While there are some valid points on cost of said modules, it would seem prudent that judgement was withheld until the newer Rowland gear was actually heard by the OP and others. That would seem only fair to JRDG.
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As someone said in another thread, even very expensive cartridges have average quality diamonds. I do think Jeff damaged his reputation within audiophile community, but that's not where money is. It is hard to refuse the opportunity to make five times more by selling those still very good sounding pieces to Asian and non-Asian non-audiophiles. Personally, his amps are not on my list. With solid state I would go with either Pass or European brands. I would still consider old 8T, maybe. |
I looked at the Red Dragon amp mentioned by George... It is based on a Pascal S-Pro2 module. Conversely, the Rowland Continuum S2 is powered by a Pascal M-Pro2... Yielding 400W/8Ohms and 800W/4Ohms per channel.http://discosoundequipment.sell.everychina.com/p-99120690-professional-audio-disco-sound-equipment-class-d-modules-for-active-speakers.html http://www.theaudiobeat.com/equipment/pics/jeff_rowland_continuum_2_large_inside.jpg Which ever $100 Chinese Class-D amp module they used, it’s still a blithe on the name to me. Rowland built their name on quality in house made amps, now it seems to me they just get whatever Class-D modules and throw it into a "glitzy" case whack a $10k price on it and rest on their laurels of days gone by when they did make great amps of their own design. Cheers George |
Hi JL35, I have not heard Daemon yet.... But if I ever decide to retire my enchanting combination of Roland PSU+Aeris, and M925 mono amps, I am going to consider consolidating, and so Daemon would become a prime candidate... Post launch comments I heard about it this far have been more than extremely positive. Saluti, Guido |
Hi Inna and all, if you happen to be at RMAF this weekend, you will be able to listen to a full suite of Rowland electronics wired with Nordost Odin II, and powering a pair of Magico speakers in the Nordost suite (Humboldt). The Rowland electronics consists of the ultra-caps-based Power Storage Unit (PSU) feeding the Aeris DAC and the Corus linestage, into a pair of the brand new M535 bridged amps. In bridged configuration as they are in the Nordost system, they yield about 900W / channel. The amps are derived from the M525 amps.... They have been enhanced with some of the the distortion minimization tecchnology drived from the class A/B M625 and M725 amps, as well as ceramic circuit boards, and other features.
The Daemon super-integrated is used in one of the large seminar rooms... Sorry, forgot the name of the room.
I believe that the Rowland suite is still on the 2000 level, just off the elevators.
It is worth pointing out that Rowland has amp designs in both class A/B and class D. Depending on the particular application, Jeff opts for one class or the other. For example, the M625 S2 stereo and the M725 S2 monos run in high bias class A/B.
While I will not venture to predict whether one will like the current Rowland sound, I find it incredibly musical, in addition to subtle and revealing... A far cry from the early Rowland incarnations of class D of some 10 to 12 years ago... Concerto, M201, M501, M302 (stereo), and early M301. If your concept of current Rowland sound is based on the amps just listed, it is quite obsolete... Do give the current crop a listen.... Huge difference. I confess that in olden days I was also totally mythed by the original Rowland crop of class D amps... As much as I tried to like them, I really could not appreciate them.... The amp that made me fall in love again with Rowland, well past and beyond my beloved Model 7s with its golden glow -- was the M312.... With M625, M725, and M925 pushing the magic of my system steadily further.
I looked at the Red Dragon amp mentioned by George... It is based on a Pascal S-Pro2 module. Conversely, the Rowland Continuum S2 is powered by a Pascal M-Pro2... Yielding 400W/8Ohms and 800W/4Ohms per channel.
And whether a module is made in the US, China, Mongolia, South Korea, or southern Chile is immaterial.... Seems that we are not particularly squeemish about component provenance when we purchase our marvellous mobile phones, televisions, and even appliances.... Why we become suddenly fervent neo-protectionists instead when we consider audio equipment.. The contradiction is beyond my grasp.
An evaluative article on Daemon appearing a few years ago -- positive or negative alike -- would be a little surprising... Daemon industrial production has commenced less than one year ago.
Saluti, G. |
This is the sort of thing that made me start to turn my nose up at Rowland. With their $10k Continuum S2 Class-D's, the amp module is a cheap Chinese $100 one, sure with a little tweaking, but Red Dragon Audio also use the same module and similar tweak it but it's only $1,800. https://forum.audiogon.com/posts/1428517 Cheers George |
.......I had Rowland for years and enjoyed every note. I then bought a pair of their 501's digital amps and sold those in 6 months. I couldn't get rid of them faster. Rowland does well over overseas as noted, but their prices are pretty steep. Their stuff is good, real good but .....I want to retire soon. |
Some companies don’t need to advertise as much as others. In Rowland’s case, word of mouth has clearly been enough for them for years. As is mentioned above, the amps are an excellent choice for someone looking for a semi bullet-proof ss amp that sounds great. Now, I am a little biased, as I own and have enjoyed for many years a model 8. After those many years, Jeff updated and modded my amp, and for what I felt was a very reasonable price Today this amp can stand with any ss amp out there. How many ss amps can you say that about, that are over 20 years old? Some may not like Jeff’s reliance now on Class D, but there a still plenty of folks who do see the value and appreciate the SQ of his designs...luckily. |
Rowland is going down for 30 years. Perhaps Jeff Rowland doesn't know about it and keeps releasing new products? Might be good idea to call him and let him know :) There was a lot of discussion about Rowland gear on Audiogon. Just search Audiogon for word Rowland - it is mentioned over 8k times. Boulder was mentioned 2.4k times. Are they also "going down"? Perhaps price of Rowland (and Boulder) gear has something to do with popularity? Rowland integrated "Daemon" costs about $40k. Do you expect a lot of discussion about it? |
A quick look back at non US periodicals will reveal a few less mentioned US brands are regularly discussed and reviewed. There may be reasons for Enquiring minds, I've noticed one reason often mentioned for the lack of reviews by US periodicals is a manufactures lack of product submission for review. Before aimless and potentially harmful supposition of "going down" or admitting ones lack of product knowledge declaring "sold out" why not simply ask the source? http://jeffrowlandgroup.com/us/distribution-north-america.html |
Yeah, whenever I start a thread about something like Nagra, Gryphon, Lamm etc electronics or Lansche speakers, there is no or very little discussion. I am quite certain that a number of people even in the US are familiar with and some even have those brands, they just don't participate, at least on this forum. Still, speaking of Rowland, Jeff must be doing something wrong from the point of view of audiophiles not necessarily music lovers. Even older Rowlands are rarely mentioned. This is sad. There are very few American solid state amp brands worthy of audiophile attention. Rowland definitely used to be one of them, and now I am not sure. |
My observation is that not many do not talk about a lot of things that used to get a lot of buzz here much anymore. I think a lot of it has to do with increased value proposition these days of more affordable and/or mainstream stuff. Of course esoteric tube amps, high efficiency speakers to match, esoteric tweaks of questionable value like expensive fuses, etc. still get some buzz. And some still offer good technical insights into issues not often discussed elsewhere when needed. Not looking good for the future of high end audio though unfortunately. The keys to good sound in general have been discussed quite thoroughly though over the years and those things tend to not change much. |
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