Best Amplifiers 2011.

In 2010 we dabbled in more than a few power amps, but the situation is outta control in 2011 as our pre amp lust took over and ran amok!

We found the latest batch of luxury audio equipment level of pre amps to be the most neutral, transparent and offer the lowest noise floor of their kind yet. Even the best pre amps made just a few years ago, will sound some what tonally rose tinted and lacked the full transparency factor that allows the lowest of harmonic and timbrel details to be fleshed out, compared to those listed here.

All that I've mentioned of course, excludes the tube based VTL 5.5 Series II Signature. This pre amp remains special to me because of it's non-conformist, i.e. more colourful sonic character. Some like it, others do not, as we have found, and will likely to split opinions.

Sorry guys, we got some what carried away and neglected to find any bargains here this time.

TAD C-2000 pre amp is our current reference!

TAD C-2000 pre amp.

We were completely stunned by how far, this pre amp moved the hifi and musical performance goal post ahead compared to the rest of the pack! It virtually disappeared from the equipment chain, with no sonic character what so ever for us to latch on. A total musical chameleon, it just reflects each and every recording as a whole, without any of the filtering effects in transmission properties when adding another equipment to the chain. Everything in a given recording, even the most subtle of details missed by others, is effortlessly portrayed by this TAD, giving every note it's due time and space to fully develop, lingers on just that bit longer, slowly evaporating in to a fine mist of "air", before the next note starts! The C-2000 is also the most natural sounding pre amp, most free from electronic artifacts that I've yet heard, period! I can't wait to hear how much more it's bigger brother the TAD C-600 has to offer?

Jeff Rowland Corus is one interesting pre amp, but one of my favorite.

Jeff Rowland Corus.

The JRDG Corus is the budget version of the Criterion flagship. The only areas where corners seemed to have been cut is the simplified switching power supply, compared to the more elaborate battery/charger based unit that comes with the Criterion. The sound quality however, does not reflect the cost cutting! It's easily the best performing pre amp that came calling to my system over the years. The sound is exciting, yet at the same time exacting. It's totally neutral when it comes to tonality and one of the most transparent pre amp available now. Perhaps there's a positive sonic synergy matching my Pass Aleph 0 power amps, while in some systems the Corus can sound a bit on the analytical side, which may lead some, if most to prefer the next candidate on the list!

Many will like the Ayre KX-R for it's highly musical and natural presentation.

Ayre KX-R.

Holding joint honours with the JRDG Corus is the Ayre KX-R flagship pre amp. In the context of my already slightly warm sounding system, the Ayre came across as just slightly less muscular. However, I know many who may prefer the more forgiving qualities of this pre amp over the earlier two candidates. Supremely musical and dead silent, jet black back ground lets images stand out in a rather laid back sound stage. The KX-R is just as transparent as the JRDG and never have these two pre amps split more opinions than before, despite their near equal sound quality assessment!

VTL 5.5 Series II Signature can be ordered with a phono stage card, which occupies nearly half the internal space!

VTL 5.5 Series II Signature.

This is the only tube based pre amp design we've tried and it stood out for daring to be different, even if it sounds a little o'skool. Unlike the latest ARC tube pre amp designs which aim to close the gap with solid state likeness in it's sonic character, the VTL should be congratulated for standing it's ground sound wise, just being on the tube side of things. It's warm, inviting tonal colours are as easy on the ears as wearing a pair of well worn jeans. Still highly transparent enough to allow music listening sessions to be enjoyable, while only a slight softening of dynamics and transient was detected, compared against the rest in this group. Full bodied imaging realism and ambiance cues are a plenty, as any proud tube design should be. Viva la difference!

Not that we've played with much power amps this year(as a matter of fact, I didn't), however I feel the following amplifiers are worthy of ones consideration should one decide to do some power shopping. Listed in no particular rank or order.

1) Pass Labs XP-20 pre amp
2) Parasound JC-1 mono block
3) FM Acoustics FM108 mono block
4) TAD M2500 power amp
5) XTZ A100 integrated amp

Next, Best Speakers 2011.

Listening at CMY

One purpose of my visit to CMY's showroom in 1 Utama (you can get a tour of the place here) a couple of weeks ago was to have a listen to its main system.

