jeff rowland 501 & 201 vs. bel canto ref1000

Guidoc- have you heard the BC's (or JRDG's) through a higher efficiency speaker?

No, I have not. . . my speakers are Vienna Mahlers, which are not high efficiency by any stretch. On the other hand, what I have heard is that these high power amps work perfectly with high efficiency speakers, provided you use a preamp with very fine gain granularity, such as the JRDG Capri for example. Guido

GC- My Pre is a (power supply modified) SF Line 3- it will do the granularity thing... Back to these Ref 1000's- would like to try the MKII's, but what is with that price increase? Guys asking like $4k for a used pair, when you can get the MKI for ~ $2k- don't understand that...

Sutts, it is quite common for older models to be offered at a further discount on the Agon listings, particularly if the newest model has greater perceived performance. On the other hand, only you can be the judge of price/performance value in your own system and for your own ears.

How much of a difference is there really between the ref1000 MKI and MKII? The price is up 1k each form the original.