Jeff Rowland amp owners: What's your pre-amp??

I would urge you to try the JRDG Synergy or the 2 I. I read where one member prefered the Synergy with the 201.

Paul

Responses will depend upon which Rowland amp you have.

Early Rowland amps used the 600 Ohm balanced input impedence standard and won't work well with some tube preamps.

The 6/8ti/9ti, the 10/12, and the 300 series amps are transparent and resolving -- they demand quality preamplification. These amps are fully differential balanced and benefit from a balanced preamp (that's one reason the top ARC amps work well with them).

The 201/501's are more forgiving of partner components.

I used two single-ended preamps with Model 6's, a Hovland with the amp switched to the higher impedence setting (18 Khz.), and an ARC LS-3, with the impedence set to the standard 600 Ohms. Both set ups were great.

I use a Synergy 2i with my Model 10.
Whichever pre you'll choose, get a balanced one.

Happy listening

My goal has always been a fully balanced system. At the minimum, it has given a very quiet system and additional gain.

I have used the Rowland Consummate as well as the BAT VK5 with Rowland amps in fully balanced mode with great success.

If you are using a tube preamp with a solid-state amp, make sure you do not have impedance missmatch. Many tube preamps do not perform optimally with low-impedance amp (10k or less) despite claims to the contrary.

I use a Conrad Johnson 16LS Series 2 with a Jeff Rowland Model 10 amplifier. It's a great match of solid state and tubes.