This system was a scaled-down version of the big system CMY demo'ed in this year's KLIAV show (see here). All the main components came from the same brands as the KLIAV system - Wadia, Jeff Rowland, Dynaudio, except that they were one model below the ones in the KLIAV system.

Doing the frontend duty was Wadia's 571 CD transport (RM 33,680) and 521 Decoding Computer (i.e., a DAC) (RM29,500). Note also the very new Shunyata Hydra Triton power line conditioner (RM20,590) on the bottom shelf.

Amplification was Jeff Rowland's Corus pre-amp (RM54,550), which has won praises from us when we had it for review here a few months ago, and Jeff Rowland's Model 312 power amp (RM68,850), which could give out 500w per channel into 8 ohms, double into 4 ohms.

The loudspeakers were the Dynaudio Confidence C4 (RM90,550), its handsome look very much a follow-on from the awesome Dynaudio Evidence Temptation used in the KLIAV show. When we entered the demo room, our gaze was immediately attracted by the slim and tall profile. Standing at 175cm (5'9"), the Confidence C4 was as tall as an adult. The elegant glossy veneer on this pair was a special finish, we were told, and came with extra cost.

The Dynaudio Confidence C4 looked majestic, my photos don't do them justice. You have to see them in person to understand the visual impact they can have on you.

Being the local distributor for Acoustic System International (ASI), CMY also used ASI's resonator products in its listening room. Here you can see ASI's tuning wood blocks (called SugarCubes) and resonator cup installed on the front wall.

The back of the system, as expected, was full of cables. There were a mixture of Siltech, Shunyata and ASI. First glance gave the impression that it was all a spaghetti soup. But if you were to look again, you'd notice that the cables were nicely dressed. They were kept away from each other, never touching; and where close proximity was unavoidable, they were separated with Shunyata Dark Field Minis. All cables were also lifted off the ground with Shunyata Dark Field cable lifters.

The performance of this system echoed the immaculate care that went into its setup. It was one of the better dealer demo's I had the good fortune to sit through. Given the more conducive listening environment compared to the KLIAV show, this system indeed sounded better, except in term of scale, the bigger system did sound even bigger.

As I am not personally familiar with every component in the system, much less the room, I'd attempt to describe the sound from the system as a whole, instead of dissecting the sound of each piece of equipment.

As expected, the sound from this big system was, well, big. The system conveyed an excellent sense of scale, with a cavernous soundstage conjured up in front of the listener, perfectly formed just behind the loudspeakers. Width, height, depth were all very good. Listening to Nils Lofgren's 'Acoustic Live' CD could get us to believe the illusion that we were sitting in front of the stage, listening to the performance together with the live audience.

This is a very transparent system. Nothing in the music escaped its analytical capability. The music threads were cleanly delineated and clearly portrayed, never blurred. The listener could choose to zoom into any part of the performance and follow it through. The good thing was that the musical details were not thrown in your face, the system never degenerated into aggression like it was force feeding you the information. I did not feel pressured or fatigued listening to it, a good sign of a system that would allow long term listening enjoyment.


To use an analogy, I'd say the system cruised along just like a big Merc, no matter what we played with it. It certainty had the poise and composure as experienced in the big sedan. Nothing could unfaze it. This system will not go 'crazy', sound frenetic or worse, falling apart with any music. If anything, I felt that just the very last ounce of emotion in the music was not fully released perhaps, as the system always maintain a grip throughout the proceedings.

A further highlight of this system was its dynamic expression, both macro and micro. It scaled the entire dynamic range with ease and without compression, even when the goings got tough. This was amply demo'ed with some Chinese orchestral music that CMY's Steve played for us. The sound appropriately 'exploded' when the big crescendos came, while at the quieter passages, the sound was kept bouncy and lively. There wasn't one dull moment.

The high-mid-low of the system was all of very high quality. Bass was punchy and well defined, the mid was rich and clear, and the high was grainless and nicely extended. They were well balanced and and well integrated together. Probably a sign of the quality of the drivers used in the Dynaudio.

This big system is an excellent example of what a modern, high end system could achieve. If you visit CMY 1 Utama, make a point to listen to it.

Contact Steve, CMY 1 Utama, 03-77266893 / 012-6535703.

