2. analog
  3. 1276463879

Rowland Concerto phono vs Cadence

Has anyone compared the performance of the phonostage built into the Jeff Rowland Concerto integrated with the stand-alone Rowland Cadence?

I own the Concerto, and paired with my Basis Debut, Graham arm & ZYX cart, I'm relatively satisfied. However, I think there's more to be had with a better phonostage. I just don't know if I should look outside the Rowland family.

There's a Cadence for sale here on Agon that got me thinking about this. As all Rowland pieces are, it's beautiful IMO, and would certainly match the look of my Concerto, but performance is more important than looks. However if the Cadence is in the same league with other sub $5k phonostages, it would seem to be the front-runner.

Any input or suggestions are welcome.
kenl

Showing 1 response by philb7777

philb7777
401 posts
 
Rowland Cadence is fantastic. Hard to find on Audiogon. Super quiet. Quite flexible with four loading choices. Built like a tank. Only caveat is it has balanced ins and outs and only one set of inputs.

Very musical and solid. I've heard both the Cadence (I own one) and the Concerto phono stage in the same system. Cadence easily bests it in all categories.

The Cadence may not be for everyone (like the poster above) but ignore anyone that says it is 'lowest in its class.' It just ain't so and they may have ulterior motives.
More to discover