Altec 19 and jeff rowland

Hello, i have a pair of Altec 19 speakers and i have been trying to find the optimal amp for some time. I have used different tube amps with good results but i find it misses the ultimate control and dinamics, i bought a pioneer m22 klass A 30w and that got way better but i only have a litle se tube preamp and i would like to match the m22 with a good vintage american Solid state pre amp, my first though was mcintosh, c 27, c28, c29. But i havent found one for a ok price yet. I now have the chance to buy a jeff rowland consonance pre amp for a very good price, 600 dol. Phono modul included. Problem is i have no idea what to expect from jeff rowland, what kind of sound can i expect?? Is jeff rowland a good choice for altec? Never had or heard them.

Thank you

I think the Jeff Roland sounds like a good idea. I am not familiar with that particular preamp, but the gear they produce is very solid in design and I believe it should have an accurate and neutral sound if it is working properly.

I have owned the McIntosh C22 and C28, both looked great, but even after servicing them I wasn't that impressed with their sound or general performance.

In general I am not a tube advocate. Well designed tube electronics will sound the same as well designed solid state equipment. The solid state equipment is simply far more trouble free. The idea of contouring the frequency response and distortion characteristics of your system by throwing in tube electronics seems rather random and ill advised to me. If you need to tweak the response, add an equalizer... if you feel you need to "sweeten" the sound by adding some low order distortion, you may need to look elsewhere at your system's design.


Widget

Sometimes the best solutions for the bass and treble are different, but bi-amping can be a long way around. I agree that with legacy Altecs a preamp near the center of the continuum from sweet to analytical helps. If you can bi-amp, I found a good balance with some warmth on the horns and a little damping on the 416s, less on 515s, but not so much as to make the bass reticent. I am saying this in terms of effects; there are probably better and more interesting technical explanations for these differences. Without bi-amping, the best compromise would logically be neutrality (between full overhang and dry damping) on the woofers too, and you MAY find that in a second or third generation McIntosh autoformer sand amp—though the pricing on those, even more than on their preamps, is being driven by what Alan Greenspan called "irrational exuberance."As to theories:The straight wire with gain and the definitive reading of a poem have two things in common; neither exists and both can be useful ideas in looking for improvement.The base line, though, when substituting a piece of equipment, or targeting a market, either one, is the other stuff involved, because everything has its tonality, whether you want to see it as technical compromise or tailoring seditious to the truth or simply choices you wouldn't make yourself. You need to buck any trend tending to imbalance.

I have tried many amps, tube and Solid state with my Altecs. The ones i like more are my ear v 20 integrated, a pair of SET gm70 tube monoblocks with a conrad johnson pre and a pair of klangfilm copies. Solid state i really enjoy my sugden a21. Now I just got a pioneer m 22 , 30w pure class A, very powerful amp and I am looking for a pre that will bring some weight to the music, i am not interested in high fidelity to the source but I like a somewhat coloured powerfull airy and deep soundstage. Thats why i am looking for a American pre amp. I want something fun, not a boring, very neutral and flat sound picture. I would look some where else for that. Whats your favourite amps and pre amps with altec speakers?

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Originally Posted by hpm-1100

I have tried many amps, tube and Solid state with my Altecs. The ones i like more are my ear v 20 integrated, a pair of SET gm70 tube monoblocks with a conrad johnson pre and a pair of klangfilm copies. Solid state i really enjoy my sugden a21. Now I just got a pioneer m 22 , 30w pure class A, very powerful amp and I am looking for a pre that will bring some weight to the music, i am not interested in high fidelity to the source but I like a somewhat coloured powerfull airy and deep soundstage. Thats why i am looking for a American pre amp. I want something fun, not a boring, very neutral and flat sound picture. I would look some where else for that. Whats your favourite amps and pre amps with altec speakers?

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I think you are spinning your wheels. If you want a suggestion, besides the ones I've already clearly made, it is this: there is a common thread in Widget's post and mine, his much more subtle; it is that you need to look to your speakers. You are way ahead of me on buying amps, and I don't listen to legacy Altecs anymore; I gave up most of that in the '80s. If you want horn treble and sound reproduction with some body, I would suggest you find same JBL DD67000s or hie thee down to Hornstudio in Germany and spend some of your apparently sufficient funds on some TAD. TD4001's and 1601As are still available and the crossover is online for some 2402 clones.

Do you mean the 19s arent good enough?

No. I mean you apparently have fully explored what they have to offer, and you are not satisfied. If you think I'm wrong about that, just keep on doing what you are doing, but I have no more suggestions.

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Originally Posted by hpm-1100

I am looking for a pre that will bring some weight to the music, i am not interested in high fidelity to the source but I like a somewhat coloured powerfull airy and deep soundstage. Thats why i am looking for a American pre amp. I want something fun, not a boring, very neutral and flat sound picture. I would look some where else for that. Whats your favourite amps and pre amps with altec speakers?

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You want:
1. not actual fidelity to the source
2. colored sound
3. airy sound
4. deep soundstage
5. fun
6. not boring
7. neutral and flat "picture"

Pick one, or—as Widget suggested—get an equalizer.
The best pre-amp does nothing to embellish or change the sound in any way. That's why Crown named theirs "Straight Line".
I've never found the pre-amp to influence "soundstage". That's usually the speakers' job.
I, too, think your desires may be limited by your choice of speakers, but with a good amp and a half-decent pre-amp you should get the most you will be able to get out of the 19s. Anything else will have to come from some form of processor. I use third-octave graphic EQs in all my systems, no matter which speaker I have connected.
:thmbsup:

No. I havent tried a solid state preamp with them yet. If you read the original post I am looking for input on different American pre amps with this speakers, like for example mcintosh or jeff rowland. I have a deal on the JR now so I am looking forward to try that. Thank you for your coments, have a nice day.

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Originally Posted by BMWCCA

You want:
1. not actual fidelity to the source
2. colored sound
3. airy sound
4. deep soundstage
5. fun
6. not boring
7. neutral and flat "picture"

Pick one, or—as Widget suggested—get an equalizer.
The best pre-amp does nothing to embellish or change the sound in any way. That's why Crown named theirs "Straight Line".
I've never found the pre-amp to influence "soundstage". That's usually the speakers' job.
I, too, think your desires may be limited by your choice of speakers, but with a good amp and a half-decent pre-amp you should get the most you will be able to get out of the 19s. Anything else will have to come from some form of processor. I use third-octave graphic EQs in all my systems, no matter which speaker I have connected.
:thmbsup:

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A equalizer yes, that might do the job.

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Originally Posted by hpm-1100

No. I havent tried a solid state preamp with them yet. If you read the original post I am looking for input on different American pre amps with this speakers, like for example mcintosh or jeff rowland. I have a deal on the JR now so I am looking forward to try that. Thank you for your coments, have a nice day.

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OK. I found the Luxman C1000 to be an improvement over the McIntosh C20.

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Originally Posted by speakerdave

OK. I found the Luxman C1000 to be an improvement over the McIntosh C20.

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I've owned a C-20 for over fifty-years. A lovely pre-amp and—with the variable loudness control and different phono settings—it actually functions much like an EQ.
I hardly ever use it anymore these days.

The C-20 pretty much handles points 1, 2, 5, and 6.
:hurray: