GuidoCorona
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Have you ever wondered if a no holds barred integrated amplifier could rival the performance and configurability of a stack of top reference-level components: streamer, DAC, phono stage, preamplifier, and monoblock power amplifier pair? Or does the system simplification and space-saving of integrated amps inherently compromise sonic performance and I/O flexibility?
Jeff Rowland would opine that the design goals of his integrated flagship have yielded a performance level and flexibility that rivals the most sophisticated stack of separates. He would point at Daemon, his statement Superintegrated amplifier: a $42,700 technological tour de force, conceived in partnership with Thomas Holm. The gleaming 99LBs single-chassis–, measuring 17.5” wide, 15.25” deep, and 9.5” high, is milled from solid aircraft-grade Aluminum ingots in the hallmark Rowland tradition. Sporting over 20 I/O ports, the device packs a dual mono amplification subsystem running in class D which delivers 1500W/8 (2500W/4) Watts per channel, fed by what Jeff Rowland asserts to be the most advanced DAC circuit and preamplifier stage he ever created. Vinyl is served by the optional High Performance (HP) phono card, and a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth streamer is upcoming (pending ROON certification. Eschewing the traditional performance compromise imposed on integrated amps by the use of a single bulk power supply, Daemon features multiple regulated Switch Mode Power Supplies (SMPS): each subsystem is served by its own dedicated SMPS, except for the power amplification section, which incorporates a separate SMPS per channel.
The Daemon ship group includes a full-featured Bluetooth remote milled from an Aluminum block, as well as a hefty power cord. Apple iOS users can also control Daemon with the JRDG Remote app, which is free to download from the Apple App Store.
Mr. Rowland explained that Daemon’s DAC and preamplifier stages are not old wine in a new bottle. In other words, they are far from being repackaged Aeris and Corus circuits. On the contrary, the DAC and preamplifier sections are entirely unique to Daemon, and were designed by Jeff and Thomas Holm from the ground up to be statement-level performers. While the Corus linestage, and my own Aeris+PSU DAC in particular, are still superb at their price points after so many years, Daemon’s DAC and preamplifier sub-systems are said by Jeff Rowland to comfortably exceed the older separates.
With Daemon now having just crossed the break-in half-way mark, at approximately 500 hours of making music 24/7, if I may be allowed to jump the gun, I am starting to share Jeff’s confidence. Just as an example, on several break-in CDs, such as the 1967 recording of Mahler’s Symphony #1 (Titan) with Rafael Kubelik conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony (Deutsche Grammophon 429 042-2
- CD Box Set), Daemon’s authority and power reserve are staggering. Yet, these do not emerge as simple-minded muscle, but as the binding force of an incredibly layered presentation, where finely graven instrumental voices emerge as solid images from a vast stage which well exceeds the 11 feet speaker’s outer boundaries. Instruments bristle with spicules of rippling harmonics that shimmer in the interplay of crisp attacks merging into the complexity of iridescent decay. There is already an almost magic sense of “living space” between the notes, so unexpected from a young component, extracted from such an old recording – 53 years old, to be exact. In the first movement, I discovered a sudden soft tintinnabulation of small bells which I had never known existed in the score. And that infamous tonal hardness, which is ever the bane of new components, is quite simply… Missing in action.
Will Daemon overtake my Rowland + PSU + M925 trio? Future will tell. Yet, what I have heard in the last three weeks intrigues me to no end. But I am getting ahead of myself; Let us return to an orderly narrative.
I had been aching to evaluate Daemon in my own system for quite a spell. The long wait ended on Thursday, February 27th, when UPS delivered a 121LBs package to my music room -- a fully carpeted open area with fine acoustics, measuring approximately 20’ by 34, where Cardas-connected audio components are aligned along the outer 20’ wall, and a thick 12’ by 9’ woolen rug sits in front of the Vienna Die Muzik speakers.
Inside the outer shipping carton, a Daemon review unit was safely cocooned, Triple-boxed, braced and firmly held in place by two generously-sized Urethane foam inserts. Gripping Daemon through the oval vents of its machined cooling fins, I extracted the factory-fresh device from its protective packaging, and rested it on top of my component bench: a 60 year-old, two inch thick solid slab of exotic African Mansonia wood, cut from a single plank, and largely acoustically inert. For further mechanical isolation, one last minor *Gulps!* lift effort, and Three Nordost Titanium Sort Kones slid and clicked into place in the dedicated divots milled under Daemon’s bottom plate.
I connected the hefty new baby to the system with my amazing reference Cardas loom, which has proven to me time and again to be phenomenally synergistic with Rowland electronics, and is profoundly integral to the goldielockian musicality and superb resolution of my music reproduction environment: Cardas Clear digital coax from Esoteric X-01 transport into one of Daemon’s BNC inputs; Cardas Clear Reflection Speaker wires from Daemon to Vienna Die Muzik; Cardas Clear 15A power cord feeding Esoteric X-01 from a dedicated 20A AC line; 20A Cardas Clear Beyond XL PC powering Daemon from its own 20A mains circuit.
