Backert Labs Rhumba 1.2 Extreme *SALE* tube preamp preamplifier

This Rhumba 1.2 Extreme was gently used, cared for meticulously by its ONE owner (an extremely meticulous doctor, no smoking) and sounds absolutely fantastic. It looks and sounds just as good as when it was first built.
It has the silver faceplate and black body.  If you want, you can get the body painted in the sexy red or blue for $240 more -- everybody should do this!  But for some reason, a lot of guys prefer classic black, which is definitely very good-looking.

Fully balanced XLR input and output.  RCA input and output. Made in Pennsylvania. The Rhumba 1.2 Extreme from Backert Labs is a tubed line stage using radically new technology designed by amplification veteran Bob Backert.  

The Extreme upgrades the parts in the "regular" Rhumba to make them closer to our flagship, the Rhythm. The Extreme has the Rhythm's unique tube biasing circuit, which continuously optimizes the bias on the tubes as you listen, extending tube life and letting you hear the best from every pair of tubes you try.  The power supply capacitors are "luxury" caps from Mundorf in Germany.  The regulator capacitors are also Mundorf, and PPT Theta Audiocaps from REL, also widely praised for their excellent sound quality.  The output capacitors are the finest ever made by Mundorf (and their most expensive).

Two 12au7 tubes (the warm, punchy, revealing and smooth Mullard reissues). A beautiful remote volume control, and 9dB of gain with just 75 ohms of output impedance.    

Dynamic, rhythmic, huge, clean and beautiful tubed sound, with sound quality far above its price.  
How does this pre-owned Extreme 1.2 ($3,100) compare to a brand-new "regular" Rhumba 1.3 ($4,000)?  The Rhumba 1.3 is magic, we have to admit.  Its mids and highs are to die for.  The 1.2 Extreme is also beautifully revealing in the mids and highs, but maybe not quite as much shimmer as a new "regular" 1.3.  However in the bass, the 1.2 Extreme really shines... all of those top-quality capacitors combine to deliver just extremely detailed bass, extremely textured, while also being punchy with real depth and growl.  It's an incredibly FUN preamp which also has captivating delicacy and finesse.

We invite you to compare the Rhumba 1.2 Extreme to preamps that cost far more. One reviewer compared a regular Rhumba (Terry London, of Home Theater Review) and reported that it was equal to his $24,000 reference preamp. This is contained in the "Conclusion" of his review of the Rhumba 1.1, you can find it on HomeTheaterReview.com. He also told us that the Rhumba surpassed several others that he compared in the $7K - $20K range.  

Here is Terry London on the "regular" Rhumba 1.2 when it was first released -- "The Rhumba 1.2 is almost 'not there,' like a great passive volume control, but with great slam/dynamics. I could easily hear the different flavors/colors/timbres from each great set of NOS 12AU7 tubes because of the very high level of transparency of this excellent line-stage."   

- Beautiful and heavy remote volume control. - Three RCA inputs, one fully balanced XLR input. - Two RCA outputs, one fully balanced XLR output. - REC OUT - Home Theater bypass - Mute switch - Balance control.    

Questions? You can write to us here. You'll hear back from our President, Andy Tebbe.  
We are proud of what we have achieved with the the Rhumba 1.2 Extreme, and we can't wait for you to hear what it does for your system.