CMY at KLIAV 2011

CMY is pulling out all the stops for this coming KLIAV show. Their equipment list is impressive:

Room 7012: This room is dedicated to AV, it consists of:
* Mitsubishi HC-9000 full-HD 3D SXRD projector + Anamorphic Research AR-2 2.35:1 anamorphic lens
*Audio Pro Image Series 5.1 speaker system consists of
-Black Diamond v3 front
-Black Vector v3 center
-Black Pearl v3 surround
-B1.40 250w 10" active subwoofer *Primare SPA-22 HD AV processor

Room 7016 :
This room is dedicated to digital and streaming audio from Naim:

* Naim Audio Ovator S-400 floorstanding speaker as the main highlight. They will be driven by Naim audio pre-power system.
* Naim audio Uniti-series for digital audio streaming demo
* Audio Pro Living series wireless speaker demo

Room 7018 :
This room is dedicated to vinyl (with something at the digital front too):
* Jeff Rowland Corus pre amp
* Jeff Rowland 625 power amp
* Clearaudio Master Reference turntable with TT-2 & Universal 2 separate tonearms on demo.
* Dynaudio Sapphire loudspeakers
* Metronome CD Player
* Shunyata & Siltech cables
* Big suprise for vinyl / record enthusiasts (more than 1000 records available at unbelieveable prices)

Starhill 3A :
I think this room is best called 'cost no object': :-)
* Dynaudio Evidence Temptation loudspeaker
* Jeff Rowland Criterion pre amp
* Jeff Rowland 301 monoblock power amp
* Wadia CD transport with Wadia 9 series digital computer & mono DAC
* Full range ASI Liveline power cord, inteconnects & speaker cables
* Full range ASI resonators on demo

Impressive Jeff Rowland Corus Pre-amplifier

Big E reported extensively on this Jeff Rowland Pre-amp a few days ago, see his post here. I concur with his findings, the Corus indeed is one of the best pre-amps out there.

The construction quality will be the first factor to captivate anyone who crosses the path of a Corus. True to the Jeff Rowland tradition, the main unit is impeccably built, the jewel-like front fascia has the signature Jeff Rowland wavy reflective pattern, and the main body is carved from a solid billet of aluminium (the review unit from CMY is protected with a transparent plastic film as shown in the photo):


In its bid to keep any interference from the music signal inside the main chassis, Jeff Rowland builds the remote receiver and the power supply as outboard units:

Outboard remote receiver

Outboard power supply. On the other end of this box is a power switch and an IEC inlet

From the power supply on to the pre-amp inputs and outputs, you can see that the Corus is dual mono in construction:

The remote control is chunky and heavy as it is also carved from a solid billet of aluminium. The only complaint I have is that the buttons and the labels are too small. After a while though you would be able to get to the right button by touch, even in the dark, by ‘feeling’ for its position:

The Jeff Rowland Corus' manual lays down the design philosophy and features, click on each photo for a bigger version:

The sound of the Jeff Rowland pre-amp kind of took me by surprise. I don’t know where I got the impression, but I thought of Jeff Rowland as sounding delicate, refined and probably quite civilised. However the Corus came out to be robust, fast and powerful, yet at the same time, it also sounded smooth and refined (so I am still right on one count). This is a pre-amp that would let its hair down to party and it can rock when the occasion calls for. And while doing all this it would still maintain its poise, it absolutely would not offend.


The Jeff Rowland Corus is indeed impressive and in my opinion is one of today's pre-amp top dogs no doubt. The Corus lists for RM54,450.

JRDG is available at CMY Audio & Visual, contact John at 03-21439206.

A Sensational Corus. Jeff Rowland Corus Pre-Amp.

The Jeff Rowland Corus pre-amp comes in a kit of 4 pieces, from left, the external remote receiver unit, the dual mono SMPS power supply unit, the main pre-amp unit, and lastly, the hand held remote. All the kit is exquisitely built, and will probably last forever if taken cared for. 

I've been waiting for this Jeff Rowland pre-amp to show up since it's CES debut. That's because I've heard the Jeff Rowland big boy pre-amp, the Criterion in action a few times on demo at CMY Audio & Visual, Damansara Up Town showroom, and can't help but to fall deeper and deeper impressed with it. There's a problem though, priced at RM$88k or so, the Criterion will very likely be out of reach for most of us mere mortals, which includes this humble blue collar worker here. Hence the attractiveness of the Corus, which is essentially the same pre-amp, with a simplified out board power supply unit. The big boy Criterion has a battery charged, full sized power supply unit, while the Corus makes do with a simple universal SMPS(Switch Mode Power Supply) unit. Am I getting your attention now?

