Jeff Rowlands Amp and Dac vs. VAC amp and DAC

Hello,
I went to hear the VAC 200 iq system today. It is very beautiful. I think you would all agree it is engaging and warm and in a word gorgeous. However, I also listened to the JR with a tube preamp and I must say it was even better. So, I think the way to go is the Rowland for now and add a preamp when I can afford it down the road. The preamp with the Rowland completed the circle. It gave me a VAC sound with the ease of solid state. I think this is going to work out just fine. Your help and advice and suggestions have been fabulous. Oh, by the way, I recommend a piece for you to play. It is called Prayer Cycle and the track is called Benediction with Linda Rondstadt and Nusreh Fateh Ali Khan. The words are 'made up'. Not a real language, and it sounded so so beautiful today all three times I listened to it, but the fullest was the JR and tube preamp (ARC). So so so nice. I think I am almost at the finish line -- for now (LOL). R

I was quite certain you would choose Rowland. Fine tuning with tube preamp is next possible step. In any event, tube preamp/transistor power amp set-up is favoured by many. Especially with digital source. Purist audiophiles would never do this, though, but to hell with them.

What would a purist audiophile do?

To start - I am not one of them. I choose whatever combination I like. Purist would do either full tube or full solid state, more often full tube.

I don't know if you have considered this, but your new Rowland amp will need a good power cord, not that it will sound bad with the stock one. You don't have to match the power cord to your other cables, only to the component you are going to use it with. But let the new amp break-in for at least a few hundred hours before comparing power cords, if that's what you will want to do. Your Rowland DAC wouldn't mind good cord either, by the way. If you ask for a advice here you will get recommendations for one hundred brands.
Also, if you buy cds, in my experience Japanese cds always sound better, always. JVC XRCDs are quite consistent. Some American cds by audiophile companies like Chesky, Acoustic Sounds, Water Lilli and others can be excellent too. You might also want to use cd treatment, Walker Audio is popular but there are others. I don't listen to digital much so I use inexpensive Optrix treatment. All my treated CDs including Japanese sound better than untreated. At the very least rinse them with lukewarm water and wipe off with soft cloth not paper towel which is abrasive.