2. amps-preamps
  3. 148905-976

How far have ss amps really come in the last twenty years?

I have owned and enjoyed my Jeff Rowland model 8 ( recently modded and upgraded by Jeff to the last version) for many years. I recently had the opportunity of comparing it ( after mods) to a few of the current ss models from Gamut, D'Agostino, YBA, Parasound, Sim audio, CH precision, Constellation,PS audio,Pass Labs  and Musical Fidelity. The results were very interesting, because to my ears and in the systems that we did the comparison, the Rowland held its own against all but the most expensive D'Ag and CH amps. Even those were only very slightly outclassing the Rowland in the areas of top end resolution...and a tad in the bottom end resolution. Now the thing is that the last revision to the Rowland 8 was designed by Jeff over ten years ago! 
So, my question for those more technically inclined than myself is...how far has the design of ss amps come in the last ten...or even twenty years? 
daveyf

Showing 1 response by keithr

keithr
1,306 posts
 
Daveyf- the DartZeel is still my favorite SS amp after all these years and I've compared it at a local dealer with the newer Dagostino stuff. I think it was released in the early 00s with a few upgrades since.

I owned the Concentra 2 integrated which I found a bit overrated at the time and later heard the 1 was actually better. When JRDG went digital, I picked up a pair of used 201s and sold them two weeks later.

I would agree with others that the move to lower or no global negative feedback in circuit design has been a positive. But Dart, BAT, and several others have been doing this for 20 years now.

More to discover