This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below

Redgum RGi60 integrated. As with the Peachtree mob, Redgum and I also have history. My first taste of Antipodean audiophilia proper came from Victoria’s Redgum. Their entry-level RGi35 supplanted my long-standing relationship with an array of units from Cambridge Audio and Rotel. I can still recall the swell of Aussie pride—mate—when that RGi35 got hooked into the back of Krix Equinox standmounts. Krix are based in South Australia. Back then I was overly frugal at order time and opted out of the remote control option. Ultimately this is how the Peachtree Nova wedged its foot in my mental upgrade door.


They come from a land down under. Located on the fringes of Melbourne, the Redgum engine room is staffed by Ian Robinson (founder and principal) and Lindy Gerber (promotions manager). All amplifier ingredients are sourced from within Australia, rightly a point of pride: "We can provide the feel-good tingle of an Aussie build - all the heavy hardware of the amplifier is taken care of by specialist firms around Melbourne i.e. laser cutting of the metal and then its electro-deposit plating; milling and many multiples of polishing of the Redgum wood. Final assembly of the amplifiers is done in house as is all circuit design and some PCB production", says Gerber. "Electronic components are principally sourced through Australian companies who of course source from overseas. Australian-built transformers are used in some of our models. As an aside ... part of that problem is the limited flexibility of their ranges e.g. off-the-shelf 110V ones are not offered," she continued.


At amplifier purchase time one can opt for standard faceplate pots—which demand manual volume attenuation of each channel individually—or a unique credit card remote where both channels can be changed separately or simultaneously. The remote control version used in this review overrides the need to bend one’s obsessive compulsion around dealing with balancing left and right volume levels. Even after a manual pot turn, a single wand click creates one sound level, lock-stepping the two channels electronically within 0.1 dB. Still unsure? If you start stick shift, you can go fully automatic post point of sale. The retro-fitted remote control circuit will run you AU$275.


Credo shot first
. Up the road from the AU$1.100 RGi35 in the Redgum integrated range sits the AU$1.850 RGi60. Ian Robinson’s central amplifier philosophy is dual mono medicine administered with Mosfet spoons. Side effects? Users will experience unusually high levels of current delivery. 60wpc is the nominal rating but it sounds like a whole heap more. Heaps more for poof positive that spec-sheet numbers don’t tell the whole story. One cannot be certain of agreeable MMG union until well into the audition period. Having reviewed the Redgum RGi120ENR integrated a year or so ago for my own website and not wanting to duplicate that assignment, I remained confident of the RGi60’s ability to run with the MMG hounds.


I was almost right. Order-time option? You’ll need the fan-cooled mod (AU$185) to run the RGi60 with the baby Maggies. A stock standard RGi60 tripped temperature protection circuits as I pushed SPLs higher. Remember that this is a nominally 60wpc integrated. You can’t expect everything for nothing. A week’s turnaround at Redgum HQ was all it took for a fan and cooling circuit control board to be installed. The temperature of the output stage would now be continually monitored, calling on the fan for cooling when required. If the talk of internal rotary blades has you concerned, don’t be. I never heard it. Not once. Not even close up.


If you’re still concerned about moving parts in your amplifier, consider the ENR (‘Ian R’) version of the RGi60 (AU$2.250). It "offers the transformer, power supply and output stages of the original RGi120, giving your new amplifier greater than 75wpc RMS." Here the additional cash drop goes into more juice instead of more ice. (Note: the RGi60ENR remains untested with the MMG). The Redgum look is distinct. That key is for locking the amplifier on or off. Ditto the Redgum sound. I could pick it from the other two integrateds blindfolded. That’s no brag but prolonged exposure talking. Redgum amps are big on drive. They imbue music with forward momentum. The first thing that grabs the listener is strong muscular bass. The RGi60's way with low frequencies isn’t quite as pronounced with the MMG as it is with box speakers but more richly resolved than either Peachtree or Audio-gd. The Peachtree is tighter/leaner on bass as one might expect from a class D design. This Aussie integrated also bests its two rivals in other areas:

That was the river, this is the sea. There’s no shouting as SPLs go higher and higher. Spaces between players are enlarged with the same upscale ratio as the players themselves. No crowding occurs. A pot turn on other amplifiers might show the sound river slowly busting its banks with forward motion, music pushed toward the listener. The Redgum is closer to an oceanic tidal expansion. At higher SPLs sounds are simply bigger in all directions - more majestic. In line with its ease at playing loud, the Redgum is wider, taller and deeper with soundstaging than the Peachtree and Audio-gd.

Tone turn. The RGi60 is crisp and metallic when it needs to be (Forward Strategy Group's Labour Division) and supple when the material calls for some elasticity (Elvis Costello's Mighty Like A Rose). It’s flexible and adaptive, contrasting the Peachtree Nova125 as slightly more monochrome and the Audio-gd as sepia. Typically such differences are small but discernable.

So there’s nothing hazy or misty about the Redgum’s take on The Smiths catalogue. It renders Johnny Marr’s plucked strings with good amounts of tonal depth and timbral finesse. With the best channel separation of all three integrateds, tracking the left-to-right-and-back-again dart of Dadub’s sonic particles was a cinch.


Get your filthy hands off my dessert. Considering the three amplifiers covered in this review as cakes, the Peachtree Nova125 is a Victoria sponge. Its sweet jam fill is pleasant enough and ideal for everyday casual consumption—light, moist and airy—but too large a slice and the sponge dries out the mouth. The Audio-gd Master 10 is pure chocolate mud cake - big, bold, flavorfu and aeveryman favorite hard to dislike. Yet for some it might be too heavy on the stomach. The Redgum is fruitcake: rich and deep on tonal flavors. There’s a hint of brandy in the bass to give it that Christmas Day kick. Sultanas, raisins and nuts combine for an altogether more organic presentation. It’s the least artificial tasting of the three. If this sounds like a rave, it is. Three words nail the Redgum’s essence: organic, punchy and capacious. What a ripper!


 
john @ digitalaudioreview.net.au

Redgum Audio website
Magnepan website