Just listened on YouTube to “No Theme Reviews” some crazy anonymous reviewer regards every component over 200 bucks to be overhyped.
He did a review of the Rebel amp and said it sounded no different that a shiit asgard or heresy. Does only A/B comparisons which is bullcrap. Also doesn’t think that the amp is any more powerful than amps at half the price.
You dont have to like the Rebel but to say it sounds exactly like all other amps is crazy!
This guy has a bad case of “tin ears”.
He talks about over hyped stuff but he under hypes everthing.
Also put down Geshelli amps
I left a number of comments on his reviews.
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Yeah, that guy says all kinds of things that are silly and wrong. Like he’ll say that soundstage and imaging have nothing to do with your amp or DAC. I wouldn’t pay attention to him.
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It’s perfectly okay to disagree with reviews if your experience has been different from theirs. On every single product out there, there will be differences in opinions between people, and some people’s opinions are more genuine/reliable than others.
It seems that you own a RebelAmp and have a different opinion of it than that reviewer, so feel free to share your own opinions on the amp, and I promise you that we won’t discredit your opinions because some reviewer doesn’t agree with you. 
Either way, I’m sure people will find it more valuable to hear your opinions on the amp than your opinions of a reviewer. 
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Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll avoid this guy.
Sorry i have to respectfully disagree with you. When a reviewer says that the Rebel amp (which i do own) sound signiture is basically the same as the other amps with different architectures then that is just preposterous. You can have an opinion regarding sound quality but to not recognize the difference in sound signiture between a class A and for example a THX sounding amp means you lose total credibility.
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Per my THX 789, Lyr 3, and RebelAmp comparison (above in this thread). Yep. Zero credibility if you claim these amps sound anything alike on an adequate chain. There is no need for blind testing when one amp sounds like a machine and causes instant tinnitus, another makes voices ring like a bell, while the third hangs together with general quality. The only way they might sound alike is if tested with very poor sources, a junky DAC, or bad headphones that don’t scale.
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I’m not defending the credibility of No Themes, I’m familiar with him and found his reviews to not be worth my time and energy. And that’s kinda the point I was trying to make; Don’t waste too much time/energy being frustrated over reviewers who clearly aren’t reliable/helpful sources of information.
I’m much more interested in hearing what you think of the RebelAmp, than your frustrations about a reviewer who doesn’t get much (if any) attention here in the first place. Maybe it’s just me, I’ve grown tired of concerning myself over people who just aren’t worth my time. I’d rather spend my time discussing stuff with people who are reasonable and open to debate constructively.
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Ok i understand. However i think im doing the community a service calling this guy out.
Hence i don’t think im waisting my time giving people a “heads up” on this guy.
I don’t intend to bring up Mr. Anonymous anymore other than to respond to others on this subject.
Btw i do give opinions on this amp. See my other posts.
Hear, hear! That’s one of the reasons I love this place - lot’s of level headed people here.
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Same here, SINAD chasers sometimes are sometimes too insane.
Just a short inexperienced impression using borealis headphone and rme adi 2 dac: Got rebel amp last week, it is a bit less detailed than tca hp-10 but way less bright than tca hp-10. Both somewhat slam, tcp hp-10 has more details on bass notes with less impacts whereas rebel amp does the opposite. tca hp-10 is bright on congested cymbal related passages whereas rebel smoothed most of it out. Both can get bright if you throw bright musics at them, its just rebel does way better job by smoothing it out. rebel amp has wider and a bit taller soundstage than tca hp-10.
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You are comparing it to a pretty analytical amp. I had to look up the Tom Christiansen Audio HPA-10. It’s marketed with measurements and as hyper technical. It likely sounds similar to many THX/Topping products. You are feeding it from the techy RME ADI 2 too.
Your impressions resemble my experience with the THX AAA 789 versus RebelAmp, but the 789 may have less bass presence than the HPA-10. Regarding details, I think some measurement-oriented amps highlight unintended artifacts in stripping out natural noise. A different DAC could change the experience with both amps too.
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Interesting, yes, your amp experiences sound similar to what I have heard and so far I don’t have any none / less techy focused dac. Do you have other dac recommendations?
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Bifrost 2 is the usual go to “more musical” choice.
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As @mfadio said, Bifrost 2 is the current go-to recommendation for an alternative delivery. See my impressions here. I concluded that “analytical” and “musical” DACs have different strengths and weaknesses. I’m using the Bifrost 2 as my primary DAC these days.
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Got it, does your Bifrost 2 had any issue before?
Issues? No, it works fine. I don’t understand the question. I choose the Bifrost 2 over my other DACs.
Oh, by issue I mean any QC and long term issue, since I had two Asguards with ringing problems awhile ago and was just worried about Schiit QC.
No, I haven’t had any issues with it.
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Finally got my RebelAmp installed! I paired it with my almost new Topping D90. So it’s: iMac Pro > Roon > D90 RebelAmp > Focal OG Clear & Sennheiser HD-800 S.
The initial sound (pre-burn in) to the HD-800 is rich and powerful with a hell of a lot of bass (in a good way). The Clear OG slams hard and fast and I can hear nuances not heard from my other amps. Sweet!
Burn in continues this week but man, $500 we’ll spent!
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