the Telefunken emphasizes openness and dynamics. Both manage without adding too much coloration or in the German's case, sterility. The effect was far more apparent on the APL-1 than AFS-32. The transparency of the preamp circuitry exposed nuanced changes of tube rolling in almost dramatic fashion so that moving from the Mullard to the G73R had a virtually transformational impact. With the English tube the first thing to captivate was how seductive, incarnated and intimate vocals became. Tone took on an amber hue with a fascinating darker shade, sonic images were slightly blurred and larger to produce a comforting feeling of being enveloped in an atmospheric suspension. Time slowed down a bit, everything seemed more beautiful than I remembered.
With the G73R, the moisture dried up a bit, physical contours and rhythmic muscularity tightened up. All musical elements lost some of their magic aura yet felt more concrete and real. Transients were less elastic yet characterized by a more defined rise-and-decay structure. Piano felt more compelling, its attacks heftier and snappier followed by a well-structured resonance trail openly projected into the room. Overall the G73R was the best fit for my system. This option of tweaking our sound with tube rolling can turn into a rabbit hole with complex configurations like fully tubed amplifiers or DACs like my LampizatOr due to their mad number of possible combinations. Expenditures can skyrocket quickly especially with DHTs. The beauty of an elegant hybrid topology as found with Riviera Labs is being far simpler to bend to taste and best synergy with our system. Here it means swapping just one pair of relatively inexpensive small-signal tubes because they are placed in such a critical stage of the circuit that we can easily hear their effect and adjust accordingly. That said, a) the Riviera Labs house sound stayed put throughout my experiments and b) the stock tubes were already a perfectly fine choice that requires no fiddling with if one isn't so inclined.
When my time with the APL-1 and AFS-32 neared the end, I started to feel a vaguely discomforting sense of anticipation loss. I was sure that I was going to miss their imposing presence both sonically and materially. There is an aspect of understated seriousness about Riviera equipment which I find especially appealing. It comes from a solid set of design principles coherently deployed, a no-frills elegant aesthetic language, a mix of the artisanal approach with advanced engineering, luxury and concreteness. Personally I find this refreshing in the present scenario of (ultra) high-end audio where size, styling and technical solutions may at times seem more aimed at big spenders than ultimate sonics. The APL-1 and AFS-32 are designed and manufactured to become a classic, a permanent statement of well-considered and -executed pieces of engineering which, most importantly, reflects in their audible performance. The duo performed in an expressively masculine way by further elevating the scale and reach of my system. The overall sense of presence and directness, speed and perceived forcefulness of musical intent took a step forward yet always combined with elegant composure where no excess or pushiness was tolerated. This is high-end audio from and aimed at people who seek truthfulness as opposed to intellectual or sensorial overstimulation or mere entertainment. This gear maintains an unfaltering respect of musical proportions in terms of tone, dimensionality, resolution and scale all wrapped in textural connectivity which makes music feel alive and human. In that it embodies what I strive for in my personal audio equipment.
