Rowlands vs. Levinson Amps.

I demoed a Gryphon Callisto 2200 (maybe unfair comparison, as an integrated) last week, but also found it uninviting and fairly standard-sounding. It might have been the setup, but the Cello Encore 50 monoblocks sounded more refined and slightly sweeter in their place, although lacking a little bit of power. Funny, since I thought the Callisto sounded quite full a couple months ago when compared to a Rotel-1090, I think my ears may have changed since being turned on to tube amps.

What setup surrounded the Callisto? - My findings differ a little from yours since the 2200 is almost a updated S100 power amp.

That's a good question, Flg2001. I can't remember, since I tested so many systems last week. I believe there was quite an expensive solid state preamp, a midrange standalone CD player, and Wilson Watt Puppy 5.1 speakers.

You might want to consider comparing the 300 series Rowlands with the 436, not the 501s. I've owned a Rowland 302 for well over a year (actually quite a long time for me to be just satisfied with something in the audio world), and I honestly don't imagine ever upgrading it. For me, that's saying a lot!

Can we throw Pass x.5 series into the mix here? I am a big fan of tubes, but only in the preamp I've had too much down time from the big power tubes in my history! The current Stereophile has a quickie review of the Levinson 431. I want something with loads of speed and impact, but sweet on top. I'm running Nautilus 803s which run a little bright. Is H2O the ticket here?

Peter