corus vs coherence 2

Plataman, I am very familiar with Corus, as I own the Rowland Criterion, which shares very similar audio circuit and AC power supply. I have not experienced the Coherence series, but I am familiar with the general evolution of the Rowland sound over the last couple of decades.

Rowland has evolved over the last 25 years from an essentially warm sound with a slight golden glow and a moderate transparency, to a much more neutral sound that is however more revealing of inner detail without ever falling onto the analitical side.

So, it really depends on what kind of musicality you are seeking.... Romantic with a touch of pastel, or more lifelike and -- at least for me -- even more toe-tapping emotional.

One of the unique things that you would find with Corus is that it is almost insensitive to power cords. With its sibling Criterion, I have not experienced any performance difference among any power cords I fed it with: stock, Furutech Evo II and Flux, Shunyata King Cobra CX, Aural Symphonics.... Oh yes, these cords influence greatly a lot of components, but not Corus/Criterion.

G.

Very good points French_Fries. In the case of Rowland Corus/implementation with batteries -- under the name Criterion -- it was withdrawn about a year ago... It did sell for a 5K to 6K price premium over Corus. In my system, Criterion seems invariant to AC vs battery operation for all PCs that I have applied to it, hence it would have little advantage over Corus. On the other hand, I have listened to at least one system where Criterion on battery sounded very much cleaner than when it was served by AC... So, seems that the answer is, as always... It depends! G.

One interesting feature of Corus is that it is compatible with an upcoming external Rowland power supply based on supercapacitor technology to be called PSU. Yes, of course, PSU will add a fair chunk to the price of a Corus, but unlike the Criterion with its battery unit, PSU is completely optional and can power two devices at the same time (Corus and Aeris).

If my conjectures prove to be correct, PSU might further enhance authority and transient speed to Corus.... But until someone tries PSU out, my conjecture is only worth the electrons expended in displaying it.

Thank fully "supercapacitor" is not a new fangled nuveau-fizzy-marketing term.... it's a class of devices that combine quasi-battery energy density with quasi-capacitor charge/discharge cycling... Look them up on Wikipedia if interested.

G.

Hi Syntax, Rowland seems to have passed through an inter-regnum at the end of the age of the single digit classics, when for a spell his soul seeking lead to some devices which fell just short of being emotional. Which amps and preamps did you experience as somewhat unemotional? G.

French_Fries, it is my understanding that the group of products formed by M10, M12, M112, M302, and M301 up to serial 71, were all sweet sounding to the detriment of some emotionality at the micro and macro level.

the following generation of amps followed two diverging routes...

the higher end M312 stereo and later production M301 monos were much more emotional products than the previous 2 generations in the micro/macro domains, while the lower end products like M201 and M501 sounded somewhat matter-of-fact unless they were fed through the JRDG PC-1 rectifier. M301, M312, M201, and M501 are all withdrawn.

The current generation of amps is growing into a much broader family: M925, M825, M725, M625, M525, M125.

The early incarnation of the M625 stereo exhibited a denser harmonic content than M312 but in some cases sounded slightly less transparent. It is my understanding that the slight regression in transparency has been addressed by a minor internal change. The original M625 stereo in my system generated stage and images that were approximately 2/3 the size of M312... Driving the Vienna Muzik, it sometimes gave me impression of having to "work for living".... There was the slightest impression of the amp running out of steem on intense orchestral tutti.

M725 mono cleans up all the residual issues of M625... At least as transparent as M312, but with lots more harmonic content, equal or larger stage and images, authority galore, and oddly enough, greater control and musicality of the bass, in spite of it having lower damping factor than M312... Which points to the fact that published specs are not necessarily good predictors of product behavior. Oh yes, and apreciably better control of intermodulation in treble, which yields treble that is even sweeter than M312 without being dampened nor foreshortened. Bottomline: M725 replaced M312 as my reference because it is more resolving, more transparent, and more musical than M312.

M625 and M725 remain current products. The amp line is being augmented both upward and downward.... M925 monoblocks have been released in January and I have a pair on order. The M825 stereo will be released in April, together with a lower end M525 bridgeable amp, and an entry level M125 stereo. How will they sound? I do not know yet, and any conjectures on my part would be quite worthless.

Saluti, G.