ROLLS VP29 Review (phono stage)

[Tks]

Waste of time this article.

These are the best.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Yeesh. This makes me question the other ROLLS stuff. I see A/V integrators using their audio source selectors and zone mixers all the time.

B&H and other professionally-oriented A/V stores should reconsider selling this thing.

 

[Thomas savage]

Waste of time this article.

Refund.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Let's hope not! But that is where my mind constantly goes when I look at the name.

Bear in mind that Rolls was the salesman and Royce was the engineer.

 

[fordiebianco]

Waste of time this article.

You OK, hon?

 

[BuddyJ]

Thanks for this review. I have this item and have been wondering if replacing it would bring real improvement. The review confirms my suspicions.

 

[Phorize]

We @restorer-john are talking about different things. It would have been more than enough if @amirm had published the picture of this item with the correspondent panther and finished the review. No one in this world really needs to go thru this lecture on something that is clear crap. It adds absolutely nothing to the "Science". It's totally waste of time.

Well, the anatomy of a broken device can be just as interesting a functional one IMHO, if only to marvel objectively at how bad things can get.

 

[Phorize]

These are the best.

Yep, very few people went to watch Evil Knievel in order to see him make the jump.

 

[Thomas_A]

Not sure why time was spent to test this unit. Is it a unit that sell much?

 

[BuddyJ]

Not sure why time was spent to test this unit. Is it a unit that sell much?

Consider that the VP29 is the same as the Music Hall Mini too.

This unit is incredibly common and often recommended due to its low price. I picked mine up at a Guitar Center. It's probably the most ubiquitous phono preamp out there if you look across all its versions.

 

[Asmodeus2112]

I have one of these. Wanted to use it in the living room to put a turntable there to play into our soundbar. Just for fun sometimes, not for critical listening or anything serious. It had significant hum and all sorts of problems. I dropped it in a bag to pull out in the future when I had more time. Now I know it wasn't likely anything I was doing. Will drop that bag in the electronics recycling and get a different little pre and try again.

 

[Thomas_A]

Consider that the VP29 is the same as the Music Hall Mini too.

This unit is incredibly common and often recommended due to its low price. I picked mine up at a Guitar Center. It's probably the most ubiquitous phono preamp out there if you look across all its versions.

Ok, thanks. It didn't look to me as this unit would be a top-seller. I have never heard of or seen a unit like this, and if I had, I would not think of it as a unit that is sold in masses.

 

[mhardy6647]

Seeing the (not so) redoubtable Rolls phono preamp making an appearance has jogged a memory!
Many, many years ago, audioXpress published a review of a bevy of inexpensive phono preamps.
The article was long available on the aX website, but eventually disappeared (perhaps due to its age). Fortunately, it's still out there to be had, thanks to archive.org and the Wayback Machine.

https://web.archive.org/web/2006101...dioxpress.com/reviews/media/403hansen2090.pdf

 

[Nango]

Not sure why time was spent to test this unit. Is it a unit that sell much?

Hosanna, Hallelujah!!!

 

[amirm]

Not sure why time was spent to test this unit. Is it a unit that sell much?

As noted in review there are 455 reviews on amazon so yes, it sells very well.

 

[mhardy6647]

As noted in review there are 455 reviews on amazon so yes, it sells very well.

... and it has been around for a long time.

 

[earlevel]

I bought one of these, years ago, for convenience—my guy at Guitar Center gave me a good price, seems like it was $29 or close ($32.57 with tax, checked Quicken). I needed to transfer an old album of my band, and my old phono pre's were in various states of disrepair—noisy or non-functional. It was more than a month before I got to the business I'd bought it for, and I found it had turned into an oscillator (the old electronic thing, when your amplifiers oscillate, and oscillators amplify...). It was past the standard return period at GC, and for warranty repair I'd need to send to San Diego—I'm in So Cal, but it was an obvious piece of junk and not worth the postage to fix, no way I was going to use it. I ended up re-capping my PS IVH pre for a similar cost in parts and a little time.

 

[watchnerd]

Man, if I had known we were going to get into testing cheapskate phono stages, I could have thrown a couple into the box with the Pi DAC I mailed...

I've got a bunch at the bottom of my 'box of cables'.

 

[watchnerd]

Are people saying it's a waste of time because it's a phono stage or because it's crappy?

Surely not just the crappy angle.....crappy DACs have been tested before.

 

[watchnerd]

Ok, thanks. It didn't look to me as this unit would be a top-seller. I have never heard of or seen a unit like this, and if I had, I would not think of it as a unit that is sold in masses.

The ultra cheap Pyle sells even better....3800+ reviews...

And it has this awesome graph that I don't understand...