New Rowland Criterion 2-chassis battery pre

the capri is the low man on the totem pole according to JRDG own product descriptions. the synergy was the std. preamp after the coherence "mysteriously" stopped being made (frankly my guess is that there was very little interest in the product). BUT with added battery power, the synergy was supposed to be elevated even further, closing whatever gap might have existed between it and the coherence. now i am happy that some here feel the capri is a great preamp, but i don't see valid comparisons being made here, except with audio research, which is another animal altogether. and what about the concerto preamp...?

i take it all back! that is to say, i will wait for a Criterion to appear on audiogon for 33% (or more?) off- some flavor-of-the-month guy will want to try tubes- and then, THEN i will POUNCE, like the audiophilic demento that i am, upon the 6 month old model, which probably hasn't even been broken in yet... it is after all a VERY nice preamp. let's just hope it doen't have any unforseen bugs with the batteries, or whatever.
batteries are nice, but the unit has to recharge them, use them up to a point and/or switch back to the wall, etc. i wouldn't mind if it just had a dead-quiet outboard power supply, period. and possibly THAT version would probably cost $5k less to build.

i can literally guarantee one thing regarding this new preamp.
the system you insert it into will have to resolve extremely fine detail, as in speakers that take no prisoners through the midrange, not to mention other components and some really decent interconnects as well. only then will you benefit from
some audio purity not found in the synergy or concerto, capri, etc. then the issue of the preamp being too "soft" or not dynamic enough (which if you care about stereophile, this is their common beef with rowland pre's) will have to be reversed by their "lofty" evaluations or simply ignored- the latter is my preference. they loved the levinson 32 ($17k), then a few years later decided that it now sounded "distant" and mechanical compared to halcro, bat, and VTL.
isn't it ironic that there are extremely simple preamp circuits and then there are massive 50 pound monsters (like the new BAT); both are considered class-A. a friend of mine bought a pass ALEPH-P awhile ago ($4k), and it was quietly considered almost as good as a PASSIVE preamp it was compared to (stereophile). the aleph-p is simple, pure class A, bal. or se inputs and outputs.
i will hypothetically put it up against anything you can use as an example of "so pure, so clean, etc." for 20, 30, 60 grand plus. maybe someone someday will go back to basics and perform such a test. yeah, there might be some diffeences, i'll concede that much. but how much? perhaps with the system cranked up really loud over monster speakers playing the 1812 overture...

i love jeff rowland's products starting from way back. my 1st "real" preamp was a consonance with phono built in. the phono stage was, for an extra $300, dead silent with MC. i "complained" to the dealer that it should not have sounded nearly so good for the money. and this was "old technology".
so this new preamp really gets my juices flowing. unfortunately, i had to go and read the excessive self-congradulatory description. "it's SO good that..." if the SYNERGY preamp had a battery option (which has never been reviewed so i wonder what THAT might have sounded like), then NOW, i frankly don't know how much more "whipped cream" you can fit on the pie-plate. i do like the easy availability of the nicads though, instead of the hard-to-get batteries he used to use. BUT i am really glad for the heads-up on this beautiful component.

rowland gear is two things- really really excellent (tube sound without the tubes), but also, JRDG is a line of products that is in constant evolution. if you're disappointed that your very-expensive Model-8 amp has been dropped from the line, i sympathize with you 100%. i bought a consonance preamp years ago, and for $450 (!) you could buy a re-designed line stage (and/or phono stage) MODULE which simply plugged into a slot inside the box- something anyone could do. the sonic improvement was more than just obvious- it was dramatic. but sadly, after that the consonance and consummate were made obsolete by the introduction of the coherence and the synergy. AND NOW, THEY ARE GONE. this can get irritating, as these are NOT cheapo components. SO, although you do get factory upgrades for awhile, sooner than you think your very expensive SOTA preamp or amp
ain't SOTA no more... now, if you're smart, you KEEP the piece you bought and enjoy it. it still delivers over 90% of anything Jeff is ever going to come out with in the future.
but he does tirelessly find ways to improve the SOUND, not just the cosmetics, of his gear. and the other neat stuff, like more efficient power supplies, better displays, customized settings, modernization, etc. can be very compelling reasons to sell your consonance for $1000 (what an insult!) to raise the cash for the new, exotic preamp.
but don't be surprised to find out in 2011 that the jaw-dropping sound that you opted for now sounds "veiled"
and mechanical- a still newer technology will make you feel "part of the orchestra" or some silly thing like that. it's all good, but the newest technology still hasn't invented a way to get money to grow on trees...