Jeff Rowland 2 or Classe 25 for Avalon Eclipse

I owned the Avalon Eclipse's for over 10 years and drove them with both Rowland and Classe amps. The Avalon's are a 4 ohm speaker ( I'm pretty sure of that ) and the Eclipse's are a sealed enclosure speaker that was originally designed by Charles Hanson now of Ayre. Hanson and Rowland worked very closley at that time. I do believe that the two companies were at one point operating together and then later seperated operations. The Rowland Model2 comes from a time when I thought Rowland made some their best stuff...( the Model 6 and 8 were also of that time ) it is only a 75 watt amp - but pleanty of current. The Classe is good stuff and I also owned the DR 25 which is getting long in the tooth if that is amp you are looking. This amp was designed by David Reich ( hence the DR ) which was a real good amp. If it is just the Classe 25 - good but if you are looking for opinions - go with the Rowland - it is a well made match

I have a Classe 15 in my secondary system. I also heard the Classe 25 many times over the last 15 years. The Classe house sound is a little dark sounding. If you don't like bright, this is an amp to consider. I am running my Classe 15 amp with a tube preamp and Vandersteen 2CE speakers. It is mostly used for background music while I am on my computer, but it is a very musical sound.

Keep in mind the Classe 25 amp is at least 16-17 years old and if it were I, I would probably think about replacing the caps if they are leaking. The Classe is 250w a channel at 8 ohms, 500w at 4 ohms and 1000 watts per channel at 2 ohms. It is perfectly stable down to 2 ohms. My Classe 15 amp has been 100% trouble free. The power supply in the 25 is very overbuilt as is the heat sinking.

I know nothing about the Rowland amp.

04-02-13: Aspac
Thank you all for support, All I need is the amp match well with my speakers, so pls tell me which one will you choose?

I would choose the JRDG Model 2, it would work fine with the Avalon's in my room with my tastes. However, I do not know how big your room is or how loud you listen.

Ooops, I forgot the link for the Emotiva amp:

http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/amplifiers/products/xpa-1l

-RW-

Aspac, there are *many* amplifiers available in your price range that would drive your speakers quite well. If I was making the purchase, I would err on the side of having plenty of power, 150 watts/ch. or more should do nicely.

I have a 5.1 surround sound system and was very happy with the Butler TDB-5150 that I used to drive my Gallo Reference Series speakers. It had 5 channels with 150 watts.channel. Additionally, it is a "hybrid" amp - it uses both tubes and MOSFETS.

Butler also has a 2-channel model called the TDB-2250 with 250 watts/channel. All of the Butler amps are *very* well-made and sound very good. A brand new one will cost you about $2995. Here is a link for it:

http://butleraudio.com/tdb2250.php

Another very fine amp is a new offering from Emotiva.com, an internet-direct company. Their power amps are very well-built (with a 5-year warranty!), use very good parts, and sound very, very good for what they cost.

Their newest amp is called the XPA-1L. It is a mono-block design, it is a single-channel amp, you need 2 for stereo. It has 250 watts into 8 ohms and 500 watts into 4 ohms - very powerful. In addition, it is a combined Class-A and Class-AB amp and runs fully-balanced. This means that for the 1st 35 watts of output, it runs in pure Class-A mode. Many folks here will tell you that Class-A is the best-sounding solid state type of amp. Let your ears be the judge.

Anyway, these are very good amps and cost only $699 each with free shipping. And all Emotiva products have a 30-day in-home trial period and come with a 5-year parts/labor warranty. 2 of these would cost you $1400 - it would be almost impossible to find a better value on the market today...

Good Luck!

-RW-

Both amps sound warm and musical. But a sharp individual focus they both do not have. Avalon ( which I sold for over 6 years) can give a deep and wide stage. But misses the sharp individual focus of instruments and voices. These amps have the same properties as the speakers. At the end you miss.......yess the individual focus. For me it is that simple! Like 1 and 1 is 2.

Thank you all fot support, All I need is the amp match well with my speakers, so pls tell me which one will you choose?

Is there any better amp that I should look for?

The JRDG Model 2 is 75 wpc, the Classe 25 is 250 wpc. If you need the power, the Classe is your answer. Otherwise, the JRDG Model 2 sounds better within it's power constraints. The Classe will play about 5 dB louder though.
Typical quantity vs. quality issue.

Just a reminder that the Classe Twenty Five and the Classe DR-25 are very different sounding amps.

The Model 2 has 2 gain settings and it is quite beefy as long as it doesn't have to drive through a black hole :-) The Avalons aren't so critical. The Model 2 is from sound quality definitely a class of its own.
It also has 2 different input impedances, it can be matched with a lot of preamps. Maybe there is a chance to get in touch with the Manufacturer to get a good information about speaker matching?

Jeff Rowland model 2 with 100wpc, I think it has less power enough to drive Avalon Eclipse, right or wrong?

The Jeff Rowland Model 2 is an amazing amplifier and I would choose it over the Classe 25.