Jeff Rowland Pre-Amps: The Corus & The Capri

I keep coming back to whether I would effect more of an upgrade by upgrading from the Rowland Capri Pre-Amp to the Rowland Corus pre-amp or by going from the Pass XA60.5 Monoblock amps to the Pass XA100.5 Monoblocks. Its so difficult because I don't have the opportunity to try both in my room and actually hear the changes from both moves. That is the down side of not having the products local to try each change which is really what I would want to do.

Yes, it's a difficult decision. I would guess that you are more attached to Pass amp than to Capri preamp. In any case, whatever you do will be an upgrade. Unless your speakers really need more current and power, I would probably get Rowland preamp now and later think about upgrading the rest of the electronics. After all, preamp is at the center of the system.

IMHO, the difference between the XA60.5 to the XA100.5 in terms of wattage/headroom is not worth the change. If you went to perhaps the XA160.5, there would be definite benefits.

Personally, I like the match between a Rowland preamp (Capri) and Pass Lab/Threshold amps (X5, Aleph 2, SA/6e).

Ed,

Have you heard the two sets of monoblocks ? Would it not also be room dependent as well as speaker dependent or is your view that regardless, there would not be much of a change. My speakers are 4 vs 8 with a sensitivity of 91. They have alot of drivers including 2 ten inch woofers.

I'm speaking from just a wattage point of view. There will be some sonic differences between Nelson's class A amps of 60W and 100W. However, I only noticed the greater headroom once I went from 60W to 125W or more. YMMV.