Before I delve into some diary observations of my latest equipment break-in adventure, here is some more information about this statement-level power-beast:
Daemon is hardly a featherweight: at 99LBS in its machined aircraft-grade Aluminum birthday-suit, the single-chassis looks and feels impressive and solid. The massive construction features the elegant signature Rowland styling and meticulous attention to detail that it shares with M925, M625 S2, and the M725 S2 amplifiers. Yet, a simple glance distinguishes Daemon from its relatives, Daemon’s machined heat dissipating fins are just slightly smaller, as larger internal real estate is required to accommodate all multi-layer ceramic boards, circuits, and multiple regulated power supplies for DAC subsystem, linestage, power amplifier, as well as for the optional phono stage and Daemon’s future streamer.
The elegant faceplate is slightly convex and subtly prismatic, measuring 1.5” at the thickest middle point. The whole gleams with the classic Rowland spiraling diamond-cut pattern. A large 7” by 5” color touch display is top center: it provides status information, lets the user select inputs, and control other operations, either by direct finger-taps, or with the iOS JRDG Remote app or with Daemon’s own Bluetooth remote control handset. Consistent with Daemon’s construction, the multi-function remote is a premium-quality device, milled from a solid Aluminum block, very much like the remotes of Corus and Aeris.
Continuing with the front plate, below the display are the physical momentary-contact push-buttons for standby, mute, and for activating the display menu. Just under these, the half-inch thick rim of a large prismatic volume flywheel emerges from a horizontal slot milled into the fascia. Its faces are half as wide as those on the fascia. The friction-dampened wheel is mounted on ball-bearings. Its fine resolution action controls volume through an optical encoder – a mechanism hallmark of Rowland line stages for more than two decades.
Below the bottom edge of the fascia, a quarter inch headphone output socket peeks from the middle front of a slightly recessed Delrin® bottom plate, which houses the Bluetooth transmitter/receiver serving the JRDG Remote control app for Apple iOS and Daemon’s Bluetooth remote control hand-set.
Now let us look at the connection-rich and well organized back-panel. It bristles with 27 individual connection points, flanked by two removable machined cover plates concealing one port which accepts the Streaming Module, and the other for accessing the USB firmware update port.
All inputs are transformer-coupled to minimize common mode noise and other distortion artifacts. Distortions are further controlled by use of multi-layer ceramic circuit boards in each subsystem. Consistent with all Rowland products, RCA connectors are Cardas rhodium plated over copper with Teflon insulation. XLR’s are Neutrix with silver plated contacts, also standard on all Rowland offerings.
The complement of transformer-coupled digital DAC inputs is impressive:
• 2 BNC coax SPDIF ports
• 2 RCA SPDIF ports
• 1 USB D connector
• 1 AES/EBU input connector
3 optical TOSLINK ports
Lundahl coupling transformers connect all Analog line-level XLR and RCA inputs directly into the preamplifier subsystem:
• 2 XLR balanced input pairs
• 3 RCA single-ended input pairs
Want to feed an external analog line-level source into Daemon? Daemon’s DAC and preamplifier subsystems can be bypassed by connecting an analog-line-level signal directly to the Lundahl-transformer-coupled inputs of the power amplification section:
• 1 Balanced XLR input pair
• 1 single-ended input RCA pair
Is your system bi-amped? Daemon’s line-level outputs provide connectivity from the pre-amplifier sub-system to an external amplifier:
• 1 balanced XLR output pair
• 1 Single-ended RCA output pair
Like all Rowland amplifiers, except for the entry-level M125, Daemon supports Speaker bi-wiring with a row of 2 pairs of output terminals:
• 1 inner horizontal pair of CARDAS output terminals
• 1 outer vertical pair of Cardas output terminals
Remember that quarter inch socket below the bottom of the front plate? That one is for you stereo headphone lovers… And if your headset has an eight inch jack instead, you will find a 3.5mm to quarter inch converter inside Daemon’s accessory box.
For you vinyl fans, there are two optional phono cards, standard and high performance (HP) versions. They can be easily installed after removing Daemon’s top cover. Note that as my system does not include a turntable, no phono module is included in my review unit.
Want a streamer? Daemon’s optional wireless streamer module is in the works. It will be released pending Roon certification.
The back plate is completed by a power inlet compatible with 20A IECs, a remote trigger jack for standby /control from a home theater processor, and a grounding post to facilitate star-grounding, as well as grounding of a phono turntable.
Moving now to operating Daemon with the JRDG Remote app… I paired Daemon to my iPhone for control with the JRDG Remote Bluetooth app. Pairing is simple: turn on Bluetooth on the iOS device, launch the JRDG Remote app, and then press the mute button on Daemon for five to ten seconds, until the app asks confirmation that you wish to establish connection.
