Westminster Labs REI Mono Amps Eval

[Aircooled]

This thread has not been updated for quite some time and I am curious what if any decisions have been made since the last post in July, 2022.

I have been enjoying the WestminsterLab Rei monoblocks for the better part of a year. For me the form factor was a big reason to give them an audition. Tired of consuming so much real estate in the listening room with gargantuan metal boxes. I'm too old to be monkeying around with 300 lbs space heaters.

The Rei's arrived for audition in flight cases weighing ~45 lbs each. Immaculately designed and built. So modest in size, I didn't think it possible for them to perform as well as other amps I had seriously considered (Boulder, Pass Labs, Luxman, SimAudio, the usual suspects at a similar price point). In my opinion the WestminsterLab Rei rivals the Boulder 1160 (and even the 2160 although I have not heard that one in my room) in, speed, transparency and low noise floor but is superior in it's mid band clarity and tonal density.

Now I have paired the Rei with the WestminsterLab Quest preamp and the combination is even more sensational. First, the bass control, extension and drive of the combination is immediately apparent in the most musical way. Second, and most compelling to me, is the transparency and what seems to be a limitless dynamic range the Quest brings to the presentation. Of course the source material must be up to the challenge but I have not experienced this lack of compression in recordings I thought I knew very well.

Kudos to Angus Leung, founder of WestminsterLab and chief designer, for following a different path with these wonderful devices that serve the music so wonderfully.

[JoeN]

Congrats. I know they sound amazing - as they did in my room. They are an incredible value.

I went with Vitus Statement amps instead. The rest of the system is Vitus Masterpiece components and a TechDAS Air Force One table and a Taiko Audio Extreme streamer.

[Aircooled]

Wowser, extraordinary system you have assembled. Thanks for sharing.

[FreddieFerric]

BIG Time upgrades.