Jeff Rowland

I think that their suggestion is a good one. I have compared the 525 and 625, and the 625 is clearly a step up in performance. It's more refined overall with improved body, depth and dynamics. The 625 has a more effortless presentation when compared to the 525. Of course that improvement comes with a commensurate increase in price.

I should note that I currently own the 625, so my opinion may be biased accordingly. I'm always looking for another upgrade (sound familiar?), but am having trouble finding something significantly better than the 625 without almost doubling its price. There is no end to the madness of this hobby!

Zd542 is correct, you need to add a suitable quality preamp to improve the sound of running your M1 DAC direct to your amp. Many preamps will actually degrade the sound, so you would be best off if you could audition the exact preamp you're considering in your system before committing to purchase it. Hopefully that is an option available to you.

Zd542, would you please share with us what model Rowland amp you are referring to? I'm interested since I've heard many of them and your experience runs counter to mine. TIA

Good luck, I hope that you'll be very pleased with your decision!

Guido is absolutely correct, he beat me to it in pointing that out.

Bombaywalla - Your post was factually correct, but I felt it could use some further clarification after you stated: "Ask Rowland if driving 1.5 Ohms in bridged mode will be an issue." I thought as Guido stated that this could be interpreted as if the speaker had a 1.5 Ohm nominal impedance instead of 3 Ohms. No offense was intended to you as your post was helpful and constructive.