i own a pair of 201 monoblocks and synergy IIi pre driving vienna acoustics mahlers. absolutely love the rowland gear. i've always received superb service from jrdg. i recently contacted them in the past two weeks via email and each time someone responded the same day or the next day. i had similar experiences in all previous contacts over the years.
jeff rowland, the man, is bit eccentric -combination scientist and artist. he definitely does not play the politics of magazine reviewers. he thinks most of them are idiots and prostitutes. he's probably right. so, you'll find more reviews of his products in overseas publications in asia and europe. from what i know from my dealer and other indirect interactions with jeff -his factory is 45 minutes away from me- jrdg sells more product in asia than anywhere else including the usa. jeff doesn't always make decisions based on business logic. e.g., though few probably know it, his model 201 and 501 amps were probably his best selling products ever and he discontinued them at the height of their popularity! why?? "because it was time for a change". really?? that's jeff. he refuses to compromise integrity for profit. if jrdg invested more on marketing and played the politics, he could sell more product. he's a wonderful unassuming human being. he personally delivered my synergy IIi to my local retailer -pretty humble. he takes a zen approach to life that i think comes through in the design of his products -timelessly sophisticated and simultaneously simple. always musical and easy on the eyes. you will struggle to find the slight hint of harshness in any jrdg product. a wholistic approach to design. jeff abhors grain and harshness. it's about more than technology. his products perform their duty with little fanfare and draw no attention to themselves. they simply get out of the way of the music without doing any harm and for many that's not very exciting. there's nothing to discuss. no signature. boring for some. works for me.
also, i expect that jrdg gear attracts a certain kind of music lover. i find it likely that a higher percentage of jrdg owners enjoy music first and fiddling with the gear second. personally, i have little desire to own anything else. from my dealer, i know that a lot of the sales of 201 and 501 amps went to music lovers who have never heard of audiogon or stereophile.
recently, i sought a phono stage and have found it a challenge to overlook the aesthestics of most all the items that i've considered. so, now i'd like to find a jrdg cadence phono stage -ideally with a separate power supply. so, if anyone wants to part with a cadence phono stage or know someone with one collecting dust, i'll buy it. seriously. as you've gathered, i'm jrdg fan -both of the company and the man.
finally, since jrdg gear tend to be utterly transparent, changes to the peripherals become apparent. i.e., you will hear your speaker cables and interconnects. you will clearly hear the differences in isolation and vibration applications to your turntable or cd player -at least i do. i run all analysis plus solo crystals throughout for speaker cables and ICs and i've have been super pleased with the sound -detailed, revealing, musical, devoid of harshness, sweet, open, dynamic, extended from top to bottom -four 10" woofers on mahlers help. the setup invites me to listen to music for hours. only area that i could use improvement is probably low bass definition. i expect a cadence phono stage will resolve this perception. btw, anyone criticizing the model 201 or 501 class d amps has probably never listened to them. find someone who owns a pair and ask their opinion. this is the typical outcome after one listens to them: http://is.gd/qlcsS8.
ok, enough rambling. be joy!
