I've done a few upgrades recently. I added an SRA Platform under the preamp and turntable and the improvement made me go out and upgrade my preamp. I replaced the Jeff Rowland with a Soultion 725. The improvement is beyond description. I ordered a Virginia Class SRA base for the Soultion. I also ordered a custom turn table stand from the incredible people at Timbernation and should have in the coming weeks.
This system, to me, has reached the level I had dreamed of. A beautiful 3-D soundstage, deep, transparent, detailed, dynamic and textured.
Sanders Sound Systems Magtechs and 10E Speakers with DBX Crossover on Timbernation Rack
Utter bliss.
Esoteric K03
Incredible player & DAC!
Sanders Sound Magtech Amps
All I can say is Wow! Plugged directly into wall, Each amp rests on three Finite Element CeraPucs. Pluged into Shunyata Hydra via Shunyata Anaconda PC. Balanced Tara Labs The One IC into preamp
Soultion 725
I NEVER thought I would replace my Jeff Rowland Criterion. The Soultion Preamp is absolutely insane. Transparency, resolution, detail, you name it.
Sanders Sound Systems 10D
Brand new with his new aluminum drivers. Just awesome!
Tara Labs The One
Speaker Wire and Interconnects - Balanced and single ended, as well as digital for the upsampler to K03.
Allnic Audio H-3000
Tube phone stage - upgraded from the Rhea. This tubed phono stage is dead quiet. Absolutely no tube rush. Incredible soundstage depth. The slam is insane.
Shunyata Python Anaconda and Alpha Helix
Shunyata Power Cables throughout
McIntosh MR-78
With the Modaferri mod. Great tuner but depends on what stations are doing what programming. Living here (Long Island NY) 10 years, I am currently enjoying FM very much with a local station recently going to classic rock, make that, incredibly, non-repetitive classic rock with minimal commercials. Shhh.... I know this is a programming error but until they figure it out, I am listining to some really great stuff.
Shunyata Hydra 8
Used for preamp, tuner and digital front ends.
Alesis Masterlink
CD Burner used for compilations. Nordost Silver shadow digital into G25U and into DAC. Hard drive sounds supersweet and blows away any puter audio I have ever heard, but just 40Gig HD.
Transrotor Rodino
Magnetic drive turntable. It has taken me to that vinyl level I have dreamt about.
SME 5012 - Made specifically by SME for Transrotor
12 inch arm. Wow!
SOTA Power Supply ordered at an HiFi show directly from Igor Ultimate Power Conditioner
Used for ESL Panels and digital crossover
Degritter Degritter
Ultrasonic Record Cleaning Machine - I do believe its the best available right now. Incredible upgrade
Air Tight PC-1 Supreme
All I can say is wow.
Shakti Holographs
Widened and deepened sound stage
Finite Elements Cera Pucs
Under CD Player and Amps
Timber Nation stands
Rack for amps and crossover between speakers
Shakti Stones
On amps and Hydra
Symposium Svelt Plus
Improvement over the svelt shelf is staggering
Billy Bags Pro shelf
Double wide for front end and preamps
Magnun Dynalab Signal Sleuth
used with outdoor FM antenna to get NYC stations (I live on Long Island)
Entreq Silver Minimus
Grounding box and silver ground wire for K03. Puts the player on steroids.
DBX Digital Crossover DriveRack
Man oh man.
Silent Running Audio Ohio Class
Custom made for Esoteric K-03. AWESOME upgrade.
Akai GX-625
1/4 inch 4 track stereo dec. 7 1/2
Vicoustic Super Bass Extreme Bass Traps
Three on each side with stands and supports. Incredible addition to the room.
Studer-Revox B-77 Modded by Arian Jansen - 15ips
Tape Project is INSANE
Maple Shade 4 inch board
Under the dbx digital crossover
Aurender N-10
Replaced the PC based system which was just a PITA. The Aurender is incredible.
Soulution 725 Preamp
Transparent. Just incredible. The centerpiece of the system.
How do you like the Vicoustics Super Bass Extreme traps; they certainly are beautiful! I am thinking about adding 1 or 2 in each of two problem corners in my listening room (an alcove on one side of room, other side of room is ample and extremely open). Do they work well for you? Thanks!
Congratulations on your room and your system....love your comment on taking a step back and just smiling when a system gets to a certain point of performance and level of musicality. Enjoy!
Thanks, Jazz. I did alot of research before trying the Cera Pucs so I went right for that. I played with some symposium fat pads. I have stillpoint minis undr my preamp and a SRA platform under my CD player. The speakers rest on symposium ultras.
