2. amps-preamps
  3. 1216693488

New Rowland Criterion 2-chassis battery pre

Jeff Rowland Design has just created a page for its upcoming statement-level, twin chassis, battery powered full function preamplifier. Detail is still scant, but a little bit of info is already available, in addition to front and rear view pics. Here’s the page:
http://jeffrowland.com/Criterion.htm
And here’s the front view:
http://jeffrowland.com/Criterion-front.htm
And here’s the rear view:
http://jeffrowland.com/Criterion-back.htm

You will find a few specs already on the site. JRDG should be publishing more info in the next few weeks. I will post here as I receive it. in addition to the published specs that you can read on the page above, here are a very few additional tidbits that I have learned this far:

. Uses Burr Brown TI OPA1632 high speed fully differentially balanced modules.
. Includes phono stage.
. Uses standard NiMH D-cell batteries available in most electronics stores, loaded in 2 rear-inserted tubes of power supply chassis.
. Capable of AC/DC operation . . . will recharge batteries on independent circuit during AC operation.
. Full remote control
. Target price $18K (not sure yet)
. Availability: probably early Fall 2008.
. Will be featured at RMAF in Soundings Hifi suite Marriott 503 or 505 from Oct 10th to 12th in Denver.

And sorry folks, I have not heard this device yet. Nor I have any good third party reports on its sound. Any speculations on Sonics from my part would be just. . . pure speculations. I’ll keep everyone posted as I learn more.

Guido
guidocorona
guidocorona OP
4,298 posts
 
Mike, at this point, Criterion does not support BNC connections. Inputs and outputs are XLR balanced and RCA unbalanced. All I/O is transformer coupled to resolve source impedance mismatches and apparently yields >90dB common mode rejection on balanced inputs. Input offset adjustment is available on all inputs with a 0.5dB resolution, while output offset adjustment is available on unbalanced output 2 with same resolution.

The import of all of the above of course is exquisitely theoretical. Only significant in system a/b listening has a chance of revealing actual musical/sonic differences and address compatibility with personal prefs.

a comparison of the following:

1. PD + Dartzeal BNC + Dartzeel pre,
2. PD + fav XLR IC + Criterion,
3. PD + same fav XLR IC + Dartzeel,

Would be very interesting indeed.

One complication of course is. . . what is the 'best' (cringes about crass absolute term) XLR to use for this exercise? I have had extremely satisfying results with the Furutech Evolution II ICs between Criterion and my Esoteric X-01 Limited, yet I shan't claim that I have reached the pinnacle of my IC quest without a lot of further explorations.

G.
dcstep
1,518 posts
 
Isn't this glorious. We actually have an incredibly wide ranging list of contenders for top pre-amp and top amp honors. Unfortunately we seldom get to hear them switched in and out of the same system. Due to a stroke of luck, I got to hear the Rowland amp vs. the Boulder amp and I'll get some time together before year end to compare the Criterion with Boulder's top offering and Rowland's own Capri.

Is there a DarTZeel owner in the Denver area? It'd be fun to insert it into the same comparison.

Dave
guidocorona OP
4,298 posts
 
Splendid idea Dave. It may be worth while you creating a separate thread to locate a Dartzeel user in the Denver general area who would be interested in contributing his unit to perform the Criterion/Dartzeel listening session.

Problem is that not all Dartzeel owners may be following this Criterion thread. G.
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 
Guido, the whole 'zeel' interface involves not only the cables but an engineered 50 ohm interface input and output. so simply having BNC plugs would not be sufficient.

i have no idea how much effort it might require to design and build that 50 ohm interface; it may be real simple. regarding Playback Design when they were putting the final piece together i recommended that they include the 50 ohm interface, and thankfully they did.

i saved enough money on interconnects in my system to pay for a good amount of the cost of the dart preamp (8 meter set of Nordost Valhalla XLR's just between pre and amp).

btw; when i was listing the attributes of the 'zeel' BNC interface i neglected to mention that BNC plugs have a better and more reliable mechanical connection than other interconnect plug types. obviously the TV broadcast industry uses BNC for video.
guidocorona OP
4,298 posts
 
Mike, yes I read the DarTzeal site and saw the 50Ohm impedance characteristics of the DarTzeel BNC interface. I have no idea if it can be added to Criterion post FSC, or what engineering work its addition may involve. G.
More to discover