Price Paid:  $1300.00 from King Audio

Summary:
I have had a certain sound stuck in my head for quite a while and have not been able to acheive it. I traded a piece of junk B&K Reference 20 and a couple of other useless pieces plus $50.00 for this puppy. When I hooked it up I knew that my search for a pre-amp was over! I heard things in some of my discs that I never heard before! Fingers flying across the guitar strings, singers breathing just before their next note, and instruments that were lost before in the recording. The imaging is so exact that you feel the presence in the room! The vocals will make you look around the room to see if you can see the singer! Female vocals will give you goose bumps! Mariah Carey, Phobe Snow, Madonna, Dianna Krall will all come alive in your living room! The midrange is smooth and rich, tube-like, and the bass is energetic and precise. Detailed highs that are crisp but not harsh. What really adds to the charm of this piece is that it comes with a great remote and a sensor. If your unit is in an awkwark place the remote sensor will take of the problem. Everything that is on the unit is on the remote. This baby is built like a tank and if you open it up you can see the quality for which Jeff Rowland is famous for! I don't know if you can tell or not, but I am in love with this piece. Over the years I have had well over forty different systems before I started getting into the high end market, or "rich people music" as I so call it. I don't have the big cash so everything I have obtained has been quality used equipment through cash and bartering. I am using a Meridan DVD/CD player with a Meridian DAC, Martain Logan SL3's, and a Denon 2400 amp (which is the last piece of equipment that I have to get rid of). Even through this old Denon the Consonance has brought me audible pleasure without any "fatiguing." I never understood that term until I starting listening to different units. Right now I am in pursuit of a pair of PSE monoblocks which should complete my mission, if that is at all possible in the world of Hi-Fi! If anyone out there is considering buying this unit, I say jump on it and you will not regret it. It is truly a transparent "eargasm" unit that will make you want to come home and enjoy it over and over!

Strengths:
Excellent imaging, detail, clarity, transparent.

Weaknesses:
Absolutely None!

Similar Products Used:
Quick Silver, Krell, PS Audio, Threshold, Goldmund, Naim, Mark Levinson, Audible Illusions, Accuphase,