jeff rowland 501 & 201 vs. bel canto ref1000

I had the original Ref 1000's a few years ago- certain things were phenomenal- prodigious bass response; super low noise floor; wide bandwidth; decent texture- however, the highs were (slightly) grainy and mids not quite as 'organic' as other SS amps I have had and now own (i.e. Symphonic Line RG4 MKIII- much better liquidity), and sometimes sounded a bit 'thin' depending on the pre (impedance mismatches perhaps?). Anyways, I heard they have a 'MKII' version out now- perhaps some of these issues have been addressed- the technology holds much promise and from what I have read, all ICE amps are not created equal- perhaps the Rowlands are a step us as well- I hope this thread gains some traction...

Yes- Sonic Frontiers Line 3...

Guidoc- have you heard the BC's (or JRDG's) through a higher efficiency speaker?

GC- My Pre is a (power supply modified) SF Line 3- it will do the granularity thing... Back to these Ref 1000's- would like to try the MKII's, but what is with that price increase? Guys asking like $4k for a used pair, when you can get the MKI for ~ $2k- don't understand that...

GC- add me to the 'before and after' list as well