Looks like amp is back in stock and available in both colors.
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I love the green! Beautiful.
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Here is my somewhat brief and very uneducated 
comparison of the rebel amp compared to the soloist 3x so take everything with a grain of salt but maybe it helps someone out if they are debating between these two amps. I did most of my comparisons with the hd660s and focal clears, and the DAC I was using was the Bifrost 2.
Iāll start off with my opinion on what most people will be wondering is the soloist worth the extra money? Honestly myself and anyone else for that matter cannot truly answer that question for you but I will say I could notice improvements in the soloist over the rebel that makes me happy to have bought it but these differences are small. I personally think I found the difference between the rebel amp and some other amps I have used like the Thx 789 to have a far larger jump in performance than that of the rebel to the soloist, but still for my personal preferences I found the soloist to be a more impressive amp than the rebel when you ignore price and has a bit of a wow factor that I canāt fully explain. If someone has the money I would suggest the soloist over the rebel amp, but if you $550 is all you have to spend on an amp, I think it is the best amp I have personally heard at that price point.
What things have I not enjoyed from these two amps?
The Soloist for me really does have a noticeable noise floor which if Iām just listening to music I cannot notice but when I am using it while working and I have stretches without any audio playing I do find it a little annoying. It also runs really hot (granted itās been over 30 C for the last month where I live and I donāt have AC) but it is hotter than I feel comfortable with to leave it on when I am not home (not that I personally do that anyway so this isnāt a big deal for me). The rebel amp in contrast stays very cool. Really the sound floor is the only thing I found annoying about this amp.
There is little I found annoying about the rebel amp it has a large footprint so that could be annoying to some people and the toggle switches could be a little bigger for my tastes but honestly there is little bad I can say about this amp for the price.
What do both of these amps do well?
-mids
I think both of these amps do a great job of recreating vocals and donāt think I can say I prefer either of these amps in that regard.
-looks
I think these amps have vastly different looks but I personally find both of them beautiful I really do love the green in person haha.
-neutral
I donāt find either of these amps to color the music in a weird way though I find the highs slightly more recessed with the rebel
What does the Soloist do better than the Rebel?
-detail
I think these two amps are really really close in my opinion but I kept feeling like there was slightly more clarity to the details with the soloist over the rebel amp. I felt like snare taps or cymbal hits were just a little crisper than on the rebel.
-bass
-I found the bass to have more slam and detail than the rebel amp from reviews I have read others might disagree with my opinion on this but to me the soloist just does such an amazing job of recreating the bass to a quantity and quality that suits my hearing preferences.
-soundstage
For me personally this is the biggest difference I just feel āenvelopedā by the sound when listening to the soloist (makes me want to try a tube amp someday). I didnāt think the rebel amp was a slouch by any means at creating a wide and decent depth soundstage but the soloist just took this up and left me wowed.
-decay
I donāt even know if this is a proper term and I took a long time trying to put my finger on what makes the soloist different from any other amp I have heard but I think it just has such a natural way of making each note decay. I am kind of in awe of how this amp does this it has such amazing separation but it feels like at the same time notes donāt just disappear but linger for a correct amount of time. It really makes the sound more enveloping to me personally.
What does the Rebel do better than the Soloist?
-useability
It is a small thing but I found the soloist annoying to adjust (takes a long time to turn the volume up) and I just prefer the simplicity and mechanical controls of the rebel
-tonality
This is obviously a personal preference but I could find the soloist harsh at times for my preferences and I found the rebel amp amazing in this regard. I feel like I still hear all the details but I donāt get fatigued at all listening to this amp.
-noise floor
I find the rebel amp to be dead silent on any gain level.
Concluding thoughts on the Rebel:
I find this amp to be an amazing amp for the price. I love how non fatiguing it is and, I think it does everything pretty well. I think the green is stunning and it is just an all-around great amp especially for the price. It comes so close to the soloist in so many ways, that when price is a factor, this amp is in my opinion probably the better buy. When I am listening to certain genres of music that are more in your face, I think I find this amp on par with the soloist. Lastly, I find myself listening to this amp probably more than the soloist since I spend a lot of time listening while working.
Concluding thoughts on the Soloist:
The soloist does most things the same or slightly better than the rebel (which alone would not justify the price increase) but there is something special about this amp to me! I donāt know if I can quite put my finger on it but I think just the combination of how it creates great layering to generate an encompassing soundstage combined with the way I perceive the audio to decay in such a natural way just makes orchestral music so enveloping and engaging. When I want to sit down and only listen to music, I do prefer this amp over the rebel and I just seem to get more lost in the music. Nothing against the rebel (as you can read above, I clearly like it) but if I could only keep one of these amps it would be the soloist!
