The tube and solid state difference will be audible. That being said, Rowland is sweeter (more liquid) than most ss but not quite on the level with tubes whereas ARC has more grip than most tubes but not as much as ss. Two great choices. If you prefer a sublime midrange---go ARC. If you prefer iron fisted grip and slam --go Rowland. Key questions might be what components comprise the balance of your system and what elements of sound would you like to bring to the table with the amp?
23 responses Add your response
I have a tube amp 200wpc. I am looking for a deeper wider soundstage. Looking for a pre which I hope will help in this area.. I listen to a lot of classical which tubes are wonderful for but I'm looking for a deeper more layered soundstage and for the classic rock and jazz which I also listen to I'm looking for more dynamics and slam which I lost a bit of when I went from a SS amp to tubes. Hope this helps. |
Aeris direct to amp pretty stunning. I don't want to start an ARC flame but I've been to JRDG's place of business and strongly believe that he puts vastly more of everything into his products than ARC. His build quality is second to none with pride of ownership very high. That said I am very familiar with his gear and the Corus was not as transparent or exciting as the Aeris direct. What pre would work I can not say. I do think you'd have to try ARC. i'm sure it sounds very good. My beef was that the Ref 3 that I once owned was basically an empty box. Regardless of sound quality the product was built to a price point without unique craftmanship. i think it not unreasonable to expect superb aesthetics given the price of high end gear. The argument that the box is pedestrian in order to enhance the insides is total BS. Audiophiles deserve both. However just an opinion from a very long term high end guy. |
ricred1, My friend owns the Audio Research L28 line stage preamp and likes it very much. Please see: http://www.audioresearch.com/en-us/products/preamplifiers/ls28 I have no experience with Jeff Rowland or Audio Research. If possible, I suggest you demo the ARC L28 preamp in your system and see how it sounds compared to the Rowland. Based on what I have read, I probably would stay with the Jeff Rowland equipment but you need to make this decision based on what you hear. |
Two different animals and it's really going to come down to which actual pce you are making reference too, pairing up with - it's just not that simple but also personal preference. I like tube pre's paired up with solid state amps, my preference being all tube if you have the right combo and speakers. I have owned numerous Rowland - absolutely gorgeous pces, at the same time also owned numerous ARC absolutely stunning SQ wise. Presently have a REF6 paired up with 75SE driving Avantgarde speakers, sounds marvelous.
|
One thing to keep in mind on the ARC pre-amps....if you are driving a subwoofer with your solid state pre, you're gonna be out of business with ARC. They say the impedance of most subs is too low, and that trying to drive one alongside a stereo amp will be deleterious to sound quality. Sad situation as I would love to try an ARC pre with my Rowland 625 S2. |
IMHO your speakers are fairly efficient and should respond well to a tube amp and preamp. I actually slightly preferred the ARC Ref 40 and Ref 150 over the ARC Ref 40 and D'agostino Momentum stereo amp after an in house weekend long test with Wilson Sashas. I was concerned about the loss of grip and slam with a tube amp, but the loss was so slight compared to the gains in the midrange and high end as well as the height, width and depth of the soundstage that I went all ARC. Of course, Rowland amps will be similar to D'agostino in liquidity and transparency with warmth--so you simply can't go wrong. |
I sold my Melo's Ref. preamp and packed away my Monarchy DAC, so now I'm running the new ARC/DAC9 with the ARC6 into my old Krell KSA 150 amp which is wired to my Apogee Slant 8 electrostatic speakers. So I went from 4 Sovtec 6922 tubes to 10, 6h50 super tubes according to BAT. The new sound stage became much wider and deeper than the "above combo" that I had done away with. The only problem that I had, I noticed that I had lost some of the bottom end in my music. Since the woofers in my Apogee's are only 8ins. to remedy this problem, I threw in a 10" Velodyne subwoofer. I'm running XLR cables from the top to bottom in my system, so my XLR's cables running into my Krell from the ARC6, I pulled them out and they are now running into the subwoofer and now I'm running two new XLR cables out of the subwoofer back into my Krell. The verdict is in, this was a match made in heaven, everything blends in so perfectly, and I have no complaints. |
@serious7, That's quite a interesting setup you have, btw great system. I bet your system sounds phenomenal. When i went from all solid state (Classe, Krell) to all tube ARC setup, I was in same dilemma with my power hungry monsters - B&W 800D2. First thought was to change the speakers but I wasn't quite ready to give up my beloved 800's. Since I prefer not to use a sub for 2 ch audio, I end up going the bi-amping route with Class D (LF) and Tube (MF/HF) amps. And this is by far the best setup i have had in 15 plus years of tinkering in high-end audio. In fact, I have managed to surprise few friends on how good 800's sound with tube amp feeding the mid's and high's and Class D powering up a pair of 10' bass drivers. |