Typically, the connection remains active all the while the app is running. If connection is lost because you took your iOS device out of Bluetooth range, or the app has been closed, press the Daemon mute button for 5 to 30 seconds to reconnect. With the app, I can control volume, mute, and input selection from anywhere in my home.
As mentioned earlier, Daemon is supplied with a dedicated multi-function Bluetooth remote control handheld unit, but I have not explored this device yet.
Daemon's output power rating of 1500W/8 and 2500W/4 is a little greater than three times that of a pair of Rowland M925 monoblocks. By the time of this writing, I can already tell that music flows with even greater ease than from my M925 pair. But this incredible power reserve does not emerge from a Daemon fresh from the factory. Rather, it manifests gradually as break-in progresses.
Below is an outline of the surprisingly rapid tonal evolution that Daemon undertook during the first few days of break-in. Yes, this means that this initial post is not intended as a stand-alone review. Rather, the whole thread will eventually form a diary of sorts, -- the narration of my experience with Daemon’s tonal and musical evolution through its break-in process, which I expect may extend to a couple months.
On Friday 02/28 at 6:00 PM, break-in commenced with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances for 2 Pianos performed by Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman (Sony Classical SK61767). I put the CD on repeat on X-01.
I was immediately surprised: What I did not hear at all was the expected early breaking tonal dullness, hardness, and paucity of harmonic exposure, so common to brand new equipment. Instead, within the first two hours, Daemon managed to flabbergast me. As hard as I tried, I perceived no trace of intermodulative harshness at all. Just a feathery treble and ringing harmonics throughout
The open range, from high treble to deep bass. A sense of crisp articulation of each note in every track, even in the fastest runs, every note distinct, bearing its own individual transient attack, and shimmering decay: a stunning example of agility.
The bass, while showing some blanchness, was never the less articulate and complex. Deep bass notes, though marginally shy of the fundamental harmonic, generated a kaleidoscope of ringing overtones, resonating up to the high treble region, just as if I were putting my ear to the live piano board.
Typically, in very rapid treble runs, recorded piano notes tend to amalgamate together into a semi-homogeneous sound mass, lacking clearly defined inter-note boundaries. Not so on this still very young Daemon, where superfast treble notes were tinkling and shimmering like cascading sonic beads, each with its own attack, sustain, and structure of decaying harmonics.
What about low level information.... Suffice to say that I could extract from the whole presentation the woody clunks
Of the piano mechanics: key presses and releases, hammers operating, while Bronfman and Ax could be heard softly breathing and sub-vocalizing. Note that such extra-musical low level information usually starts appearing after a few weeks of break-in if at all, not on a factory-fresh component. Yes, in case you asked, Jeff Rowland had completed construction of this Daemon unit just days earlier.
I could detect no obvious intermodulation distortion. With loud piano passages, intermodulation takes form of an unnatural harshness or excessive sound pressure that smears loud transients. None of which I heard.
If I were to make a mild criticism, in the earliest hours, there was a slight tilt towards the treble, with a certain modesty of image sizes, and a stage which was relatively flat and well delimited inside the 11 foot distance between the speakers. Furthermore, while the presentation was refined and utterly enjoyable, it had not yet achieved the grandeur, gravitas, and transient authority of the mature Rowland PSU+Aeris+M925 combination.
Quite predictably, the first round of doldrums arrived just the next morning. By hour 15, the harmonic shimmer had receded. The tone underwent a couple cycles of being rather closed in or extension-limited, with little low-level information and a slight veil, followed by a slightly more open phase. At about hour 30, cycling had accelerated to shallower swings of just a couple hours each, averaging a minorly more open tone, but with a bass which seemed still recessed. I should point out that this seemingly erratic behavior is totally normal. I expect cycling to persist for a few hundred hours, until the fluctuation will gradually taper off starting around the 400 hours mark, and the device should gradually transition to a more even upswing, which may last for some 1,000 hours until full stabilization.
On Sunday, around the 50 hours mark, the presentation was once again different: most of the haze had dissipated. Yet, while still pleasing to the ear, music was once again a little trebly and bass-shy, with a relatively flat stage, well contained inside the distance between the speakers. On my standard test CD, Diana Kral’s voice sounded, ahem… Juvenile, while her virtual head size seemed to have shrunk. The English Horn in the 2nd movement of Dvorak New World Symphony under the baton of Leonard Bernstein conducting the Israel Philharmonic (Deutsche Grammophon
– 4790361) was uncharacteristically light and non-denominational. On the other hand, the often distorting cadenzas in the introduction to Dvorak’s String Quintet Opus 77 performed by the Stamitz Quartet with Jiri Hudec on double bass (Dvorak Chamber Music - Brilliant Classics 92181) were sweet, and clear as bells, without a trace of intermodulative harshness.
