like mattimnet, i'm unaware of there ever being a III designation for the jrdg consummate. the consummate is a 2-chassis pre with a seperate phono stage chassis; all three "boxes" are the same size. the pre/power supply was manufactured from 1990-1993. the phono stage was introduced, i believe, in 1992 and continued as an active product 'til around 1995. i bought a consummate, with phono stage in 1992, and used it in my system for six years. it was mated to a jrdg model 8, which was updated to an 8ti. i still use the amp, tho i'm looking to replace it with boulder or accuphase monblocs. the consummate was modified/upgraded several times. since i know jeff and live less than an hour from his hq., it was easy for me to learn of and have these mods done; if you are looking at buying a consummate, i'd try to determine beforehand when it was made and whether it is equivalent of the "latest" model. when i bought my consummate, i listened almost exclusively to vinyl. it worked and sounded great in my system, particularly because it permitted fully-balanced connections and "throughput" from cartridge to speakers. it was also one of the first remotely-controlled pre's, a real plus in my view. when i bought an accuphase 75 cdp a few years back, i compared the sound of it run through the consummate to a direct connection to the amp. without question, the consummate degraded the output quality of the accuphase cd player. i thus decided to sell the consummate, including the phono stage. (i've since purchased an accuphase dc 330 pre/dac and dp 90 transport, plus a seperate phono/pre.) the consummate was a great preamp of its time. it was as close to "tube-like" as i could find without the hassle of tube gear. (the consummate was a replacement for a top-of-the-line cj in my system.) the remote was neat, but noisy. i think jeff would now admit that the remore function was not optimal. i'd definitely recommend buying a consummate at the right price, particularly if you're partial to vinyl. if you want more info, feel free to send me a private email. good hunting. -kelly
