Jeff Rowland Pre with Pass Labs X350.5 or X600.5

The spec sheet for the Criterion shows 40 ohm input impedance, Balanced and Unbalanced and Output is 60 ohms Balanced and Unbalanced. The Capri Input is 48 ohms Balanced and Unbalanced while output is 80 ohms Balanced and 40 ohms Unbalanced.

Those impedances are reasonably close to the Pass. I can understand why a recording engineer would be concerned with Unity Gain and exact impendance matching, but for audiophile products I believe that we just need to be in the same range. Correct me if I'm wrong. These levels are so close that it's a matter of turning volume to 75.7 vs. 73, or some similar small difference.

Dave

05-25-08: Arupg asked:

"Can someone tell me whether the Synergy 2i or the Coherence 2 with separate Rec outputs can be used as a tape loop for using a signal processor."

See http://www.jeffrowland.com/ClassicPreamps.htm for details about Rowland "classic" pre-amps.

Dave

Those impedances are reasonably close to the Pass.

Dave
Dcstep (System | Reviews | Threads | Answers)

How did you arrive at this conclusion?

My Pass has a balanced input impedance of 30,000 ohms (30K ohms). Do you consider this reasonably close to 80 ohms (the balanced output impedance of the Capri)?

A preamp's output impedance (Unbal or Bal) of less than 150 ohms going into a power amp's input impedance (Unbal or Bal) of 20,000 ohms is very, very acceptable & considered a good match.

Question is how do Rowland preamps sound with Pass power amps? Do the JRDG pre have any particular sonic signatures that manipulate the overall sonics?

Arupg asked:

"...Do the JRDG pre have any particular sonic signatures that manipulate the overall sonics?"

Speaking only to the Capri, there's no signature, IMHO. It's transparent, detailed, stress free, with solid lows and sweet, open highs. There's no etching of the highs, but neither are they rolled off. In contrast, my prior Conrad Johnson was "golden" and slightly darker in overall color. The Capri with acoustic bass you hear the air around the strings and the rosin on the bow, at the same time you hear the woody body of the bass.

So, I think that the Capri passes the sources onto the amp(s) with great accuracy, bottom to top.

Dave