Any Jeff Rowland owners?

JRDG cables &BIC

I was a beta tester of sorts for Audience AU24 SE IC & have all Audience AU24 SE IC/Au24 power C. loom except for the Cardas Clear shotgun speaker cable. I did get to audition Nordost V.2 and several other $$-$$$ speaker cables and found them to be too much for the Revels Salon 2 which can be a bit biting IMO. I know a few Revel/Rowland dealers & users who feel the Nordost is better in this context, but at the end of the day I like the tonal neutrality of the Cardas Clear & Clear Beyond speaker cable in the system synergy (not Cardas IC though.) It's a bit of a myth that the newest JRDG electronic are laid back: Very much the protean figure w/ endless capabilities given the chance.
As for the 825, having heard it a few times & having a very large listening space I think it would be perfect for me. I love my 625 and may well keep it just because I think it's so beautiful & organic.

Note: The Aeris DAC has taken very long time to come around/break (app. 500+ in but it has emerged after 8 months as a stellar DAC. I just upgraded to a very good Esoteric transport for redbook CD's & it has renewed my faith in the Aeris! The Aeris direct to the JRGD amp is less good to my my ears than the Aeris via the Chorus. Lots of opinions about this.
825 ASAP.
 
Re: JRDG cables &BIC

Hi Musicargyle, Audience does make good stuff.

Which Nordost wire did you try on JRDG gear? As much as I thought the original Valhalla may have been a little too slender and tippy-sounding for Rowland, the new Valhalla 2 series appears to be a very different creature.

Could you asses how many hours you had on Aeris before you experienced the breakthrough?

If you ever have the opportunity, Try to support Aeris with a trio of bronze Nordost Sort Kones salted by a single Titanium Kone placed under the middle of the bottom plate... The Aeris DAC appears to be sensitive to supporting structures... I would be very interested in finding out your experiences in this area. Let me know what you think.

Guido

middle
 
I have older JRDG gear, a model 5 power amp and Consummate preamp and phono stage. They work well with my Acoustat 2+2 speakers. I like the warmer sound of the older JRDG amps. I also use Ray Lumley M-100 tube amps so I guess I like the lusher but still detailed sound.
 
Hi Albert, my first Rowlands were a pair of Model 7 monos.... I fell in love with them and adopted them in 1998 at the end of a three year long amp quest... I found them used at American Sound in Toronto. Wanderful warm and golden sound! THey remained my reference amps for 10 years.

Undeniably, Rowland went through a transition phase during the days of M10, M12, M201, M501, M302, early M301, and the original Continuum 250 and 500, where detail ceme to be delivered to the detriment of ultimate musicality..

Since then, Rowland has returned to its musical roots... I am familiar with most of the current crop of Rowlands.... M925 (my own reference), M825, M725, M625, and Continuum S2. While the new amps are more extended than the old Rowlands of the 1980s and 1990s, the current designs deliver even more of the old classic Rowland musicality that we love, without grain and without effort.... But with lots more harmonics, resolution, and transparency that was possible back then... Worth a listen!

Guido
 
Hello,

I'm a newbie here from UK.

I use Capri S2 and think it sounds great.

JR has almost no presence in the UK at all which is a terrible shame, given the quality of their offering.
 
I used a 625 stereo amp with a aeries dac and Magicos for about a year. Lovely system. Rowland is by far my fave in solid state.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'm using a JRDG Corus/625 driving Raidho C3's, Valhalla cabling, an XDS1 v2, and Windows 7 based music server. The JRDG gear is beautifully built, and synergist. Listening to music through my audio systems presence, timbre, dynamics, resolution, and imaging is a rewarding experience.
 
Love my Capri S2... current system is:

Cyrus CDXT Signature Transport > Auralic Vega DAC > JR Capri S2 Pre > Revel B15a Sub (x2) > (high pass out) > ATC 50 ASL.
 