Again, take everything I say with a grain of salt I am fairly new to this hobby and this is only my personal opinion. Hopefully someone gets something useful out of my thoughts though!
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Nice write-up! Been curious about this matchup for a whileā¦
Is the Rebel bigger in size than the Soloist?
Also, did you use single-ended input/output on the Soloist? It might be why you find it a bit fatiguing.
Ya the rebel is almost twice as wide as the Soloist.
No I used the balanced input and output of the Soloist for my comparison since I wanted both amps at their optimal and as I understand the balanced output of the Soloist is slightly better than its single ended. (Donāt think I can actually hear a difference between balanced and single ended out on the soloist)
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An excellent comparison piece and so easy to follow. Thanks @Pepneck I enjoyed reading it.
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Great comparison @Pepneck! The Rebel amp really does have that special sauce, and for $500 is a steal.
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Nice write up and comparison.
I also find the Rebel to be amazingly non-harsh ā thatās the deal maker for me. Iāve tried many solid state amps that sound harsh and/or too bright, and before the Rebel I was close to concluding that tubes were essential for smoothness. Not anymore.
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Was seriously thinking about these a few months back, but that huge footprint and my cramped table was a no-no combo. Got Jot 2 and am very happy.
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Balanced output on Soloist is definitely better than SE output
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I know that I said that I was going to hold off on the Schiit Lyr 3 and get the RebelAmp. Well I could not help myself. I ended up getting both.
I love the Lyr3. I have about 7 tubes to roll and it is so fun to listen to but it lacks balls.
.
The Rebel amp. Ohā¦myā¦freakingā¦GOSH! What in the %*#$ did they put inside this amplifier? This Rebel is absolutely AMAZING. I probably should shut up since it arrived today and I have only listened to it with two headphones. You know how some can over react on their honeymoon. So, I am going to leave you now to soak up this sonic gold pouring into my ears and try out a bunch more headphones.
Oh, and one more thing. This amp is freakishly huge. It is bigger than any of my amps including my tube amps!
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Enjoy the Green Monster, and welcome to the club!
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Welcome to the Green Side. We always know which device will be at the bottom of our stacks.
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How is the RebelAmp compared to the Singxer?
The Singxer SA-1and the Rebel RebelAmp are both very good. At the moment probably my two favorite solid state amps from my collection. The Singxer has more pronounced highs which give it an airy stage presence. The Rebel is on par or better than the Singxer in every other aspect but then does two things particularly better. First, the highs surpass the Singxer by being smoothed out yet somehow improving refined clarity. Second, the entire spectrum seems as if there is more sound. That statement does not even make sense when I say it out loud. However, there is something going on that I need to digest so that I can better put it to words. This is going to require more time than my one first day listening to the Rebel.
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Worth noting, this is the first solid state amp that I have ever listened to that equals my tube amps. I have often stated that I always prefer tubes over solid state. But now my revised statement is, āI always prefer tubes over solid state with the exception of the Rebel RebelAmp.ā
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We are hearing the same things. The treble, yes.
Yeah, but itās true. More sound, more of everything. I was overwhelmed the first couple days. And all the sounds it makes are pleasant.
Yep. You surely can find better performance somewhere, but not usefully better or to a degree that I care about.
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Just went back to listening to my Rebel paired with my Elex. Just had a hip replacement so i havenāt listened to any headphones for 2 weeks.
I was blown away how smooth and dynamic the sound was. This amp is just wonderful.
I quess giving my ears a 2 week rest also helped a bit. Lol
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Thatās the same setup I am running now, and I concur - what a combo!
I hope you recover quickly!
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I hope your recovery goes swiftly and smoothly. Take care.
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Iām looking to purchase a desktop amplifier (portability not important), and Iām trying to decide between the Rebel Amplifier and the IFI Micro IDSD Signature, both of which have been reviewed very positively. The Signature is a bit more expensive, but it is a combination amp/dac and has a great deal of power. My specifics: I already own the Questyle CMA 400i and the Asgard 3. My most used headphones currently are the Ananda, the Ibasso SR 2 and the Grado RS2, and at some point I intend to purchase the ZMF Aeolus. The music I like most are ballads (men and women, but particularly women), opera, classical and folk, and I prefer a more musical, less clinical sound. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
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