Best amp to Partner with Jeff Rowland Criterion


I have a Rowland Crtiterion Preamp and Rowland 312 Power amp. The 312 is amazing in its neutrality and transparancy, but it's NOT the last word in dynamic capability and low end frequency extention. Anyone had a chance to try out other power amps with this world class Pre?
kawika
Husk, I really did not concentrate on speakers this time around.... My attention was mostly on CDPs.

Out of the speakers you mention, I heard only the Evolution Acoustics. The suite also had the PD MPS-5. Truly a fabulous sound... Jonathan Tin and Andreas Koch are men of profound musical sensitivity.

My favorite speakers remained the Vienna Die Muzik, which were featured in the Soundings showroom, across the parking lot from the Tech Centers Marriott. I believe they were powered by Boulder 2050, with the Boulder 1021 media player, and the result was musically magnificent.

As for the Rowland 625, in room 2002, by Sunday the device had approx 40 hours on it, and I was in love.

Another memorable suite was the Vivid, Luxman, Audio Aero, Shunyata, and HRS room --Blanca peak I believe -- which featured the new $40K player from Audio Aero.... once again, absolutely scrumptiously musical sound.... So much so that I had to go back 4 times... and the sound got better at every visit.

G.
Guido, How you you compare the Evolution Acoustics, The Magico Q5 and the Vandersteen 7 rooms? Which of those did you like the best? All great sounding IMO.
In relatively recent times, the core of the 301 internals gave up the old conversion modules used for the M302, and went to the ICEpower 1000ASP modules used for M312. There may be other changes, but I do not know what they may be. Guido
Yes, I am quite excited about the purchase. I did indeed purchase the 301 advertised by Davie Weinhart on Audiogon. I have been using the jrdg 304 with the Salon2 to good effect- the Revel with the Criterion and recent production 301 does sound like it would be an excellent pairing. I have read in this forum that there are differences between recent and original 301's- are you familiar with the differences? There does not appear to be any reviews on the 301's. Cheers D
Sounds exciting.... Did you buy 301s new, or you purchased the set advertised by David Weinhart on Agon? Heard Criterion + recent production 301s on Revel last July at Renaissance Audio in Dallas, and the result was wonderful. G.
I have a 301 on the way to drive the very power hungry Revel Salon 2's, I've enjoyed reading your posts and will let you know how everything works (I will be using the Meridian 861 in the front end.
Sorry Osvaldo for the confusion, what I meant to say is that in my system, the bass of 312 does not sound weak at all. Last night I put on Dvorak's New World Symphony under Leonard Bernstein and the Israel Philharmonic, and the initial low brass chorale in the 2nd movement was simply hair-raising in its power. . . David, when are you coming for a visit?

An 825 stereo + 312 stereo byamped combination would be very intriguing. . . the only problem is that I have truly no idea when the 825 will be released.
Guido, I think when you say "anemic" you mean something like "weak". Humm... I like the 312's bass region.

And, because of this, I could suggest for anyone who has the 312 and want to change for the mono 925, don't do that and use a biamplification set up with the future 825 and the Model 312. As you, Guido.

And al$$o better in the money way.
David, I'm thinking that Osvaldo might have a valid point. I'd really be curious to have you listening to my setup. . . X-01 + Criterion + 312 + Vienna Mahler 1.5 is anything but anemic in the bass region. But I have also found that my setup is very sensitive to all forms of cabling and conditioning.
Kawika, as you known I'm not a audio expert, but as my 312 has a very strong bass, maybe you have a loudspeaker problem.

I think when you say the 312 "is NOT the last word in dynamic capability and low end frequency extention", you mean the bass, right?

I have the B&W 802D and I love the bass im my loudspeakers from my 312.
david, you may need an amp that yields more than 40 amps peak in balanced output mode, or more than 90 amps in the more common single ended output mode. With the new Rowland offerings, the 925 mono and the future 825 will likely do what you need, but it is unlikely that the 625 will even match the throughput of 312. In the current JRDG lineup, the 301 monos will give you 90 Amps per side, more than twice the 312. One other amp I am very curious about is the new monoblocks from Chapter Audio. . . like JRDG 300 series, they are based on ICEpower 1000 power conversion modules, and like all current JRDG higher end amps, they use a combination of active PFC and SMPS. . . have not heard them yet, but have seen them at RMAF and they look gorgeous. . . I hope to be able to review them in the not so far future for PFO.

It's worth pointing out that, the Criterion having an output impedance of 60 Ohms, it really does not matter what amps it drives.

Guido