Rowland "house sound"?

Fishwater,
Funny you should say that- planning to sell BAT in favor of some SS amp.
I have the same speakers and just recently sold Theta Digital Dreadnaught II, thinking of BAT as one of the options to replace it.
Could you please share, what is it exactly that you DON'T like in BAT sound?
BTW, I'm listening to Butler 5150 now, and like it a lot.
Regards.

The ONLY thing I do not like is the lack of vollume/power. The amp will sound strained at higher vollumes. I am talking over 90db's There are times & I know how bad it is for me but there are times I want to really FEEL the music and the BAT just doesn't have enough oomph. That being said it is so close that I know a VK-75 would get me where I want to be.

I also want to play around a bit, almost like cheating on your high school sweetheart. I know I will probably end up going back to BAT tubes for the long haul but I want to see what the newer racier designs sound like for a little. Another amp on my must try list is the VK-500, have you ever seen a bad review? That amp is a must listen for me.

I really don't think there is anything to fault in the Rowland sound. Some people seem to have a problem with the Rolex factor, that is paying "extra" for Jeff's build quality and cosmetics but it is important to realize that Jeff's goal in every design is to produce a statement product. I've owned something from every generation of Rowland amplification from the days before he was "known" nationally to the present and I think that his sound has both evolved in terms of refinement and stayed consistant to his house sound. Within the Rowland line, you get what you pay for. The 201 monos are one of the better buys in high end audio.

Thanks for the response.
Do you think BAT VK-55 will present the same problem?
I spoke with Victor Khomenko at this year CES regarding this exact issue, and he mentioned that VK-55 measures close to 80 Wt. on the bench and actually is more powerful than VK-60 (if I remember the conversation correctly).

I have not heard the VK-55 so I can't comment. As I listened to my VK-60 for the last time today with it's new owner I realized that it will be a little more difficult to recreate what I had but the challenge is half the fun.