70 hours marked a distinct turning point, where all parameters opened up and an early form of tonal maturity emerged for the first time. The stage extended laterally to the outer edge of the speakers, a moderate stage depth appeared, instrumental images assumed more concreteness and more realistic proportions, bass became more vigorous, while some authority and gravitas entered the scene. Thus Kral’s virtual head returned to accustomed proportions, and her voice reverted to full adultness. What’s more interesting is that for the first time I enjoyed listening to Temptation, and realized that the song is in the form of an all be it elusive tango structure.
Daemon’s upwards evolution was progressing around the 100 hours mark, when the closing low brass fanfare in the Dvorak New World Symphony second movement found me unprepared to the emotional rendering that this young integrated generated for the soaring fanfare of horns and trombones: a low brass Chorus which rose gradually from pianissimo into a sweeping crescendo, finally erupting into the fortissimo resolution of the cadence. I felt I was witness to the majesty hallmark of a mature chain of reference separates, rather than to the tentative authority of a very young integrated: growling bass trombones in full cuivre’ punctuated by the thunderous yet crisp transient of timpani. The stage, still of moderate depth, seemed never the less to exceed speaker boundaries; in the background, Bernstein was not-so-quietly sub-vocalizing the bass line as if he were throat-singing. The entire passage was almost overwhelming, yet totally transparent and effortless, without a trace of harshness.
Thinking further back, for the first 24 to 48 hours of operation, the integrated felt somewhat shy of power reserve and authority, but things evolved rather rapidly, al be it with cyclical fluctuations. Thus, around the 100 hours break-in mark, I was a little, ahem… Trigger happy I mashed the volume-up button of the JRDG Remote app a little too long, and Dvorak's 9th symphony was thundering out of the speakers like the proverbial four horsemen of the apocalypse... Awesome transients with Great fluidity and No distortion artifacts… Unfortunately, my wife had quite enough of my… I meant Daemon's sonic exuberance, and asked me kindly to pipe it down… Life ain’t fair to suffering audiophiles Yet, I had doubts that the integrated had already unveiled the full might of its 1500W of its entire power reserve.
At about 160 hours, Daemon dipped into a shallow doldrums cycle… Still transparent, still filled with overtones and ever sweet, Stage had narrowed a little, and bass, while unfailingly clean, had somewhat receded and blanched. As I mentioned, these periodic performance fluctuations are expected for the first 400 to 500 hours of break-in, and compared to other devices in my present and past, they are remarkably mild.
With break-in just crossing the 260 hours mark, Daemon sounded extremely promising. While I fully expect further cycling of doldrums, this is the first time that I have encountered an amplifier of any topology which has been this musically enjoyable so soon.
Now approximately half way into the estimated break-in time of 1000 hours, Daemon’s periodic performance doldrums have attenuated significantly. The integrated has entered a much smoother rising phase.
Depending on recordings, with the on-display volume indicator showing between 49db and 59dB -- that is some 25 to 35dB below 85dB unity gain, music reaches realistic concert levels, without a hint of fatigue or distortion. The presentation is grand, instrumental virtual images reaching real-life sizes, and rippling harmonics seem to be rivaling anything I experienced elsewhere.
I am starting to think that the word "iridescence" might be a good overall descriptor of Daemon’s tone.... It first popped to mind when I loaded Alfred Brendel's 1992 recording of Beethoven's Waldstein Piano Sonata No.21 Op. 53 , (Philips 438 472-2). It is difficult for me to explain precisely, but the combination of staggering macro-dynamic swings, minutest micro-detail, fast authoritative yet natural transients from deep bass upwards, crisp treble runs, ever sweet harmonic shimmer, graceful evenness of frequency response, and total sweetness and effortlessness feels, well… Iridescent.
I can’t help reminding myself how this musical magic is not happening in a vacuum… My trusty Cardas loom has demonstrated to me again and again how the synergy generated by a superior match between components and cables is paramount to further elevating the performance of even the most refined component till it takes wing and, well… Soars, and Sings.
Daemon has been playing 24/7 since unboxing… It continues to be barely lukewarm to the touch. Surface temperature feels the same across the top plate, front plate, and side cooling fins. This bespeaks this 1500W power-house’s superior energy efficiency, and excellent heat dissipation management.
Needless to say, I am incredibly excited about what I have heard so far. I will continue to post updates to my Daemon Break-in adventure. Next, I will post links to several photos of this product.
Below is the link to Daemon’s homepage:
https://www.jeffrowlandgroup.com/daemon/
Are you asking where you might be able to listen to Damon live? Sunny Components near Los Angeles (CA) has a Daemon unit in stock. Give Sunil a call:
Sunil Merchant (Proprietor)
Sunny Components
West Covina
California
Phone: 626-966-6259
Phone 2: 626-966-2630
Web: http://www.sunnyaudiovideo.com
Regards, Guido
PS. Needless to say, feel free to PM me.
