2. amps-preamps
  3. 1099532263

what pre amp and amp setup to buy

i am looking to get a new pre amp and amp for my vienna acoustics strauss's. i am wooking with about 8k but would consider spending more if the improvement warents it. my current setup is adcom pre and adcom amp(150w) both were a hand me down, while my cd player is a rotel which i hope to change to a t+a or primare or simaudio moon. the cables are all analysis plus silver oval. i listen to lots of ambient electronic type music (sasha, flunk, etc) and some house, all the way to sarah mac., and any other female vocalist. actually i will listen to almost anything. please give me any advice possible.

ps. have heard the jeff rowland 201's with the newest rowland preamp with my speakers and was pretty impressed but i think the setup was off because they sounded a bit to boomy at times.

thanks - d
gatsby

Showing 2 responses by cytocycle

cytocycle
1,043 posts
 
I've used the 201's and I own the Rowland Synergy IIi (running on Battery) and it's not boomy. If you like the combo, check out your room accoustics.. www.rivesaudio.com (use the room calc to see where your bass modes are) or www.realtraps.com and get some treatment to tighen up the bass. This made a huge improvement in my system and I'm still not done getting all the treatment.

Then after acoustics are addressed, look at cabling and your CDP.
cytocycle
1,043 posts
 
Raquel: The Rowland Coherence II is an excellent preamp, and if you get the custom cable from Rowland to run the Synergy IIi off of batteries you get 90-95% of the Coherence II but with two Optoma Batteries (see my system) instead of the beautiful Rowland battery back that the Coherence uses. The new Rowland preamps do not use an external powersupply but I'm sure are still quite good but also less expensive. Get a Synergy IIi if you can find one, and the 501 will sound better than the 201 (which didn't have enough midbass control for my WP7's, but the 501 are suppose to)

The comment about a good front end CDP is also extremly valid.
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