PreDAC for Rowland 201 monoblocks

Hi Ziffle, if you enjoy the Rowland sound like I do, you may want to consider looking at the new iteration of the Rowland Capri preamplifier. Rowland calls it the Capri S2 (for Series 2).... Cosmetics are similar to the old Capri, with a better display and a more flexible remote... But the innerds are redesigned in collaboration with Holm Acoustics of Denmark. With the DAC card option, it seems to be retailing for $4400... It was released at CES 2013.

I had the original Capri for 18 months and absolutely loved it... I largely preferred Capri over the ARC Ref 3 that it replaced.

My Capri was used to drive Rowland 7M monoblocks, as well as the Rowland M312 stereo that is still in my system.

Saluti, Guido

I have the Capri matched to a set of Rowland 501s. Trumps some of the older ARC equipment it replaced. Rowland equipment in general is fun to tweak, experimenting with cones, bases, dots and such. The performance potential of Rowland gear is somewhat amazing, and when everything comes together it can be a revelation. I believe, however, this is also true of many different components that underperform in home systems due to a lack of experimentation and patience.

Very true Brauser, and with Capri, one must allow at least 500 hours of break in time. Capri is also somewhat sensitive to power cords. I have not experimented with cones on Capri. In theory at least, the Rowland PC-1 rectifier based on active power correction (PFC) can be applied to Capri and Capri S2.... However, I found that PC-1 made my original capri slightly congested, while it does wonders for amps like M102, M125, M201, M501, and M525. G.

I found Mapleshade maple boards and brass cones to work well with Capri. Any favorite power cords for Capri Guido?

Hi JL35, I like very much Shunyata chords on Rowland gear, particularly the last two series: Z-tron and CX. Depending on your budget for a PC on Capri, you may want to have a look at the Python Z-tron or a used Python CX. They tend to yield great staging and imaging, with lots of harmonics and even frequency distribution, and absolutely no behavior oddities at the top or bottom. Guido

hey gents... this is meant to be about PreDac's to use with JR 201 and SF Luito towers.

Apologies Ziffle for temporarily derailing thread.... Now returning to the originally scheduled program. G.

Sorry Ziffle. The Capri is a wonderful pre, I have used one for three years based on Guido's suggestions.

ok gents thanks for the feedback, i've gone with an Esoteric D-07X to drive the JRDG 201 monoblocks directly with Sonus Faber Liuto Towers. Plan is to eventually grab a JRDG Capri preamp then run the D-07X as a DAC only instead of DacPre

ok, the D-07x landed, 5hrs powered, got home and made some XLR balanced cables out of mic cable. Screwed up then resurrected. 2hrs later with light volume.. all sounds nice. Dry, but sort of expect that (<=10hrs on the D-07x), but I heard sibilance, another hour later things became real, but it needed volume. Listened for dynamics, stage, focus, tonal balance, reverb, texture... female vocals, bass with Wooden....... so far, wow!

Thats 7hrs.. Wadia 171i, D-07x, Rowland 201's, SF Liuto Towers, crap PC's and like I said mic interconnects. Looking forward to a BBQ first but soon after some sonic bliss is yet to be earn.. I'm onto it...............