Jeff Rowland would opine that the design goals of his integrated flagship have yielded a performance level and flexibility that rivals the most sophisticated stack of separates. He would point at Daemon, his statement Superintegrated amplifier: a $42,700 technological tour de force, conceived in partnership with Thomas Holm. The gleaming 99LBs single-chassis–, measuring 17.5” wide, 15.25” deep, and 9.5” high, is milled from solid aircraft-grade Aluminum ingots in the hallmark Rowland tradition. Sporting over 20 I/O ports, the device packs a dual mono amplification subsystem running in class D which delivers 1500W/8 (2500W/4) Watts per channel, fed by what Jeff Rowland asserts to be the most advanced DAC circuit and preamplifier stage he ever created. Vinyl is served by the optional High Performance (HP) phono card, and a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth streamer is upcoming (pending ROON certification. Eschewing the traditional performance compromise imposed on integrated amps by the use of a single bulk power supply, Daemon features multiple regulated Switch Mode Power Supplies (SMPS): each subsystem is served by its own dedicated SMPS, except for the power amplification section, which incorporates a separate SMPS per channel.
The Daemon ship group includes a full-featured Bluetooth remote milled from an Aluminum block, as well as a hefty power cord. Apple iOS users can also control Daemon with the JRDG Remote app, which is free to download from the Apple App Store.
Mr. Rowland explained that Daemon’s DAC and preamplifier stages are not old wine in a new bottle. In other words, they are far from being repackaged Aeris and Corus circuits. On the contrary, the DAC and preamplifier sections are entirely unique to Daemon, and were designed by Jeff and Thomas Holm from the ground up to be statement-level performers. While the Corus linestage, and my own Aeris+PSU DAC in particular, are still superb at their price points after so many years, Daemon’s DAC and preamplifier sub-systems are said by Jeff Rowland to comfortably exceed the older separates.
With Daemon now having just crossed the break-in half-way mark, at approximately 500 hours of making music 24/7, if I may be allowed to jump the gun, I am starting to share Jeff’s confidence. Just as an example, on several break-in CDs, such as the 1967 recording of Mahler’s Symphony #1 (Titan) with Rafael Kubelik conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony (Deutsche Grammophon 429 042-2
- CD Box Set), Daemon’s authority and power reserve are staggering. Yet, these do not emerge as simple-minded muscle, but as the binding force of an incredibly layered presentation, where finely graven instrumental voices emerge as solid images from a vast stage which well exceeds the 11 feet speaker’s outer boundaries. Instruments bristle with spicules of rippling harmonics that shimmer in the interplay of crisp attacks merging into the complexity of iridescent decay. There is already an almost magic sense of “living space” between the notes, so unexpected from a young component, extracted from such an old recording – 53 years old, to be exact. In the first movement, I discovered a sudden soft tintinnabulation of small bells which I had never known existed in the score. And that infamous tonal hardness, which is ever the bane of new components, is quite simply… Missing in action.
Will Daemon overtake my Rowland + PSU + M925 trio? Future will tell. Yet, what I have heard in the last three weeks intrigues me to no end. But I am getting ahead of myself; Let us return to an orderly narrative.
I had been aching to evaluate Daemon in my own system for quite a spell. The long wait ended on Thursday, February 27th, when UPS delivered a 121LBs package to my music room -- a fully carpeted open area with fine acoustics, measuring approximately 20’ by 34, where Cardas-connected audio components are aligned along the outer 20’ wall, and a thick 12’ by 9’ woolen rug sits in front of the Vienna Die Muzik speakers.
Inside the outer shipping carton, a Daemon review unit was safely cocooned, Triple-boxed, braced and firmly held in place by two generously-sized Urethane foam inserts. Gripping Daemon through the oval vents of its machined cooling fins, I extracted the factory-fresh device from its protective packaging, and rested it on top of my component bench: a 60 year-old, two inch thick solid slab of exotic African Mansonia wood, cut from a single plank, and largely acoustically inert. For further mechanical isolation, one last minor *Gulps!* lift effort, and Three Nordost Titanium Sort Kones slid and clicked into place in the dedicated divots milled under Daemon’s bottom plate.
I connected the hefty new baby to the system with my amazing reference Cardas loom, which has proven to me time and again to be phenomenally synergistic with Rowland electronics, and is profoundly integral to the goldielockian musicality and superb resolution of my music reproduction environment: Cardas Clear digital coax from Esoteric X-01 transport into one of Daemon’s BNC inputs; Cardas Clear Reflection Speaker wires from Daemon to Vienna Die Muzik; Cardas Clear 15A power cord feeding Esoteric X-01 from a dedicated 20A AC line; 20A Cardas Clear Beyond XL PC powering Daemon from its own 20A mains circuit.
