Concerto pre-amp vs. the Synergy IIi

The Concerto is a line-level only preamp, meaning it has no step-up transformer or phono stage of any kind in it.

Rowland's Cadence phono preamplifier has a step-up transformer in it, should you need a phono stage with a step-up transformer.

The best current production Rowland preamp is the Synergy IIi. To answer your question, however, "[W]hat is Rowlands best pre-amp?", it is the now discontinued Coherence II with battery power supply. The Synergy IIi has been said by Rowland to offer 90% of the Coherence II's performance at less than one-half the price.

A used Coherence II can be had for $5,750-$6,500, while a new Synergy IIi with a standard bricks & mortar store discount of 10% can be had for +/-$5,400. Used Synergy IIi's tend go for +/- $3,500.

Raquel:

Are you basing your comments of the Synergy IIi vs. Concerto on a head to head comparrison that you have done?

I have the Synergy IIi and would like to hear feedback from anyone who has done an A/B with these two pre amps.

if you have a Synergy IIi, take it to the next step and run it on batteries like I have. Your rowland dealer can order a custom cable and use two Optoma Marine Batteries! You can see the wiring of the batteries in my system photos of the Optoma Battiers.

Talk about Silence and no expensive Power cables required!

The latest Preamp doesn't have an external power supply. I haven't listened to it to compare it, but it does retail for a lot less than the Synergy IIi did.

Hello:

I am curious to learn more about the improvements made when you added the batteries to your Synergy and a little info regarding the bateries, connections, charging etc.

Also, though the Concerto is a bit cheaper, how did it perform in comparrison to the Synergy IIi?

Thanks

Mike