However, I am still not a happy man when I got this baby home. Read On if you want to why?

The actual review unit with it's protective sheet still on the face plate. It's an absolutely fabulous looking pre-amp. The volume control has 99 non linear steps. This pre-amp has 3 XLR inputs and 2 XLR outputs for bi-amping purposes(the second XLR output is gain adjustable). There are just as many RCA inputs and outputs. All inputs are also individually gain adjustable. I would advise anyone to read the manual carefully before attempting to set up this pre-amp. There's just too many things to set up.

The JRDG(Jeff Rowland Design Group) Corus pre-amp is exquisitely built, one can't help, but be impressed by the special face plate treatment, the carved from inside out solid aluminium casing casing(just like the Ayre KX-R), the dual mono audio circuity boards and power supply unit, the external remote terminal and the remote unit it self, carved from the same inside out solid aluminium technique. If pride of ownership is as important as hand made fine Swiss watches, then JRDG products are certainly up there in terms of satisfaction, no other hifi product is as extravagantly styled or built, regardless of price.

As usual, my faithful Pass Labs X-2.5 pre-amp made way for this beauty for shelf space, and my, my, what sonic bounties the JRDG Corus brought my audio escapism sessions. I got more notes, more details, more performance, more dynamic contrast, faster transient response and plainly speaking, more music, from a totally silenced back ground noise(what noise?, who said SMPS is noisy power supply?).

The Corus pre-amp is tonally neutral(I hate that word), but not neutral in the "neutral" per say, but rather of the disappearing kind, if you get my drift? This pre-amp does not high light any particular area of the audio spectrum, it doesn't choose musical genre and it's never offensive sounding in any way. Like the best audio components, it just gets out of the way and let the music speak for it's self. The highs are not only refined, but suave too. The mids are gloriously rich and dense(Some may say JRDG mids is pristine clear, just like Evian mineral water!), so perhaps the pre-amp was simply reflecting those qualities of the Bryston BDP/BDA-1 combo? Lastly, the bass has a textured and slamming quality that propels the music's rhythmic foundation.

Like all great pre-amps, the sound staging and imaging properties are beyond reproach, provided your system is nicely dialed in.The sound staging is wide, and deep(that disappearing walls effect) with each layer within the layers well separated. The imaging is rock solid and clearly outlined, but not exactly hard edged lines either, but just right. One more strength of this pre-amp is the linearity factor. My work horse Pass Labs X-2.5 will start to sound edgy, with distorted highs and staging/imaging falling apart, when playing at nearly full volume. The Corus just sailed thru at all volume levels, while holding everything tightly together, until it came to a point my where my ears couldn't take the SPL any more, but the sound is still pristine clean and clear. It's an amazing experience, especially with Reference Recording's orchestral symphonic tracks, dance, house and rock music.  

The dual mono SMPS power supply unit, note the two power umbilical cords that goes to the back of the pre-amp? The small black box on top is the external remote receiver unit, which is wired to the back of the actual pre-amp unit too. Jeff Rowland believes in separating the remote and power supply units to keep RFI/EMI interference away from the delicate low signal level audio circuits. 

For the basis of comparison, the sonic character of this JRDG pre-amp lies some where in between the two extremes which on one side is anchored by the solid and hard hitting, "yang" sounding Burmester 808 MK V, and the Ayre KX-R representing the softer more organic, "yin" camp on the other side. In the context of my system, the Jeff Rowland Corus certainly falls towards the more "yang" side of things, but is more nicely refined, and delicate sounding on the highs, rendering the twice more expensive Burmester just a little course by comparison(we must however, remember that the Burmester design is more than a decade old, and pre-amp circuitry thinking has marched on since). By comparison again, the Pass Labs XP-20(which Odioslueth recently upgraded to) is dead center neutral, with just a tinge of rose coloured warmth thrown in for ear pad like comfort, within the context of where all the four great pre-amp design is positioned sonically.