Before I delve into some diary observations of my latest equipment break-in adventure, here is some more information about this statement-level power-beast:
Daemon is hardly a featherweight: at 99LBS in its machined aircraft-grade Aluminum birthday-suit, the single-chassis looks and feels impressive and solid. The massive construction features the elegant signature Rowland styling and meticulous attention to detail that it shares with M925, M625 S2, and the M725 S2 amplifiers. Yet, a simple glance distinguishes Daemon from its relatives, Daemon’s machined heat dissipating fins are just slightly smaller, as larger internal real estate is required to accommodate all multi-layer ceramic boards, circuits, and multiple regulated power supplies for DAC subsystem, linestage, power amplifier, as well as for the optional phono stage and Daemon’s future streamer.
The elegant faceplate is slightly convex and subtly prismatic, measuring 1.5” at the thickest middle point. The whole gleams with the classic Rowland spiraling diamond-cut pattern. A large 7” by 5” color touch display is top center: it provides status information, lets the user select inputs, and control other operations, either by direct finger-taps, or with the iOS JRDG Remote app or with Daemon’s own Bluetooth remote control handset. Consistent with Daemon’s construction, the multi-function remote is a premium-quality device, milled from a solid Aluminum block, very much like the remotes of Corus and Aeris.
Continuing with the front plate, below the display are the physical momentary-contact push-buttons for standby, mute, and for activating the display menu. Just under these, the half-inch thick rim of a large prismatic volume flywheel emerges from a horizontal slot milled into the fascia. Its faces are half as wide as those on the fascia. The friction-dampened wheel is mounted on ball-bearings. Its fine resolution action controls volume through an optical encoder – a mechanism hallmark of Rowland line stages for more than two decades.
Below the bottom edge of the fascia, a quarter inch headphone output socket peeks from the middle front of a slightly recessed Delrin® bottom plate, which houses the Bluetooth transmitter/receiver serving the JRDG Remote control app for Apple iOS and Daemon’s Bluetooth remote control hand-set.
Now let us look at the connection-rich and well organized back-panel. It bristles with 27 individual connection points, flanked by two removable machined cover plates concealing one port which accepts the Streaming Module, and the other for accessing the USB firmware update port.
All inputs are transformer-coupled to minimize common mode noise and other distortion artifacts. Distortions are further controlled by use of multi-layer ceramic circuit boards in each subsystem. Consistent with all Rowland products, RCA connectors are Cardas rhodium plated over copper with Teflon insulation. XLR’s are Neutrix with silver plated contacts, also standard on all Rowland offerings.
The complement of transformer-coupled digital DAC inputs is impressive:
• 2 BNC coax SPDIF ports
• 2 RCA SPDIF ports
• 1 USB D connector
• 1 AES/EBU input connector
3 optical TOSLINK ports
Lundahl coupling transformers connect all Analog line-level XLR and RCA inputs directly into the preamplifier subsystem:
• 2 XLR balanced input pairs
• 3 RCA single-ended input pairs
Want to feed an external analog line-level source into Daemon? Daemon’s DAC and preamplifier subsystems can be bypassed by connecting an analog-line-level signal directly to the Lundahl-transformer-coupled inputs of the power amplification section:
• 1 Balanced XLR input pair
• 1 single-ended input RCA pair
Is your system bi-amped? Daemon’s line-level outputs provide connectivity from the pre-amplifier sub-system to an external amplifier:
• 1 balanced XLR output pair
• 1 Single-ended RCA output pair
Like all Rowland amplifiers, except for the entry-level M125, Daemon supports Speaker bi-wiring with a row of 2 pairs of output terminals:
• 1 inner horizontal pair of CARDAS output terminals
• 1 outer vertical pair of Cardas output terminals
Remember that quarter inch socket below the bottom of the front plate? That one is for you stereo headphone lovers… And if your headset has an eight inch jack instead, you will find a 3.5mm to quarter inch converter inside Daemon’s accessory box.
For you vinyl fans, there are two optional phono cards, standard and high performance (HP) versions. They can be easily installed after removing Daemon’s top cover. Note that as my system does not include a turntable, no phono module is included in my review unit.
Want a streamer? Daemon’s optional wireless streamer module is in the works. It will be released pending Roon certification.
The back plate is completed by a power inlet compatible with 20A IECs, a remote trigger jack for standby /control from a home theater processor, and a grounding post to facilitate star-grounding, as well as grounding of a phono turntable.
Moving now to operating Daemon with the JRDG Remote app… I paired Daemon to my iPhone for control with the JRDG Remote Bluetooth app. Pairing is simple: turn on Bluetooth on the iOS device, launch the JRDG Remote app, and then press the mute button on Daemon for five to ten seconds, until the app asks confirmation that you wish to establish connection.
