2. amps-preamps
  3. 1356478534

Rowland M925 4-chassis mono amp

It appears that at CES 2013 The long-awaited Rowland M925 4-chassis flagship monoblock may be finally making its North American live debut. A terse one-liner on the Rowland home page implies that M925 will be making music in the Venetian Tower:

"Hear the Aeris DAC, Corus Preamplifier, Model 725, and Model 925. January 8-11. Venetian Tower Suites 29-125 and 29-233.
"

I still have very little information on this amp, except that its styling is patterned on M625 and M725, and that each switch mode mono power supply is housed in a separate mono chassis. I have not heard anything final about power rating.... Probably somewhere Northward of 400W per channel. I will post details as I learn them.

Guido
guido.d.corona

Showing 5 responses by guidocorona

guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Sorry Roxy, I am confused....Please explain how the quoted line deviates from "terse". Thanks, G.
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
Ah yes, your concern is valid Roxy. A better qualification would be "unadorned", or "to the point". I will contact JRDG and will try to dig out some technical ... adornments *grins!"

Saluti, Guido
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
I obtained informally the following initial specs for the Rowland M925 from JRDG:

* 430W per channel over 8 Ohms
* 850W per channel over 4 Ohms
* 2400 W regulated DC SMPS per channel with Power Factor Correction (PFC).

I will post further information as soon as I find out more..

Guido
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
As I thought, the Rowland Model 925 power amplifier has just been released to the North American market. Here is what I have learned this far about this new amplifier:

• MODEL 925 – 4-chassis monoblock power amp: 2 audio chassis and 2 power supply chassis
• OUTPUT POWER: 430 watts @ 8 ohms/850 watts @ 4 ohms per channel
• Power supply: 2400 W regulated DC SMPS per channel, with Active Power Factor Correction (PFC)
• FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 5 Hz - 50 kHz
• INPUT IMPEDANCE: 40k ohms
• THD + NOISE: 0.004%, 20 Hz- 20 kHz
• DAMPING FACTOR: > 1000, 20 Hz - 20 kHz
• OVERALL GAIN: Switchable 26/32 dB
• Combined AMPLIFIER chassis & POWER SUPPLY chassis WEIGHT: 160.4 lb / 73 kg (per channel)
• TOTAL DIMENSIONS (H/W/D): 16.5" x 15.5" x 16.25" (per channel) 419mm x 394mm x 413mm
• List price: $58K USD.

Thank goodness that each uber-hefty 160 Lbs per channel are split between an audio chassis and its power supply chassis!
guidocorona
4,298 posts
 
French_fries, M625 has already undergone a "silent revision"... If I remember correctly, machines that are still at base level can be updated by the factory. I imagine that one would have to provide a serial number to the factory to find out if an M625 is current or not.

Corus is the linestage that JRDG recommends for M925, M825, M725, and M625. Owners that only use a digital front end may also look at the Aeris DAC directly into their amp... I have heard opinions according to which Aeris may be even more resolving than Corus. I cannot confirm nor deny, because I have never had Aeris in my system.

The Power Storage Unit (PSU) will be an add-on for Corus and Aeris.

I spoke to Mr. Rowland last week about M925. I specifically asked him to characterize the sound of M925 compared to M725. He said that M925 is like.... "opening a window". Of course, this is the understandably proud opinion of the designer. Very few people have heard M925 yet, let alone in their own system. My own unit is on order.
More to discover