Should i go Boulder 1060 or Jeff Rowland 625

Both Rowland 625 and Boulder 1060 are great amps, if a little different in sound .... Boulder's sound tends to be a little leaner and snappier than Rowland, while Rowland tends to generate a more filegreed presentation, with a greater exposure of inner detail. On the other hand, Boulder may yield a more outwardly impressive stage. Please bear in mind that the Rowland 625 yields 300W at 20 Amps peak .... This is quite enough for many speakers, but not for the most power hungry speakers. The If you were considering speakers as well, it's my experience that Rowland amps work extremely well with Vienna speakers .... at CES 2011 Rowland 625 was featured with Vienna Die Muzik and Vienna Kiss ... The combination was considered extremely synergistic by many listeners ... No, I did not attend CES, but have direct experience with Rowland M625 and Vienna speakers. G.

Melbguy1, I agree with you. When I mention 'lean' on Boulder 1060, I should qualify it with 'slightly', and only in the context of yielding harmonic exposure compared to Rowland M625. Furthermore, my findings of M625 vs Boulder have been inderect, as follows ....

System A: Boulder 1060/2060 vs Rowland M312 -- M312 appeared to be more harmonically resolving than the Boulder amps on sostenuto notes.
System B -- Rowland M312 vs M625 -- M625 appears to yeald greater harmonic resolution and bass integrity than M312 on sostenuto notes.
Hence by extension .... probably M625 yields more harmonic content than Boulder 1060, but until I have the opportunity of having both machines into the same system, my findings are tentative .. And yes, all amps above were well broken in when I listen to them.

I further agree with you that with only 20 Amps, Rowland M625 will simply not deliver the brawn, authority, and stage size of any of the Boulder amps, well known for yielding a significant stage size, or Rowland M312, which delivers over twice the peak current of M625.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that Rowland M625 produces a rather, ahem .... toasty experience .... Its class A/B design gets closer and closer to class A heat generation as the devices is in active playback. I have been told that this is by design, as its bias rises automatically during operation.

G.

Melbguy1, it is quite possible that the combination of Boulder 1060 with VAC Renaissance II might work well for you, although usually the VAC sound is a little tipped up for my own preference. My favorite tube pre is the fabulously resolving and ever so sweet VTL TL 7.5 Series 2. In my listening sessions with 1060 and M312 the pre was the 1000 series boulder ..... the audition of Boulder 2060 and Rowland M312 used the excellent Boulder 2000 series pre, and in my home system I use the Rowland Criterion on M625 and M312. Let us know how things go. G.

Melbguy1, while M625 is certainly toasty to the touch, it is unable to achieve an unpleasant temperature ... hence the photo of the egg frying on the device may have been, uhrn ... "posted out of context" ... I would consider M625 much more applicable as a buffet-warmer than a frying skillet (grins!).

Musicaddict, are you referring to the system located on the 2nd floor of the Jeff Rowland factory in Colorado Springs (CO) ... the one consisting of Vienna Die Muzik, M625, and Criterion? Or are you referring to a system in some shows? G.

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Hi HansenAudio, which Rowland amp will you be featuring during your August 25th event? G.