I did the upgrade from NordOst SS to Valhalla a long time ago so but if you want to step up another level, my move from Valhalla to High Fidelity Cable CT1-E was at least as good an upgrade. I have now CT1-U which is IME still worth the upgrade.
Which other coupling device did you try before settling on the Cera Pucs?
I just replaced the Nordost Silver Shadow 75 ohm spdif cable between the transporter and the clock/upsampler with a Valhalla - OMG! You get what you pay for. Bass is so much more musical and articulated and the highs even more extended. I hope I don't have to replace all of my cables to Valhalla! Makes Tidal music even MORE enjoyable. Add the iPENG 8 for the ipad ad I am in heaven.
The trnsporter is solidy well beyong anything the touch with an upgraded power supply can do (using digital out into a dac). The transporters soundstage is much deeper & wider and more full of information and detail than the Touch. Tidal is bringing on a slightly more emotional feeling. The midrange has really come to life. Not even 200 hours in yet on the Transporter.
System edited: I am loving Tidal so much, I upgraded my Squeeze Box Touch with Welborne Power Supply to the Transporter. new out of the box and it blows away the Touch. The front to back sound staging and gobs of more detail are awesome. Also, the low level retrieval of harmonics is pretty cool.
Congratulations on putting together what is clearly a very well thought out chain of superbly designed audio components. The combination of Sanders amplifier and speakers are the logical choice for someone who loves the best qualities of electrostats with the minimum number of compromises.
System edited: Replaced my Benz Micro Glider with a Clear Audio Stradaveri V2. Incredible improvement. The front to back layering is astounding. Violins are so real.
Thank you, Jon. The Criterion is truly special. I have come 'full circle' from preampless to this and the preamp is absolutely 100% the heart & soul of the system. Merry Christmas!
Hi Dennis, Congrats on your recent acquisition of the Criterion. I have not had the opportunity to hear the Criterion but having heard the Corus, I can understand where you are coming from. JDRG actually rates the Criterion above the Corus. Having a high quality preamp most certainly puts to rest any previous concern whether to go direct to power amp or not. The K-03 is surely singing now as it should. With the preamp in the chain, every other component in the system gets upgraded simultaneously and of course, the whole is a whole lot better than the sum of its parts. Cheers! J.
Grazi a mille, Guido, I know how fortunate I am to have this. It is an amazing piece with an a great pedigree. It sounded great when I hooked it up but the real magic started happening late Saturday night. I was just sitting there with my mouth hanging open. I can only imagine what is in store.
Thank you very much for reaching out. I have followed your posts over the years (value them greatly) and have learned alot for you. The Jeff Rowland was on my list due to your posts and I learned alot about my K03 by reading your posts as well. You are an incredible asset to audiogon. Thank you very much!
Hei Dennis, I am so glad you adopted my beloved Criterion!
The baby is fully broken in... It should take less than 1 week of 24/7 playing time for it to return to its top performance. The input I have used most is XLR1, followed by XLR-2, and then XLr-3.
For best results, you should leave Criterion on all the time... Except when there is a thunderstorm in the forecast.
Let me know if you need a copy of the manual. Here is the link to the Criterion section of the Rowland Knowledge Base:
First impressions on Criterion after battery charge and warm up- the Criterion doesn't "get out of the way" as my proir preamp did. Rather, it gets right in the middle and takes everything over, taking up the "Conductor" role, if you will. It tack's the sounsdstage up to the walls a foot past each speaker and throws a steel ring around the lower bass to make sure nothing oozes out. It directs all the little ohhs and ahhs into the right little places. It holds the microphones up closer to the back up singers. But it does it very, very quietly. You don't even know its there.
This is the first time that I am lisening to my rig and enjoying what I am hearing, as opposed to wondering what is missing. The Criterion is amazing. Guido Corona's legendary writings have sent me on a journey for the Corus - my having ended up with the Criterion is an audio story made in heaven. The sound even from a more divine place. Thank you Guido and Matt!
System edited: Santa is an audiophile and he came early this year. The new prreamp search has ended and we have a Jeff Rowland Criterion to take my system to a whole new level. Thank you to all involved for this INCREDIBLE treasure.
System edited: I just replaced the Symposium Acoustic Svelt Shelves to the Svelt Plus. I was hoping for some improvement but what I heard was even better than expected. Every speaker should have these under them.
System edited: I finally solved my PC music storage problems. I decided to go with a Drobo 5N for network storage. Easy installation and very cost effective.
10-07-14: Cerrot They are good, regardless of cost. Roger sells direct, so, right there, we save 50% or more in retailer mark up and other nonsense. Truly silly to comment on these with the price comment.
You misinterpreted by comment as Charles indicated. Roger, who I have spoken with on several occasions, makes this very point on price gauging in audio. Ciao.