What do you look for in damping factor?

Ralph, I am slightly confused. Are you trying to say that:

A. The perceivable synergy of the Rowland 312 and the Mahlers exists in spite of the amps high damping factor?

B. The 312's damping factor is immaterial to its synergy with speakers in general.

C. The perceived extreme degree of synergy between the two devices cannot be, and is likely a case of self delusion on my part?

By the way, if I recall correctly, the output impedance of the 312 is 100K Ohms.

Like others suggested, I suspect a high or low damping factor is likely neither good nor it is bad, rather it may render an amplifier more or less suited for a given speaker. For example, while Sean has commented elsewhere on this forums that he found the Vienna Mahlers always to display a sloppy bass, I listened repeatedly to these speakers at the recent Denver AudioFest, and found them to have an extremely deep tight and tuneful bass while being driven by a Rowland 312. I then checked the damping factor of this amp and found it to be a wapping 1000. One possible explanation of the apparent 312/Mahler high synergy is that the Mahlers have a fairly low impedance of 6Ohms, dipping to 3 Ohms in the bass. This relative low and uneven impedance likely requires a high damping factor, which is found in the 312.