Typically, the connection remains active all the while the app is running. If connection is lost because you took your iOS device out of Bluetooth range, or the app has been closed, press the Daemon mute button for 5 to 30 seconds to reconnect. With the app, I can control volume, mute, and input selection from anywhere in my home.
As mentioned earlier, Daemon is supplied with a dedicated multi-function Bluetooth remote control handheld unit, but I have not explored this device yet.
Daemon's output power rating of 1500W/8 and 2500W/4 is a little greater than three times that of a pair of Rowland M925 monoblocks. By the time of this writing, I can already tell that music flows with even greater ease than from my M925 pair. But this incredible power reserve does not emerge from a Daemon fresh from the factory. Rather, it manifests gradually as break-in progresses.
Below is an outline of the surprisingly rapid tonal evolution that Daemon undertook during the first few days of break-in. Yes, this means that this initial post is not intended as a stand-alone review. Rather, the whole thread will eventually form a diary of sorts, -- the narration of my experience with Daemon’s tonal and musical evolution through its break-in process, which I expect may extend to a couple months.
On Friday 02/28 at 6:00 PM, break-in commenced with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances for 2 Pianos performed by Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman (Sony Classical SK61767). I put the CD on repeat on X-01.
I was immediately surprised: What I did not hear at all was the expected early breaking tonal dullness, hardness, and paucity of harmonic exposure, so common to brand new equipment. Instead, within the first two hours, Daemon managed to flabbergast me. As hard as I tried, I perceived no trace of intermodulative harshness at all. Just a feathery treble and ringing harmonics throughout
The open range, from high treble to deep bass. A sense of crisp articulation of each note in every track, even in the fastest runs, every note distinct, bearing its own individual transient attack, and shimmering decay: a stunning example of agility.
The bass, while showing some blanchness, was never the less articulate and complex. Deep bass notes, though marginally shy of the fundamental harmonic, generated a kaleidoscope of ringing overtones, resonating up to the high treble region, just as if I were putting my ear to the live piano board.
Typically, in very rapid treble runs, recorded piano notes tend to amalgamate together into a semi-homogeneous sound mass, lacking clearly defined inter-note boundaries. Not so on this still very young Daemon, where superfast treble notes were tinkling and shimmering like cascading sonic beads, each with its own attack, sustain, and structure of decaying harmonics.
What about low level information.... Suffice to say that I could extract from the whole presentation the woody clunks
Of the piano mechanics: key presses and releases, hammers operating, while Bronfman and Ax could be heard softly breathing and sub-vocalizing. Note that such extra-musical low level information usually starts appearing after a few weeks of break-in if at all, not on a factory-fresh component. Yes, in case you asked, Jeff Rowland had completed construction of this Daemon unit just days earlier.
I could detect no obvious intermodulation distortion. With loud piano passages, intermodulation takes form of an unnatural harshness or excessive sound pressure that smears loud transients. None of which I heard.
If I were to make a mild criticism, in the earliest hours, there was a slight tilt towards the treble, with a certain modesty of image sizes, and a stage which was relatively flat and well delimited inside the 11 foot distance between the speakers. Furthermore, while the presentation was refined and utterly enjoyable, it had not yet achieved the grandeur, gravitas, and transient authority of the mature Rowland PSU+Aeris+M925 combination.
Quite predictably, the first round of doldrums arrived just the next morning. By hour 15, the harmonic shimmer had receded. The tone underwent a couple cycles of being rather closed in or extension-limited, with little low-level information and a slight veil, followed by a slightly more open phase. At about hour 30, cycling had accelerated to shallower swings of just a couple hours each, averaging a minorly more open tone, but with a bass which seemed still recessed. I should point out that this seemingly erratic behavior is totally normal. I expect cycling to persist for a few hundred hours, until the fluctuation will gradually taper off starting around the 400 hours mark, and the device should gradually transition to a more even upswing, which may last for some 1,000 hours until full stabilization.
On Sunday, around the 50 hours mark, the presentation was once again different: most of the haze had dissipated. Yet, while still pleasing to the ear, music was once again a little trebly and bass-shy, with a relatively flat stage, well contained inside the distance between the speakers. On my standard test CD, Diana Kral’s voice sounded, ahem… Juvenile, while her virtual head size seemed to have shrunk. The English Horn in the 2nd movement of Dvorak New World Symphony under the baton of Leonard Bernstein conducting the Israel Philharmonic (Deutsche Grammophon
– 4790361) was uncharacteristically light and non-denominational. On the other hand, the often distorting cadenzas in the introduction to Dvorak’s String Quintet Opus 77 performed by the Stamitz Quartet with Jiri Hudec on double bass (Dvorak Chamber Music - Brilliant Classics 92181) were sweet, and clear as bells, without a trace of intermodulative harshness.