All four are great pre-amps in the market one can buy new today. Throw in the Bladelius Saga and ARC Reference 5, and we'd have a grand party of six. Some may like the Burmester, others prefer the Ayre KX-R on the other extreme end. And we have the rest lying in between those two extremes. In the context of my system, the JRDG Corus reigned supreme, as the best pre-amp one could buy at any price!

Now, just so why am I not a happy man yet, if it's the best? Priced at RM$54,450.00, is way beyond my affordability factor for now. While I am working hard towards getting one, if you have the means without much effort, and in the market for a state of the art pre-amp, why not give this Jeff Rowland Corus a chance?

I am now wondering how much more supreme can the top dog JRDG Criterion can get?

JRDG amps are sold by CMY Audio & Visual, contact John at 03-21439206.

CMY Audio & Visual YES Campaign!

The good folks at CMY Audio & Visual is having a YES(Year End Sale) campaign for packaged systems priced with substantial savings!

Look at the variety of systems on offer! System offer prices starts at RM$2999.00. Now who says hifi needs to be expensive? Also note that most system are literally start me up packages, with very respectable cables thrown in for good measure.


For those whom Santa is very generous with, look at the offers! The sky's the limit.

The package system sale is available at all CMY branches. Don't miss out on this one.

A Small Wonder! Jeff Rowland Capri Pre Amp.

Jeff Rowland Capri also available in black, but not in Malaysia!

This pre amp review has been an experience of sorts for me! For starters, up till now, I've always come to associate neutrality with boring sound! Like so many audiophiles, I seek comfort in the warmer tonal palette, when it comes to hifi preferences. But the Jeff Rowland Capri breaks new ground here, by being tonally neutral, yet somehow manages to sound infectiously musical at the same time! The highs are detailed, highly extended with neat decaying pattern, and smooth. There are no veiling of the mids to speak off, and the bass is at once solid, tight and well extended. Bass slam is impressive too, especially the kick drums. I played Micheal Jackson's Billy Jean track on CD, and I swear I've never heard such many layers of texture on the synthesized bass lines.

Also for the first time since a long, long time ago too, I've being rediscovering my music all over again. The Jeff Rowland is extremely transparent at this price level. I felt it's transparency factor very nearly approaches the twice as expensive Bladelius Saga pre amp! Every CD or LP I played in the last 2 weeks, I heard inner details that I've never did before. This set me in music mining mode, playing CD after CD, LP after LP for hours un ending, yet I never felt tired or fatigue. It was also this time that I rediscovered my rock LP collection, Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple, All Right Now by Free, Spirit Of The Radio by Rainbow, and many, many others. I just wanna enjoy more and more music.

Small wonder in my audio system, pretty in satin silver too. Finished in only JRDG know how to.

It's also being a long, long time since I had hifi goosebumps. When playing my favorite Queen track on CD, sound track for the movie, Flash Gordon, I found myself marvelling at the special effects sound of the movie inserted in to the music. The sheer realistic-ness of the dramatic dialog and special effects sound gave me goose bumps. Now any hifi component that gives you goosebumps when you listen to music is surely worth buying without even consideration!

The Jeff Rowland Capri's micro and macro dynamics are amongst the best I've heard from a pre amp at this price level. The sound stage is of the walk thru variety, with rather realistic spatial cues and airiness thrown in for good measure. Images are solid with healthy density, and this includes those at the fringes of the sound stage.

The back end, note the phono option on input 1, RCA.

Listening to the Jeff Rowland Capri in the last 2 weeks made me realised just how dated my Pass Labs X2.5 pre amp is, sound quality wise. Other than a tinge of lushness that the Pass X2.5 offers as a sonic sanctuary, the Jeff Rowland Capri have it licked in just about every other audiophile tick box. You may argue that it's not fair to compare the two as the Pass Labs is an old product no longer sold. I agree, but i must also stress that when the Pass was sold then, just a few years back, it's retail price was exactly the same as the Jeff Rowland Capri, which makes this past comparison all the more valid, if you factor in how much sound quality has been gained with the latest batch of pre amp design. Well another point to note is that the Pass Labs is the only other pre amp that I have around, and has been my reference for the last 2 years or so.

