Optimus, the comparison of M312 with M625 is for me an interesting one. Until M625, M312 has been my preferred amp of record. I have commented abundantly ("ad nauseam" many would say) about my preference of M312 over most other amps -- SS, tubed, and switch mode -- without price restrictions. For my application--90% classical music, 7% jazz, and 3% other types, M312 has yielded more 'soul' and listenable musicality than other amps I have had the fortune of listening to.... I had never perceived any idiosyncratic ICEpowerness in M312. So much so that I considered it superior in all respects, except for sheer grunt-power, to my old Rowland M7 monoblocks.... after all peak current of 175A for M7 vs approximately 40A on M312 does count for something.
Having said that, M625 in my opinion has significantly more 'soul' than M312... I think it is a combination of many things.... the much sweeter treble, the better pitched and much more controlled bass, the clarity of harmonics, the sense of graceful realism that I get from enhanced instrument layering, positioning, imaging.... ambient cues that are present but also delicate and never muddy.... and a rendering of extremely low level detail such as vibrato which is where the emotional, the poetic and the 'soul' come in I suppose. I used to be extremely pleased by M312's rendering of large orchestras, but M625 lets individual instruments emerge much more than on M312..... but never in an 'etched' or strident way.... always in a manner that makes me sink into the musical event, even in sharp transients and fortissimo passages.
Guido
