Rowland 625

OK. Got it inserted and powered up this morn. We all know we shouldn't dare listen to anything cold and especially if it is totally unbroken in. I did anyway. Ouch. I was worried. I walked away with it running very low volume for 3 hours. When I got back I inserted a Chesky CD and sat down to listen with the Rowland Criterion pushing signal to it being fed from a pair of Esoteric 03 separates. OMG! Who dropped Acid in my coffee? It' was already outperforming my 312 in all but one area. The mids were a bit dark, but still way more information than the 312 ever put out. The slight tin pan tone of the switching/ice power circuits was completely gone. The bass was more evident, more extended and all across the freq range more dynamic. Jeff must have paid strict attention to getting the phase accuracy PERFECT everywhere in this thing. The imaging is spooky. Compared to my 312 the images have more density, are illuminated further back in the soundstage and have a strong 3D illusion to the point of feeling like you can receive information as to what the people, instruments, motion, lips, breathing, chest size ..you name it Like I said, who dropped acid in my coffee. I am writing this as of tonight now with 12 hours’ time after opening the box. BTW, it runs almost hot. I suspect high bias to the output stage. You think? Duh! This amp perplexes me as to how it puts out 300 watts/8 ohm with so much control in such a tight compact package. So, any of you even thinking that this might be just a little better than your 201,501, 312, 301 etc….Don’t kid yourself. It’s not even close! This amp is already, after only 12 hours break- in, 25-30% better than any of these older switching/ice powered class amps. The 925 mono amps are going to rock this world when they arrive early next year.. I can near guarantee they will make product of the year. You watch!

Well, that was the word I was trying to avoid in case I was wrong. I have had many amps in my life. The ones I admired most were either tube or Class A designs in Solid State. I awoke this morn and swapped Cd music. Now listening to Yellow Jackets. These above average CDs from Yellow Jackets now sound like 24/96 files! Great bass extension and fast dynamics. It’s fast down low without giving up either detail or any warmth (if it was there in the first place). To be very clear, this is NOT a tubey or warm sounding amp. It is absolutely neutral amp with the balls to take a bass signal and accurately amplify it. If your eyes were closed you’d swear there must be a hundred pound amp in the system. It has that sort of command and control over the speakers. The crappy Cds still sound like junk, but I don't find myself running for the CD drawer open button as quickly. I can listen to it for a couple of songs or more if the material is good. The 312 made be cover my ears like fingernails on a chalk board was in the room with this sort of poor CD. Don't get me wrong about the 312. It was and is a great amp, but I always found myself thinking about the minuses while enjoying the strengths of what I was hearing out of the 312. With the 625 there is just total enjoyable bewilderment! Folks, this thing is a total game changer in this price/size/ power category. Nothing I can think of can even begin to touch it. 300 watts of what sounds like class A bliss. A soundstage that is in the top stratosphere of amps I have ever heard anywhere. The dual mono structure inside gives super rock solid staging. You talk about blacker blacks of silence around performers and instruments...Holly Crow!!! Once you hear this, you'll have a very hard time going back to what you have. It's not cheap, but you get more than you can get from any other amp at double this price. Doubt my opinion? Go listen to it. Always listen before you buy. ALWAYS!

Husk01, no they wont. They weren't ready. There will be two rooms running a 625. Not sure who or what with.

I now have 30 hrs break-in time on her. The darkness in the mids has nearly vanished. If it gets much more open and transparent towards the rear of the stage I will be very surprised. It's already way beyond the 312. This thing reminds me quite a bit of the power and solidity in imaging of my Gryphon Antellion Signature amp, but with the transparency and depth of the 312. But like I said the 625 has greater imaging at the rear and filled in corners than the 312. I'll wait till I have over 100 hrs on her before reporting again. Happy New Year audiophiles! David.

The 625 retails for 13,500. I think the Corus is 10,000. A bunch of us heard the Corus at RMAF, but it was being fed by a laptop into a Ayre DAC. I have a Criterion. When I got home with my 625 and let it warm up I was totally astounded to hear such a dif between the 312 I had and the 625. As for how much dif between the Corus and the Criterion....I hear it is only a very very minor dif if you use a top flight power chord on it. I use a pair of Esoteric digital separates. P03/ D03. To me I think this source is far better than a laptop into an Ayre DAC. I'd save money on the Pre and buy a Corus and put the rest into a better digital (or analogue!) front end. The 625 can do things with imaging and low level (very low level) detail that any of his ice powered amps could do. As for weight. It has more balls per pound of output that any amp I've ever heard. Again, it very much reminds me of a class A amp. Would I like more power or current? Yes, but but I do NOT find myself always missing it. In fact unless you're using very inefficient speakers(less than 85db), you'll never be wanting. I once had a Gryphon Antellion Sig stereo amp in my system. That thing was class A and weighed 198 lbs out of the crate. It had so much current you could arc weld with it, but the sonic effect of that much current is dynamics that will allow you to turn up your amp so loud and not damage your speakers, but your pictures will start to fall off your walls and ruin your pantry! I think that is what Jeff's new Mono 925 amps will be able to do. What the Gryphon could not do as well as the Rowland is total transparency and illuminated depth of sound-stage. It also did not have anywhere as good low level detail as this 625 amp. Tubes are about the best in low level retrieval, but along with that you get a whole host of other drawbacks inherent with tubes. All I can tell everyone is you must get out to your dealers, or if you know someone who has one, and listen! Aloha, David.

Temperature update. I was running the 625 way up for about an hour and then felt the amp in several places. It was more than uncomfortable hot. She was Class A type hot! Not sure how this will effect the long term reliability or performance, but it sure holds together very well under heavy dynamic swings!

Clavil, no clicking output to speakers when power switch is cycled on/off/on. Don't worry about the resolution of the 625. It will way outperform the 312!

OK to finally put an end to this she loves me, she loves me not. If you hear both a 625 and a 312 in the same system you will know within 2 seconds that the 625 is way way better. It's not a little better Brazcole. It's a lot better. The bass is better. the treble is better. I can go on and on, but the fact is you can barely listen to the 312 after hearing the 625. It has a super magical spooky great sound quality to it. I have 600-800 hrs on mine and it still takes my breath away every time i listen to it. 300 watts is NOT a low powered amp. Look at the 4 ohm spec. It nearly doubles into 4 ohms. Very few amps in the world can do that, and it tells you a lot about the current capability of that amp also. It, along with the yet to be released 925 mono amps, are going to rock this world of audiophile amp technology and sound. The boys of at Jeff's camp know this, and are very patiently finishing the 925. Until you have heard the 625 you just don't understand that it isn't hype you are reading from those of us that have. Aloha, David.