Review: Jeff Rowland Continuum 500 Amplifier

I'll be running down to Colorado Springs on Monday to have Rowland's phono card installed in my Continuum. I'll add some comments on the phono section after I get some hours on it.

Guido, the Decca/Speakers Corner LPs (two disks) of Solti and the CSO doing Beehtoven's 9th came in yesterday. I didn't have time for the whole thing, so I just listened to the last movement. WOW, it blows away my Riener version. Thanks for the lead.

Dave

Hi Dave, not surprised about your reaction to the Soltl perf of Beethoven 9th. . . I heard subtleties and profound understanding of the score in the 2nd movement that I had never heard before. . . now have to find a version of the same on CD or SACD for my collection. . . as for Reiner, I am not usually much taken by his performances/interpretations.

Yes, both Reiner and Solti benefited from that incredible CSO brass sound, but it is nice to hear Solti control the whole process much more.

Dave

I drove down to Colorado Springs today to have Jeff install the phono stage modules in my Continuum 500. Installing the phono circuits took about 10-minutes but I ended up spending all day with Jeff. He's quite the philosopher and we took turns going off on deep tangents, from the madness of crowds to the Marfa lights.

One of the highlights of the trip for me was seeing inside my own Continuum and marveling at the incredible quality. Most of you know, but for those that don't, the chassis is made out of high quality billet aluminum to tolerances of .003". When I asked about the percentage cost of the chassis vs. total construction cost, Jeff launched to a discussion of how hard it to say because of all the time saved in assembly because the holes always line up, attachment points are machined into the chassis, etc., etc..

Here's an interesting detail, the Continuum is the first (or one of the first) Rowland products to receive a curved faceplate. The faceplate still has the same distinctive machine work ("turning", but way more refined than that), but with a curved front that is more accentuated. Well, the really interesting detail is that each button must be a different length to look "just right". So Jeff went from one button to six buttons in order to achieve the clean, balanced look that he wanted to maintain.

BTW Guido, Jeff's has a curved faceplate for the 300-series. Oh man, it's stunning. It's an easy replacement for the stock plate. Jeff's costs is "hundreds" and he's working out the retail price.

You may expect a review of the phono stage, but it's way too early. I've only listened to one side of Ella. I can say it's first rate and superior to the Pro-ject Tube Box SE that it replaced. The noise level is vanishingly low, like all the stages of the Continuum and the balance seems very neutral and clean, but I need to listen a wider variety of music over a longer period of time. Also, the stage needs burn-in.

As to the Continuum itself, I think it did move into new territor this weekend. It passed 200-hours. Previously I was totally enjoying my SACDs, DVD-As and vinyl, but I was getting tired listening to certain CDs. My Pioneer AV-58DV universal player only has about 300-hours on it since modification by Ric Shultz. I was beginning to think that the CD function wasn't benefiting as much as the hi-rez digital. Well, this weekend I listened to about 8-hours of CDs with no strain at all.

I think it was mainly due to the amp getting better. It had been on constantly for a week. There's little clear cut that I can point to, other than that EVERYTHING seemed better, more transparent, more open, even less stressed.

Poor digital still shows up as poor digital with the Continuum. Remember those Telarc LPs for the late '70s, with Cleveland and Atlanta orchestras. They were recorded with early digital 16-bit technology. Well, I could hardly stand them. Early RCA analog tape-based LPs still sound glorious in comparison.

So, the Continuum is incredibly revealing, yet incredibly transparent, incredibly quiet and easy to listen to for hours and hours IF and only if, you sources are very good and don't add any harshness.

When I was putting the Continuum back into the system after bringing it back from Rowland's shop, I put the Conrad Johnson CA200 control amp into the system for about 30-minutes. Maybe the CJ needed more warm up time, but both amps were cool before I did this final swap. The highs on the CJ seem slightly harder and more brittle in comparison to the Continuum. I put the Continuum back in the system and started right where I left off yesterday, nice and smooth. I'm afraid that the CJ may have needed another hour or two sweeten up, but when I'd used it in my system it was on standby when not in use and needed only a few minutes to start sounding good. Maybe because it had been disconnected for two weeks it wasn't at its best.

I'm going to make no more comparisons to the CJ. It's a fine amp, but the Continuum is the amp for my old age.

Dave

OMG, I got the bill for the phono cards and it blew my mind... $355!! They cost $200 less than the Pro-ject Tube Box that they replaced.

I actually think the price is fair, because the little cars are about the size of the last joint of my little finger. Obviously they're well designed and takes advantage of the infrastructure of the Continuum, but it really only two very small cards. (When Jeff brought them out he said, "Don't let the small size disturb you). I guess my point is, ask a couple of other high-end makers how much it'd cost to add a phono section to one of their pre-amps or integrated amp and see how close to $355 they get.

A further thought or two about the phono "section." The background is total quietness. The tonal balance is perfectly neutral. I've got some RCA LPs of the CSO with Reiner and SACDs of the same performances. Well, the cartridge/phono-stage has the same balance as the the SACD.

With new studio style recordings, like Diana Krall, Nora Jones, Herbie Hancock (River), I can listen deeper into the vocals, hearing more nuance and lower level decay of tones. There's no stress and listening is great. Detail, clarity, dynamics, transparency and bass are all there in abundance and proper balance.

Gee, I can't wait 'til it's burned in. It's hard to believe that it might improve.

Dave