Jeff Rowland 501s and PC1s

and going for Capri + 501 + PC-1s allows upgrading ... my dealer said that Jeff Rowland is preparing a new preamp beetween Capri and Criterion

Dave,

I would like to know which cables JFR uses beetween preamp and monoblocs ...
I have still not found what I am searching for

thanks in advance

yes jrdg himself! ...

thanks

sorry maybe a stupid queston ...

can a power plant like premier from ps audio do the same job ad have the same positive effect than the PC1s?

thanks

I have now the PC- 1 at home, as I have only one piece I put it on the Capri and use a modified NBS II from it to the Capri.

The stage image is deeper, the outline of the musicians is more precise.

I wonder why Guido doesn't seem to appreciate this combination?

why is the PC-1 so expansive?

with the Capri and my monos I would need 3 !!!

Hi Guido,

I got the 501s with the Capri together (power cables AET EVO Hin from the first day),
than I had one PC1 on the Capri (power cable between these two NBS Monitor II from the first day),
later I got a second PC1 and I put them on the 501 with two Monitor II,
I had never seen the JRDG original powercables for the PC1 until I wrote here, I asked for them to hear the difference with the Monitor II ... that said the european JRDG cable is not a Pigtail ...

I hope now it's a more clear ... sorry for my english

Guido,

My dealer gave me both PC 1 for home demo with modified NBS Monitor II power cables, I only got the original JRDG cables yesterday ... he was right!

Hi Guido,

my dealer gave me the PC1 and prepared the NBS II because he thinks it's best to use the same cable through the equipment ...

he didn't gave me any "pigtail" ...
neither the original current cable,
this one is a japanese one with special treatment at minus 273,15°
I will ask him

excellent idea! could you ask him ...

Best regards

Hi Guido,

I met my dealer today, he said he was trying a few cables before his choice falled on the NBS II ... he thinks the biggest improvment will be on the monos ... when I get a pair of PC 1 I will report

curious first impressions with two PC 1 on my monos 501

the stage is a lot wider, but singers seems to have a mouth as big as a whale, drums player have arms 4 meters long ...

I will wait a little bit before moving the loudspeakers to try to correct this effect...
one PC 1 should be burned in, for the second unit I don't know ...
both cables are NBS monitor II

I am perplex?

sorry, power cables

AET innovative design HIN AC/SP EVO
Ultra Performance Power Cable Japan Made
KSDK

all the system has somehow settled down in the last days ... maybe because the 501s, the Capri and the Puccini are only a couple of months old.

The PC1s make a big difference! ... a positive one ;-)
I had the visit of a friend (owning some Martin Logan) who told me he didn't believe in the positive effect of power transformers.

I just let him hear a few CDs and then I took the PC1s off ... he was quite amazed ! ... He finds the sound of my system very detailled and precise but also warm ... I think he is wright, now I have some tube-like warmth but with definition and precision. I really don't understand all the critics about Class D amplifier and especially about the 501s or the 201s. I think you have just to combine them properly ...

well I have now to travel to Asia, I will report more exactly when I am back.

best regards

PS when I am back the Puccini Clock should be here ...

Hi Guido, thanks for the advice ... I instructed my wife to do so ;-)

I found an interesting passage in an article from Jonathan Valin about the monos 201 ... here :

quote The 201 sounded quite lovely and lively in the midrange and bass on the constant stream of well-recorded staccatos and pizzicatos that makes up Schnittke’s post-Modernist prank. To my ear, however, there seemed to be something missing from its treble. You could hear the problem on the piano’s sforzandos and little noodling runs in the top octaves, where the 201 seemed to squeeze much of the brilliance out of the instrument’s treble register. The highest-pitched notes just didn’t sound as big spatially, as fully articulated harmonically, or as powerful dynamically as those of the piano’s other registers, as if the Steinway had turned into a child’s piano in the top octaves. Ditto for Kremer’s violin. With the 201, his occasional, eerie, veryhigh- pitched glissandos on an open E string simply evaporated into silence well before they would have (or did) with my reference Class AB amps, the ARC Reference 210 and MBL 9008. The 201 didn’t just roll or soften the treble (as Rowlands often do by design); it cut it off, and with that, the articulation of very-low-level harmonics and dynamics and the full duration of high-pitched notes. ...

I have made a test on my system with the same piece played by Guidon Kremer and I didn't miss anything in the piano high octaves neither on the glissandos on the E string ... but I must confess it's not the same recording (Guidon Kremer has recorded it at least twice) .

It would be very interesting to compare his impressions with ours with the same recording ...

sorry the name of the piece:

Alfred Schnittke’s Quasi una sonata [EMI ASD 3870]
Guidon Kremer & Andrej Gavrilov

Hi Guido,

sorry my english is limited ... what do you mean with previous generation? are the ICE - power modules used now for the 201, 501 or 312 from a new generation?

I have definitevely the impression that the sound of the instruments becomes richer with th PC1.

I still had not the possibility to hear the PC1 with the original cables delivered by J.R
so that the PC1 are working with AET EVO power cords in
and adapted NBS Monitor II out

with / without PC1 makes a big difference, that even a sceptical audiophile friend had to recognize. It's such a difference that even non-audiophile persons would recognize it easily in a blind testing.

I agree with Phous:
- the stage imaging is becoming wider and deeper, the orchestra seems to stay some 10 subjective meters behind, as if you were sitting before in the first rows of a concerthall an then in the middle of the "Parterre"
I would add:
- the sound seems also to become richer & lushier

now my AET EVO & NBS II are probably also helping a lot ... ;-)

from the $ point of view, it is of course an expensive improvment as you have to buy the PC1 (here in Europe quite expensive) + 4 power cables (2 in + 2 out)

I talked to my dealer asking him why he didn't recommend to me to buy the Continuum 500, he said "if some day you want to change your loudspeakers, we have better possibility to tune the system with the diferent power cables precisely on your new loudspeakers. Nevertheless it would be very interesting to compare my combination with the Continuum 500.

Hi Dave,

well you have to recognize that with 5 power cords instead of 1 you have some more margin to play with. The combination also allows to change the preamp ... for ex. go the Criterion ;-)

I would only agree with him if your speakers are very distant from the preamp.

I find big diferences beetween power cords, interconect and speaker cables also when they are short. You can really define a way you like and go quite far on it. I feel even that sometimes that cables can make more difference than preamp, amp or Cd player.
Just my opinion

Clavil

Hi Guido,

I have finally received today the original JRG cables to use between PC1 and 501. I am afraid theses are not the same ones as in the US, as they are not "pig tails".
Anyway it is obvious that my modified NBS Monitor 2 are quite better:
Stage imaging more deep and better outlined musicians, sound with more power and bass.

I use 2 PC1, they are on the way to the 300 hours or almost above? I don't know

Guido,
yes I was thinking at the Pigtail, a cable in shape of a "queue de cochon" ...
now I have it in front of me, yes it's 45 cm long, there are a lot of things written on it:

(UL) SJT E159216 VW-1 75° 3X18AWG CSA SJT LL112007-1 VW-1 60° 3X18AWG H05VV-F 3G1.OMM2 -VDE- Kema-Keur öVE CEBEG IEMMEQU

the modified NBS Monitor II are definitively better than this.

I wonder why perfectionnists like J.R. are selling their products and not caring too much about cables? ... OK better for us, so we can do our experimentations and have fun ;-) but I really don't understand from their perspective ...