I'll also have to tell you that all Jeff Rowland Capri(s) sold by CMY come equipped with a built in phono stage, default to input 1 via unbalanced RCA. I've found this built in phono stage to be an excellent option to have, for those with an analog rig. I used it to replace my Pass ONO clone, and immediately noticeable was how silently quiet and noise free the built in phono stage is. Even when played to near full volume, at 98/99 setting, when I lift off the tone arm, I heard no hum, no hiss what so ever. Granted, the gain stage is available is only 60db for MC and 40db for MM cartridges and only 4 load resistance selection is available. Connected to my 0.4mv out put Benz Micro Glider L2, loaded with 100ohms resistor setting, I would have appreciated just a little more gain, but that just didn't stop me from enjoying the music, as the pre amp still had enough guts to play as loud as I could want, and do it without any signs of breaking up, or coming close to limitations. The phono stage is just as transparent and as dynamic sounding as the pre amp it self. That's why I found my self reaching out to my rock LP collections every time, something which I had not done in a long, long while. I could say that the built phono stage quality is as good as any other high end stand alone unit if you had an MC cartridge putting out 0.6mv onwards. When not is used, Jeff Rowland also supplies you a pair of Cardas shorting caps to cover the phono stage input to prevent it from picking up RFI/EMI stray noises.

If phono stage not in use, Jeff Rowland provides Cardas shortings caps.

Whilst I opened up the Jeff Rowland Capri to switch the phono stage settings, I took the opportunity to marvel at the internal build quality, which exudes class and an eye for detail that is unmatched. The whole chassis is milled from a solid billet, not unlike the many times more expensive Ayre KX-R pre amp. Inside, resides a Class D switching power supply card, the front panel control and display board. The small pre amp board is attached to all the inputs and outputs for the shortest signal path possible. Also note that the internal parts quality count, with Cardas RCA plugs and the PCB is of the best quality possible. By looking inside, I noted that only 3 ICs stands between the input and output signal path. A BB2311 digital volume chip and two op amps operating in balanced configuration for 14db gain stage. I had previously DIYed a pre amp like this before(another older Jeff Rowland design too!), but I never got the sound quality level anywhere quite like this! That Jeff Rowland is such a genius of an amp designer!

The package, with comprehensive manual, power cord and remote.

The Capri has 4 inputs, which 2 are balanced. A pair of RCA and balanced output each. The six button, slim designed remote does pretty much everything you need to do from your couch. The display is in unfashionably light green/yellow is non dim able. The ergonomics are pretty functional and easy for practical use.

To sum things up. You'd guess by now that I loved this Jeff Rowland Capri deeply, and you're not wrong. Retailing at RM$15.5k, which is a popular price point in high end dome, the Capri is absolutely good value on it's own. However, if you're in to the black stuff like I do, the optional phono stage really brings the value quotient up and over the roof indeed! I could even call it cheap, because you've got a pre amp and a quality phono stage in a small and wonderful package, that is called the Jeff Rowland Capri.

The JRDG Capri, and 102 Power Amp. Match made in heaven, according to CMY. Also best selling pair since JRDG arrived these shores a few months ago.

If you're in the market for a high quality pre amp at this price range do check it out soon, as John of CMY tells me, sold as a package with it's natural partner, the Jeff Rowland 102 power amp, the Capri is almost sold out. However, fret not, John tells me he has another batch of new stocks arriving soon. Trust me, it's worth the wait!

Jeff Rowland is sold by CMY Audio & Visual, contact John, tel: 03-21439206

Small but Hot - Jeff Rowland Model 201 Monoblocks

When I was plugging the Jeff Rowland Model 201 monoblocks into my system, I was nonchalant....

Jeff Rowland Model 201 Monoblocks, the fascia still protected by the plastic sheet they came with

When Big E asked me whether I was interested to listen to these diminutive monoblocks, I said yes. I intended it as a learning experience as I wanted to know how class D amplifiers (also known as switching amplifiers) sound. In addition, I love the chance to listen to a Jeff Rowland in my system.

Their manual recommended that they be left on permanently. The power draw at idle was a low 9w. After a few day of being powered on continuously, there was just a trace of warmth detectable from the chassis. These amplifiers were indeed 'green', I even set the air-cond in my room a few degrees higher during my listening sessions compared to when I was using my own Pass Labs XA60 monoblocks which ran in full class A.

The other attractions of these monoblocks were their power rating, and their high efficiency in converting electricity into music signal (>90% I gathered). The Jeff Rowland Model 201 thus was small, running cool, but was able to put out 250w @ 8ohm and 500w @4ohm.

