As some of you know, it has been a rocky start with the RM 40's at my place. I had never had them sounding anywhere near as good as what I heard at Frank's place (Horsehead).
Well, I am happy to report that the music I just heard coming out the 40's was raising goose bumps on the back of my neck and was simply the most natural, detailed, and well balanced system I have ever heard - PERIOD!!
How did I finally achieve this? Part of it was some equipment changes, part was speaker placement/tweaking, and part was proper room treatments.
Let's start with the equipment changes. When I purchased the 40's I was using Kora Cosmos Reference 100 watt Class A triode mono blocks and AVA T7 preamp. While this combination was excellent on my previous speakers (Silverline Sonata II's), they just weren't getting the job done on the 40's. If the music was dynamic and I played it at my normal listening levels, the Kora just didn'thave enough guts to handle the load. I was dreading the thought of having to go to a solid state amp. For almost the whole time I have been in this hobby I have used tube amps. Solid state amps always sounded a little grainy, dry, and lacked soul. They never seemed to be able to capture me the way a good tube amp could.
That was until I received the Rowland 201 monos. These amps are simply incredible
When I compare their midrange to the Kora tube amps they didn't lose out. In fact, I was able to hear deeper into the music than ever before. Yes, it is a cliche, but each cd I was putting on sounder better than ever before. It wasn't just hearing subtle details that I had never noticed before. It was that the presentation had a completeness that it never had before.
On the bottom end they absolutely smoked the Koras (no suprise there). Where I was a little shocked was how the Rowland outperformed the Pass x250. The Pass was certainly no slouch on the bottom but the Rowland not only went deeper, it was more dynamic and again allowed for better detail. It was easy to hear the strings being plucked and how they resonated on a bass and percussion instruements just sounded so tight and musical that it was like they were in the room!
On the preamp front I went from the AVA T7 to the MiniMax w/NOS tubes (I need write a separate post for that comparison) to the Placette Passive preamp. My favorite of the three was the Placette in a balanced configuration (thanks Frank for bringing yours up - mine is rca's). All comments here are based on using the balanced Placette with Kimber Select ic's going from Electrocompaniet ECD-1 dac to Placette and from the Placette to the 201's. The Kimber selects were also Frank's and replaced my Argent Audio Pursang and Jaden Signature ic's. Also, since the Placette was balanced, I was able to eliminate the xlr adapters I was using on the 201's.
One other major equipment change was adding a BPT 3.5 Signature into the mix. This unit was just received on Saturday and has not even come close to breaking in. Regardless, it crreates a super dark and quiet background that let's you really hear what all of the other components can do - I highly recommend it as has Frank and Eric elsewhere on AudioCircle.
With these equipment changes, it was time to work on the speakers... Out came the laser pointer and we were able to get the toe-in exactly right. I have found that I like the 40's a little better by not crossing them in front of my, but rather have them hit my outside shoulders. Once this was done, Frank did his magic on adjusting the pots and putty. Since this combo much more dynamic than previous combinations, more putty was removed and the pots were brought up a little more. These adjustments just made the 40's sing!
We listened to female vocals (Tori Amos - Boys for Pele, Eleanor McEvoy - Yola, and Natalie Merchant - Tigerliliy) and for some better dynamics Frank put in some music I am not familiar with (one was the Red Rose music sampler I think - Frank can comment later) and I used Harry Connick Jr's "She".
For room treatments I am using a combination of RealTrap's MiniTraps (6 of them right now), EighthNerve (Corners, Echoes, and Seems) and EchoBusters strategicaly placed around the room.
I can't stress enough how both Frank and I really were stunned at how good this setup was. This was exactly why I bought the 40's and dealt with all the problems I have had. No other system has come close to giving me this much enjoyment when listening to my stereo.
The only bummer on the day was when Frank had to go. The good news for Frank is that he left not only with his gear (sad ot see it leave) but with two pairs of Rowland 201's to try in his system vs Pass X350's.
Today reinforced how important it is to properly match components and how enjoyable it is to achieve that synergy.
One last comment...Many people (including myself) have been talking about ways to make the 40's better. Wanting to make the speakers better doesn't mean that they aren't already very good and an excellent value. What it means, is that there is room for improvment! If it can be done without having to ship the speakers back to Brian, why not do it?
GW
