All, here are my assorted Rowland-related ramblings from RMAF 2013
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M925 was on static display in room 2000. Conversely, M825 was making music in two suites. In room 8032, M825 + Aeris + Capri S2 were driving a pair of Joseph Audio speakers
The system was connected by a complete loom of Cardas Clear / Clear Beyond wires, ranging from PCs to speaker wires
The total result was enchanting: I visited repeatedly to listen to more music. As the equipment had time to settle, the musicality became more and more organic for lack of a better word.
In 1122, M825 drove a pair of Lawrence Audio speakers
Apparently, the speakers were fresh off the Lawrence factory floor and showed it
. On Friday afternoon, total synergy was still less than perfect, as the unbroken-in speakers were generating a fair amount of artifacts in the treble region. By the end of the show, I was told that the sound was a lot more organic, but I had to leave by 4:00 PM on Sunday, so I did not have the time to visit the suite for a second listen.
In room 2001, Rowland showcased the brand new Continuum S2. Fed by the Aeris DAC, the new integrated drove a pair of Raidho D1 monitors. Initially the D1s were not perfectly setup, and so showed their propensity of overwhelming room acoustics with midbass
By Saturday afternoon, the positioning of the speakers had been optimized and the result was quite delicious for its musical purity and clean authority. If Continuum S2 had been hidden away from sight, no one could have guessed that D1s were driven by a integrated targeting the market under $10K.
While the chassis of S2 is virtually undistinguishable from its Continuum 250 and 500 predecessors, except for the display, S2s finely textured sound is miles above from what I remember possible with the performance of the original models. Interestingly, Continuum S2 could be further enhanced by the PC-1 PFC-based rectifier
However, No PC-1 was being used
Hope to hear an A/B comparison at some future time.
I was totally delighted by the Nordost suite in Blanca Peak: Expansive, rich, and emotionally involving was the sound, and enveloping was the music
The room featured a complete loom of new Valhalla 2 wires, with a complement of Titanium and Bronze Sort Kones supporting Rowland electronics, while twin quartets of brand new Bronze/Aluminum adjustable Sort footers coupled Audio Physics Virgo 2(?) speakers to the floor
. After three long visits, Nordost V2 wires and Sort Kones are in my very short list of highly desirable and musically goldilockian reference candidates to connect and support my system.
The Sort footers are designed specifically for enhancing heavy speakers, and not to support electronics. Under the Audio Physics, they were clear contributors to the overall magic of the Nordost room. Admittedly, I would love to gage the effectiveness of these footers under my own speakers
Unfortunately, the positioning of the Vienna Die muzik with their swivel-heads is a total bear to optimize, thus replacing the Muziks factory footers with the worthy Nordost Sorts would force a new detailed round of split-raking optimization
Not something that I would relish doing without professional assistance. Hmm
Now that I think about it, I just got a wild idea
Experimenting with a double trio of hefty Sort Footers under my 160Lbs M925s may be an intriguing proposition if it were only feasible
Mumbledee mumbledee..
Saluti, Guido
