2. amps-preamps
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The phase button on my Rowland Capri is for...?

Did he put it there to drive me nuts? On some songs, turning on the phase button sounds better, other songs worse, and others no difference. And the differences between all 3 are extremely subtle. Maybe a slightly wider stage, maybe a little more bass...or the inverse. Or nothing.

I am running a Benchmark DAC1 via balanced outs to the balanced ins on the Capri preamp, and balanced outs from the Capri to the balanced ins of my Rowland 102 amp.

I have read that Rowland uses the "old" method of balancing...whatever that means. I have also read that the Benchmark DAC1 is not "differentially" balanced.

I have no idea what any of this means. But I do find it somewhat irksome that pressing the phase button is so unpredictable.

Could anyone please explain briefly, in Best Buy terms, what all this means, and if the Benchmark is in fact playing nicely with my Rowland gear? The sound is pretty phoenomenal regardless. I'm more curious than concerned. In my crazy brain, seeing the orange light on the phase button makes me feel like I'm not listening to the sound in the purest form, like seeing a bass/treble knob not zeroed.

Thanks in advance for any shed light!
rkny
macrojack
1,303 posts
 
Since you are running balanced lines, I can introduce another variable. You will notice that your XLR plugs have three pins. These are positive, negative and ground. In some electronics you will have a ground 2 pin and in others it will be the 3 pin. If your Rowland and your Benchmark do not have the same configuration, you will reverse phase by connecting them.

Personally I think you should be glad you are not sensitive to phase. If you train yourself to identify phase anomalies, you will be driven crazy for the rest of your audio life.
dopogue
1,773 posts
 
Tvad and Macrojack are correct. A possibly useful hint: I mark the backs of my CDs, LPs and tapes with the "correct" (to my ears) phase/polarity setting, using 0 for "normal" and 180 for "inverted." Saves guesswork. Of course, as you noted, some recordings were done in mixed polarity and sound the same with either setting. Try not to drive yourself nuts with this. Dave
rkny OP
47 posts
 
Thanks everyone. I am officially giving up on caring about this!
dcstep
1,518 posts
 
BTW Rkny, what do you think of the Carpi? What did it replace? What amp is it driving? Do you have the phono section in it? Are you using the PC-1 Power Factor Correction in front of it?

Dave
macrojack
1,303 posts
 
Dcstep - I have the Capri (w/phono), 102 and PC-1. I'm very pleased with it all. I can't characterize the sound for you but I will say that Rowland is for grownups. It's elegant, convenient, quiet and ergonomically sound. Very pretty too.

When you decide, as I did, that you've had enough of compromises and irregularities, JRDG is a welcome change for the better. It feels like it will last forever.

I'm driving Zu Presence speakers.
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