70 hours marked a distinct turning point, where all parameters opened up and an early form of tonal maturity emerged for the first time. The stage extended laterally to the outer edge of the speakers, a moderate stage depth appeared, instrumental images assumed more concreteness and more realistic proportions, bass became more vigorous, while some authority and gravitas entered the scene. Thus Kral’s virtual head returned to accustomed proportions, and her voice reverted to full adultness. What’s more interesting is that for the first time I enjoyed listening to Temptation, and realized that the song is in the form of an all be it elusive tango structure.
Daemon’s upwards evolution was progressing around the 100 hours mark, when the closing low brass fanfare in the Dvorak New World Symphony second movement found me unprepared to the emotional rendering that this young integrated generated for the soaring fanfare of horns and trombones: a low brass Chorus which rose gradually from pianissimo into a sweeping crescendo, finally erupting into the fortissimo resolution of the cadence. I felt I was witness to the majesty hallmark of a mature chain of reference separates, rather than to the tentative authority of a very young integrated: growling bass trombones in full cuivre’ punctuated by the thunderous yet crisp transient of timpani. The stage, still of moderate depth, seemed never the less to exceed speaker boundaries; in the background, Bernstein was not-so-quietly sub-vocalizing the bass line as if he were throat-singing. The entire passage was almost overwhelming, yet totally transparent and effortless, without a trace of harshness.
Thinking further back, for the first 24 to 48 hours of operation, the integrated felt somewhat shy of power reserve and authority, but things evolved rather rapidly, al be it with cyclical fluctuations. Thus, around the 100 hours break-in mark, I was a little, ahem… Trigger happy I mashed the volume-up button of the JRDG Remote app a little too long, and Dvorak's 9th symphony was thundering out of the speakers like the proverbial four horsemen of the apocalypse... Awesome transients with Great fluidity and No distortion artifacts… Unfortunately, my wife had quite enough of my… I meant Daemon's sonic exuberance, and asked me kindly to pipe it down… Life ain’t fair to suffering audiophiles Yet, I had doubts that the integrated had already unveiled the full might of its 1500W of its entire power reserve.
At about 160 hours, Daemon dipped into a shallow doldrums cycle… Still transparent, still filled with overtones and ever sweet, Stage had narrowed a little, and bass, while unfailingly clean, had somewhat receded and blanched. As I mentioned, these periodic performance fluctuations are expected for the first 400 to 500 hours of break-in, and compared to other devices in my present and past, they are remarkably mild.
With break-in just crossing the 260 hours mark, Daemon sounded extremely promising. While I fully expect further cycling of doldrums, this is the first time that I have encountered an amplifier of any topology which has been this musically enjoyable so soon.
Now approximately half way into the estimated break-in time of 1000 hours, Daemon’s periodic performance doldrums have attenuated significantly. The integrated has entered a much smoother rising phase.
Depending on recordings, with the on-display volume indicator showing between 49db and 59dB -- that is some 25 to 35dB below 85dB unity gain, music reaches realistic concert levels, without a hint of fatigue or distortion. The presentation is grand, instrumental virtual images reaching real-life sizes, and rippling harmonics seem to be rivaling anything I experienced elsewhere.
I am starting to think that the word "iridescence" might be a good overall descriptor of Daemon’s tone.... It first popped to mind when I loaded Alfred Brendel's 1992 recording of Beethoven's Waldstein Piano Sonata No.21 Op. 53 , (Philips 438 472-2). It is difficult for me to explain precisely, but the combination of staggering macro-dynamic swings, minutest micro-detail, fast authoritative yet natural transients from deep bass upwards, crisp treble runs, ever sweet harmonic shimmer, graceful evenness of frequency response, and total sweetness and effortlessness feels, well… Iridescent.
I can’t help reminding myself how this musical magic is not happening in a vacuum… My trusty Cardas loom has demonstrated to me again and again how the synergy generated by a superior match between components and cables is paramount to further elevating the performance of even the most refined component till it takes wing and, well… Soars, and Sings.
Daemon has been playing 24/7 since unboxing… It continues to be barely lukewarm to the touch. Surface temperature feels the same across the top plate, front plate, and side cooling fins. This bespeaks this 1500W power-house’s superior energy efficiency, and excellent heat dissipation management.
Needless to say, I am incredibly excited about what I have heard so far. I will continue to post updates to my Daemon Break-in adventure. Next, I will post links to several photos of this product.
Below is the link to Daemon’s homepage:
https://www.jeffrowlandgroup.com/daemon/
Are you asking where you might be able to listen to Damon live? Sunny Components near Los Angeles (CA) has a Daemon unit in stock. Give Sunil a call:
Sunil Merchant (Proprietor)
Sunny Components
West Covina
California
Phone: 626-966-6259
Phone 2: 626-966-2630
Web: http://www.sunnyaudiovideo.com
Regards, Guido
PS. Needless to say, feel free to PM me.