Rowland 2 or Accuphase A50?

I had a preamp customer who sold his ARC Ref 300 Mk IIs and bought the the Accuphase A50s which he used in mono and was very happy with them....Not familiar with the Rowland 2, but all his creations sound similar with little in common with the Accuphase.....If you like smooth go with Rowland and if you want to hear how drunk the musicians are then go with Accuphase...

I have both sitting in my living room right now. The Rowland is musical with a deep dark background. Musical if not the most transparent. Just getting familiar with the Accuphase but it is alive and vibrant with the air of your good Class A amps. I've had Krell (Audio Standard 2) and the Goldmund Mimesis 29. The Goldmund was nearly perfect but didn't have huge bass control/slam but that was not really a bother (the plastic binding posts on an amp built better than almost anything was, though).

I also consider myself a tube guy.
I recently purchased an Accuphase A-20 and a McIntosh C220 tube preamp.
I can not imagine ever parting with either one of these units.

I went from a Rowland Model 10 to an Accuphase A-50V. The Accuphase was significantly better in every way. That being said, the A-50V is both a newer design and much more expensive than the Model 2 which went out of production back in 1999. So not a fair fight IMO. I have now moved on to an Einstein hybrid, which although it does not have the ability to handle difficult loads like the Accuphase, drives my new Tidal speakers just fine. I also like the fact that it weighs 50 pounds less.

Both can sound very good depending on system synergy but i would take the accuphase over the rowland having owned both brands but different models.
the accuphase is silky, more refine and just for me, more organic.
But that is not to say the rowland is bad sounding. In the proper system, i also heard them do very well.
best if you can audition both. ymmv. good luck.