I’m one of those. I had a bit of upgraditis (a chronic condition), and bought it on Mon’s rec. I did do some research, and the response from the experienced reviewers who tried it was positive.
It hasn’t really caught fire like other amps in the larger HIFI community. Probably because (serious) of the lack of features at the price point and the fact that it doesn’t have a standout technology like THX. That, and it looks like a piece of medical equipment.
Where’s the RHNP??
Um. Judging by the aging hospital tech and the windows xp desktops. I don’t think there is one there.
Haha! Yeah, aged (and pirated) clipat there.
I didn’t meant to detail the conversation with my dumb humor, though. My impressions of the RNHP are positive. It’s clean, but I do think it has a little color to it. That could be entirely placebo, too. 
I did try for an A/B test, but I was foiled by my inability to volume level the two outputs. I always seemed to prefer the louder one.
Having and using both the Atom and SP200 daily, this thread did make me want to try something else. So I went the other direction and got me an inexpensive Bellari HA 543. Particularly because there was little or no reviews and measurements, so I can judge it for myself. It only has one gain and has an EQ button, so it’s intended to be a budget amp, yet it has XLR inputs.
I love the sound of it and I’m noticing enough small but favorable nuances, where I tend to prefer its sound over the Atom and the SP200. Another reason why I wanted to try something different is because I remember Giova mentioning the RHNP’s dynamics. I can hear that with this, as it’s one of those small nuances, and that difference is slowly winning me over. It’s not a power house and not as resolving, but it’s still very capable and fun for a budget amp.
I don’t know if I’ll keep it, but it’s definitely one of those finds that surprise you when you don’t have any real expectations. Other notes about it, its made by hand in Utah, built like a tank and did i mention its inexpensive.
My SP200 doesn’t display any of the issues others have reported. Maybe I have a unicorn model, or DAC synergy is extremely important? I have my SP200 paired with an Enog2 Pro. My Atom sounded really good with my old Topping D50 that I sold a while back.
Like @M0N said, hearing something like that requires to carefully listen and have a somewhat trained ear. I’m sure many will never notice the flaws with THX tech and will be happy forever. But simply because some can’t hear the flaws caused by its design doesn’t mean it doesn’t generally exist. Even the Benchmark HPA4 for 3000$ USD exhibits this to some extent from what I’ve heard.
If you can’t hear those issues be happy about it! 
I’m a bassist/drummer/saxophonist musician with a very highly trained ear, yet hear none of those things. I also tend to agree with @M0N more often than I disagree, which is why I’m baffled.
You will notice it after 1000 hours of burn-in (kidding, kidding) 
If you really want to test it (in case you still both have the SP200 and the Atom), I’ve linked a song above where it’s painfully audible with flute music. The flutes suddenly sound like a Cello on the SP200.
LMAO, well damn, it’s past my return window now. 
For me, I wouldn’t say that I tried to seek or heard flaws with the SP200. I’ve probably noticed some sort variation in the past, specifically on the SP200 where I didn’t question Riya’s findings, but not enough to confirm it either.
I will definitely still use my SP200 and I don’t see myself replacing it. It was only when I did a repetitive A/B over the course of the week were I found some slight differences. Even then I wouldn’t consider the SP200 bad or have anything “wrong” with it to where I would trash it.
This is how I kinda feel as well. For the price and using properly matched headphones with it, I don’t really think many would be disappointed with it unless they were expecting a tube sound or anything. I do prefer other amps in the price range, but the sp200 is just solid overall for the price
Also talking about your Bellari, do you think you would sell off your atom for one? I personally liked the sound for that price, and the build is pretty great. I agree that the atom is more detailed but I do think the Bellari is something different
With that being said, I rather prefer my JDS Labs El Stack more. I can’t explain why other than to say that they sound “fuller” to me. I can’t really narrow it down past that.
It’s hard to say. The build is awesome and sound of the Bellari is just something I do like. Not that it is really drastic or colored, but subtle differences even with the Bellari on lower volume. Long term I don’t know if additional issues will pop up with it. I don’t know if it is something I’d throw in a same comparison or recommend when there are competition like the Atom, LS, Archels, Magni, etc.
I’ve only tried the Bellari with the Elex, the Sendy types and IEMs, not sure how it will do on others. I’m scheduled to receive something else on Saturday, so I’ll see how it that works out with that.
The el stack is pretty great, it’s got an even sound but does something different with the treble that I enjoy and also sweetens up the midrange to me (along with more headroom on tap which is good for bass)
Curious to see what you think with that
I agree @M0N, I am definitely thinking that is what I hear as fuller. The stack is awesome for somebody like me who wants detail, but not treble fatigue. I could go on for hours about the difference between actual detail versus artificial detail due to enhanced treble.
People tend to massively overstate differences, I’m not a huge fan of the THX sound, but for the price it’s hard to beat. To me all the cheap clean SS amps sound more similar than different.
When you design for very low output impedance and very low THD+N, you are going to end up with a lot of feedback in the design, so they’ll all have varying degrees of the same thing.
The older Schiit stuff is a little different, because they are discrete designs and use current feedback AFAIK rather than voltage feedback.
Yes I can tell them apart, and I’d probably have a preference, but it’s mostly splitting hairs.
The issue tends to be that once you hear something you can’t unhear it. So the actual effect tends to get exaggerated when it’s described.
FWIW feedback is generally considers a bad thing for sound quality in highend amplifier design, so you’ll see worse THD numbers for higher end gear, and people generally preferring it.
I was watching an interview with Nelson Pass recently, and I thought his take on feedback in amp designs was the most pragmatic I’ve heard, basically it’s design the amp to be the best it can without any feedback, then add some to tame excessive distortion. i.e. You can’t fix a bad design with feedback, but feedback isn’t inherently bad in moderation.
Highend SS amp design is generally dictated by the experience and beliefs of the designers.
Agree mostly with it. When I set my wife in front of my setup and asked her if she could hear the differences between the SP200 and Atom (specifically asked her to listen for the mids) she simply couldn’t hear what I was explaining to her and both were “the same” to her (mind you, she’s pretty much as anti-audiophile as it gets, lol). However my friend who also lent me his Argons heard pretty clearly what I was pointing out and could always tell the Atom apart from the SP200.
It really all depends on how much you really wanna look for it but once you’ve heard it, you’ve heard it, and it’s certainly there and will bother you.
The same thing applies to the Magni Heresy and Archel 2 pro. Both sound more or less same as the SP200. If you weren’t A/B testing them and actively listening for any difference I doubt most people could tell they were different amps at all.
To the original post: Volume matched, if I blind folded people and ask which amp was the more expensive I seriously doubt the SP200 would be the obvious winner.
In my opinion if you have the money and want a THX amp by all means get one, but as you have said Atom, Heresy and Archel line of amps get you 97- 100% the sound for hundreds less.
I also mention “The Numbers” last when I do reviews because they don’t tell the full story. Listening and/or A/B testing is much more revealing vs numbers.
Its good to have choices these days. Problem if any is we have so many good choices people often second guess purchases.
What headphones are you using? The differences show themselves with higher end headphones. It’s not worth it to worry about the thx vs atom or anything if you have a 4xx, 58x or something of similar tier