Hello, I am new.
Beautiful sound with the Jeff Rowland.
Very expensive in Europe.
They replace my Proceed Amp2 and Pre.
Bye
 
Hello, I am new.
Beautiful sound with the Jeff Rowland.
Very expensive in Europe.
They replace my Proceed Amp2 and Pre.
Bye
 
3 JRDG amps at one time

Actually I am currently using a 625 V1 stereo for top freq. above 150 HZ and two bridged 525 mono amps for low below 150 HZ on the power hungry Revel Salon 2 speakers. All Cardas Clear speaker wire, Audience AU24 SE IC & Audience AU24 SE PC's. The 625 is relieved of the work of driving the LF drivers (app.360 watts in a 5 ohm load) and the bridged mono 525 are pushing 900 watts per side down below. It really lets the 625 V1 shine, it's a much better amp than I realized prior to getting the 525 twins. If I do anything else I will trade up to the 625 V2 which I suspect sounds better than the 825 even (or so I am hearing from several folks). I love my Chorus, Aeris & the three amps & feel at the price point they are all very good products & hard to best at even greater price levels. The 525's do not IMO sound delicate & as good as the 625 & I even had four 525's to play with at one point. The 625 is a lovely amp.
 
I also own the original Rowland 625 and find it to be superb. I can only imagine how good the newer version sounds but I think I'll keep mine. It effortlessly drives Magnepan 3.7i speakers with great dynamics and an inherent musicality that I find very engaging. Of course having the fine Luxman C-900u preamp driving it certainly helps!
 
Welcome to AS, HongKong! Former Rowland owner here for about 15 years. Love his gear!
 
I am still using my Consummate preamp with phono along with a model 5 power amp. I find it to be a musical amp as well in that I can listen for hours with no fatigue. I use it as my main amp during the summer and for home theatre. In the winter and for more critical listening I switch to my Ray Lumley M-100 tube mono blocks with KT-120's as they seem to work a little better with my Acoustat 2+2.

I haven't tried newer JRDG gear so I do not know how it would compare. Apart from my Oppo BDP-95 my system is mostly vintage components. I can probably do better but I think I am at a point where I can just enjoy the music now. Though I still get the upgraditis bug every once in a while. There is a pair of Classe DR-9's that are tempting me and I wouldn't mind trying an Esoteric K* player as well.
 
I have the first version, not the second.
I don't know if there is many differencies between them ?
Why ?
 
From what I've been told the 625 V2 includes many changes, mostly in the power supply section incorporating some of the 725's design. It is supposed to be a significant upgrade but at a correspondingly higher price. The factory was considering offering upgrades to the original model, but they were expected to be very costly and the end result would still not be completely the same as a new 625 V2.
 
eAll, here is a list of at least some of the circuit enhancements on M625 S2.... As you can see, there is more on the new version than a power supply enhancement, or even the simple incorporation of M725 solutions:

Perhaps the most important... There are crucial enhancements on the circuit topology. Modifications reduce distortions to negligible levels from 2KHz up to beyond 20Khz. This alone, should yield incredibly sweet sound. This is done through new error correction techniques not known to have been ever used on amp designs.

The input section has been enhanced... There is a new custom designed input transformer and linear phase low pass filter for improved input signal buffering and EMI immunity.

Gold plated Cardas XLR input connectors with Rhodium contacts and teflon insulation is said to yield even better signal integrity than the original... Yes, also looks different from connectors on older version.

Boards have been changed... S2 uses ceramic Rogers circuit board material for reduced dielectric energy storage... Yep, this one is like the boards used on M725, M825, and M925.

And Yes, as other mentioned, the power supply section has changed as well... Power Factor Corrected regulated Power supply improves upon the original 625 by incorporating Jensen four-pole capacitors which offers nearly an order of magnitude
reduction of output impedance and noise suppression. Yep, this one too is something that is used on M725, M825, and M925.

Last but not least, there is more power... The power supply output voltage has been increased slightly to yield a 25 watt increase in total amplifier power output. So, 325W/8.

The list price of S2 has not changed from the original version.... I have checked with the factory: M625 S2 lists still at $15,900.

Regards, Guido
 
Guido - Thanks for all of the details on the 625 S2! When I contacted the factory several months ago after first hearing of the S2 revision, I was told that if they offered the upgrade to older models it would probably be in the $7K range and still would not have all of the changes that are in an actual 625 S2 amp. I greatly appreciate the updated info that you are providing.
 
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