So I finally got to audition the rowland gear. I couldn't listen to the integrated, but I heard the concerto pre with the rowland 201s, with a meridian cd player and some B&Ws. The sound was unimpressive. Everything sounded rather condensed, especially in the lows and mids. The soundstage was pretty deep, and the imaging was rather nice, but something about the highs seemed to assault my ears. It seemed a little grating, and didn't make me want to listen. I'm not a B&W fan in general, although I have liked some of their stuff in my time, but this was just a bad match. I tried to get them to switch in some proacs, which I'm much more familiar with, but they only had them on special order. I think it's hysterical that a store of this size and inventory only has B&W speakers to audition with...filling quotas much? So that wasn't my cup of tea.
The Sim i-7 is apparently still not available, which is a bit of a drag. I mean, I know shipment dates aren't concrete things, but that's why it's better to say "Available in Fall 2005" instead of "Available in August 2005". I listened to an ayre K1xe at a friends place and ultimately think it's pretty great, but not for me. I listened to the Aesthetix Janus with a Cary 303/300, Bat VK-250, an Avid TT, and a pair of Audio Physics. The sound was great in the mids highs, but the bass, although it had great extension into the lower registers, sounded a little sluggish and murky. We swapped in some Electra 927BEs and it was a different ballgame altogether. If I was just looking for a line stage or just looking for a phono stage, I think I'd still get the Janus. Jesus, what a piece of equipment. I liked the BAT quite a bit too, and I think it had remarkably little signature. I almost wonder what their tube amp would sound like in this setup, but I'm still partial to SS at this stage. The Avid table sounded killer, and I need to find out the model # of it, because it's the first Avid I've heard and I _really_ enjoyed it. Some people have said they sound slow, but I disagree in this case. Also, I noted none of the tube rush on the Janus that others have cited. It was exceedingly quiet and not nearly as hot as I feared. Okay, so it's not winning any awards for power conservation, but if it sounds this good, who f-in cares.
So it looks like the Aesthetix is the winner. Next up: TT and cables.
The Sim i-7 is apparently still not available, which is a bit of a drag. I mean, I know shipment dates aren't concrete things, but that's why it's better to say "Available in Fall 2005" instead of "Available in August 2005". I listened to an ayre K1xe at a friends place and ultimately think it's pretty great, but not for me. I listened to the Aesthetix Janus with a Cary 303/300, Bat VK-250, an Avid TT, and a pair of Audio Physics. The sound was great in the mids highs, but the bass, although it had great extension into the lower registers, sounded a little sluggish and murky. We swapped in some Electra 927BEs and it was a different ballgame altogether. If I was just looking for a line stage or just looking for a phono stage, I think I'd still get the Janus. Jesus, what a piece of equipment. I liked the BAT quite a bit too, and I think it had remarkably little signature. I almost wonder what their tube amp would sound like in this setup, but I'm still partial to SS at this stage. The Avid table sounded killer, and I need to find out the model # of it, because it's the first Avid I've heard and I _really_ enjoyed it. Some people have said they sound slow, but I disagree in this case. Also, I noted none of the tube rush on the Janus that others have cited. It was exceedingly quiet and not nearly as hot as I feared. Okay, so it's not winning any awards for power conservation, but if it sounds this good, who f-in cares.
So it looks like the Aesthetix is the winner. Next up: TT and cables.