"the Coherence-II was a very elegant component but needed a special battery-pack that petered out every few years. it didn't last very long in the market for any number of reasons- the batteries? too expensive to produce? technical issues?"
It was actually sold for four years, which is a respectable life span for a high-end component. And the comment demonstrates a misunderstanding of the batteries. The battery power supply requires a pair of Panasonic marine batteries. Rowland replaces them for about $100, plus shipping. I've had my Coherence II since the Spring of 2003 and averaged 5 years of use out of a set of batteries. Rowland replaced them the first time, and the second time I used my local guy - it was easy and cheap. The Coherence II has a few issues, but the batteries are not one of them. On the contrary, they're a big reason that the unit has such a low noise floor, which is critical for a top-shelf preamp.
It was actually sold for four years, which is a respectable life span for a high-end component. And the comment demonstrates a misunderstanding of the batteries. The battery power supply requires a pair of Panasonic marine batteries. Rowland replaces them for about $100, plus shipping. I've had my Coherence II since the Spring of 2003 and averaged 5 years of use out of a set of batteries. Rowland replaced them the first time, and the second time I used my local guy - it was easy and cheap. The Coherence II has a few issues, but the batteries are not one of them. On the contrary, they're a big reason that the unit has such a low noise floor, which is critical for a top-shelf preamp.