I have to confess that I have a preconception of class D sound, I was 'poisoned' by the opinions of some friends - I thought it would be slightly hard, less analogue and somewhat mechanical. So I did not have a high expectation.

When I was plugging the Jeff Rowland 201 monoblocks into my system, I was nonchalant..... I started by feeding them my usual vocal favourites - Shelby Lynne, 2v1g, Rickie Lee Jones - I presumed I would hear the difference immediately, especially coming fresh from my Pass Labs.

After a few minutes, I was squirming in my seat. I could not detect much if any meaningful difference. I glanced at the power metres on my Pass Labs a few times, they were indeed NOT playing. I could not detect any soundstage difference - width, height, depth remained the same, I could not detect significant differences in tonal balance, and I did not have less musical enjoyment which was the most important factor for me.

Prejudice was indeed a dangerous game. These amps shattered my prejudice in a few minutes. They indeed should be seen in the same terms as any other amplifier - whatever the technology employed - in their ability to make music.

After a few days of listening, I started to get a handle on the performance on the Jeff Rowlands. The Model 201 were hooked up to my Pass Labs X2.5 pre-amp initially, only later did the Jeff Rowland Capri pre-amp came into play.

With 250w on tap, the 201 displayed impeccable control on my loudspeakers all the time, whatever the music, at all humanly acceptable volume level. The region that benefited most was the bass, it now exhibited better slam and better definition. I put on the Sheffield Lab Drum and Track Disc, the iron-grip displayed by the Model 201 was so complete that I kept upping the volume for greater adrenalin rush. Dynamics was awesome, the drum whacks were truly exciting and there was no 'split-ends' in the treble.

However, they were by no means aggressive, Jeff Rowland never had such reputation. They always kept a gentlemanly demeanour, things never went overboard.

In other areas - the Model 201 put a slightly greater emphasis on the leading edge of each music note. On guitar for example, the emphasis was on the initial pluck and less so on the decay of the note itself. I thought this gave a slightly more exciting listen than my Pass Labs, though the latter would portray better ambiance.

Images were very well defined with the Model 201, the image edges were more well focused though not etched. There was no excess warmth in the mids, which also had good body. The highs were crystal clear and extended. The overall sonic image was always clear and clean, so one got more of the 'open window' feel. I would say that the Jeff Rowland pair were modern sounding.

Jeff Rowland Model 201 monoblocks - rear view

With this level of performance from the Jeff Rowland, would I change from my Pass Labs XA60? Big E actually threw me that question. Well, since I was already owning the Pass Labs, I wouldn't. However, if I am looking for an amp at the moment, and the Pass Labs XA60 and the Jeff Rowland Model 201 were put in front of me, I would actually go for the 1/3 cheaper Jeff Rowland (RM25.5k for the pair).

That was how good the Jeff Rowlands were. Though I felt that the Pass Labs were subtly better in some areas - such as musical flow, naturalness, and smoothness, the magnitude was not so big to justify the price difference - the law of diminishing returns bite hard here.

The user-friendliness of the Model 201 was very high. Its size and weight made movement and placement extremely easy. The connections were easy to use, I want to circle out the loudspeaker terminals, to me they were the best that I have come across, their sizable knobs were easy to turn and they clamped down tightly on the spades.

At the tail end of the listening period, I replaced the pre-amp with Jeff Rowland's Capri (RM15.5k). Resolution and focus improved and images further tightened up. We'd write up on the Capri more in the days to come.

Jeff Rowland Capri pre-amp, Model 201 monoblocks. Their size in contrast to a CD

A close friend texted me after he heard the Model 201 in his own system, "brother, I confess I have been wrong. I always thought that class D amps were unlistenable, but now I know the class D amps of today are unlike those from the past!". I don't think there was a better vindication for Jeff Rowland and their class D technology.

Hot as 'cili padi' indeed.

Jeff Rowland is carried by CMY Audio & Visual, contact John Yew, Ph: 03-21439406

A Pair of 'Cili Padi' from Jeff Rowland

The Jeff Rowland Design Group 201 monoblock sitting on top my Pass Labs, looking diminutive.

These monoblocks from Jeff Rowland are just like our local 'cili padi', small but HOT. Sound wise, that is, not temperature. :-)

I am flabbergasted. Story to come.