Jeff Rowland S2 Continuum in the house!

dlb2 said:
That's sweet Mike. I love the looks of it.

If you unplug that phone your system with be even quieter. :snicker:
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You always crack me up! I knew someone would say that. :)


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The first hour was a little rough. I'm on hour 3 now. First impressions: I turned the volume full (with no music obviously) and I could hear NOTHING, I mean, nothing coming from the tweeter. Dead quiet backgrounds.

It runs cold and sounds very clean. If I didn't know it was Class D, I wouldn't have guessed. The synergy with the Raidho's is obviously terrific. I love how it has good bass control, but no hyped up bass/midbass.

As expected, it sounds a titch compressed and thin. Jock has assured me this improves with time. I still need to test the phonostage (100ohm loading and 60db of gain).

It certainly has enough power. The volume dial goes to 99.5, and 73-78 is the absolute max I would ever listen in my room. Average being 55.

I find it odd there is no power button.....but ok, it stays on all the time.

As for the remote....uh....hmmm....it's definitely....hum....I would happily pay a couple hundred or so for a smoking nice remote. ;)

PRAT and clarity are excellent. I think it has a lot of potential. Give it some hours and see. I'm hoping it works out for me.


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Mike...you were asking for it with that phone there :D congrats on the S2!
 
Mike said:
The first hour was a little rough. I'm on hour 3 now. First impressions: I turned the volume full (with no music obviously) and I could hear NOTHING, I mean, nothing coming from the tweeter. Dead quiet backgrounds.

It runs cold and sounds very clean. If I didn't know it was Class D, I wouldn't have guessed. The synergy with the Raidho's is obviously terrific. I love how it has good bass control, but no hyped up bass/midbass.

As expected, it sounds a titch compressed and thin. Jock has assured me this improves with time. I still need to test the phonostage (100ohm loading and 60db of gain).

It certainly has enough power. The volume dial goes to 99.5, and 73-78 is the absolute max I would ever listen in my room. Average being 55.

I find it odd there is no power button.....but ok, it stays on all the time.

As for the remote....uh....hmmm....it's definitely....hum....I would happily pay a couple hundred or so for a smoking nice remote. ;)

PRAT and clarity are excellent. I think it has a lot of potential. Give it some hours and see. I'm hoping it works out for me.
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Mike - congratulations on your latest acquisition! I'm confident that you'll find it to have a significant gain in dynamics and fullness as it runs in. I use a Rowland 625 power amp and it definitely evolved and improved with time. I also run the Ortofon Cadenza Bronze (on a Nottingham Analogue Dais with Origin Live Enterprise) but into the Audia Flight phono stage, and it sounds superb loaded at 100 ohms so I would expect that setting to work well for you. As far as there being no power switch, since it uses a Class D output stage it is best to leave it on all the time anyway to keep the low level circuitry powered continuously for the best sound and no warm-up time. My 625 is Class A/B and is heavily biased into A which makes it run hot, so Rowland accordingly provides a power switch. You can trust that Jeff Rowland did not leave off the power switch to save a few bucks, but rather that it should be continuously powered on for the best performance. Enjoy the tunes, and I look forward to reading your continued impressions in due time.
 
Thanks Bill. That's what I figured. Testing the phonostage now. It sounds quite good. Would like a little more gain (volume is at 87% and it's not loud). Will give it some time and then determine if it has enough gonads to drive the D3's. I can see it being a perfect match for D1, maybe D2, but these D3's like the juice. The jury is still out.

I would say right now the phonostage is a pleasant surprise.


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Very nice S2 Mike - congrats. I heard this amp with the D1s at RMAF - sounded terrific!
 
I really have to give it a lot more time....but it is sounding better after 6 hours....


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Only 994 more to go!:D

Congrats on the Rowland, Mike! I love his gear!:woot:
 
Anatta said:
Mike, can you get a hold of the Primare I32 as well? It would be very interesting how it compares to the Continuum S2, letting aside price and power differences.

Primare I32 Integrated Amp | The Absolute Sound

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I would love to try the Primare I32. Not sure I can get one to demo though.

I think the Rowland S2 is a superb option for the X1/C1.1/D1....just not sure it has the ooomph for the D3's. TBD.
 
Ralph - I really like this S2. The sound has improved quite a bit over the past 24 hours. I really like its form factor, size, looks, features, everything about it. At $9995 - it's a screaming good value IMO. That being said, the D3's need major juice. After 24 hours, I have found the volume is at 91 (out of 99.5) on vinyl and 81 (out of 99.5) on digital sources on average. That doesn't leave a lot of room for the proverbial "headroom". Now, the SMPS shouldn't show any compression....but you know what I mean. When pushed hard, you can tell this wonderful little integrated amp gets out of its comfort zone. I did turn it to full (99.5) and the sound was shrill (no popping on the D3's though!!) I don't notice any sonic degradation at 81 or 90.5. I can see on X1's, C1.1's or D1's, this being a "hand in a glove" situation. Wonderful synergy. It just may need a little more oomph for the D3's in a big room (mine is 45' x 15' with 13 foot ceilings). Maybe a 825 or 925 would be the ticket! :)

Ralph - take a look at the specs on the Hegel H30. That has really got my attention. The Hegel has a higher output current than the Soulution and just as good a damping factor - plus more wattage. When I heard the Hegel at the shows, I was very impressed. Could be an interesting combo to hear.
 
The D'ags and 601's struggled, but not too bad. Then when you hear the Soulution 501 or 711 handle them with ease (and only rated at 125 watts/channel and 150 watts/channel respectively), you have to look at other specs like output current.

Maybe Jock can weigh in here and share his thoughts on his S2/D3 combo.


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Mike - Before I purchased the Rowland 625 I owned a Hegel H20 power amp. Hegel does offer exceptional value products and the H30 is a significant step up from the H20. However in the end I felt that the Rowland 625 provided a more refined sound with better textures, a more relaxed and musically involving performance, as well as far better build quality. I don't know if it matters to you or not, but while Hegel is based and designed in Norway they are assembled in China. If you have a chance to audition the H30 with your new D3 speakers it would be worth a shot, and the same applies for the 625. I never tried the 825 or 925 since they were beyond my realistic budget and I feared what that audition would likely lead to!
 
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