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Rowland versus ARC

Anybody compare the products of these two company and have any opinions or favorites?

I realize one can be tubes and the other is solid state but I've heard Rowland has the warmth and musicality of tubes and the dynamic slam of SS.

What say you guys?

roxy1927
ricred1
2,005 posts
 
I've tried to listen to the PSU, but my local dealer doesn't have one and has no plans of getting one. He seems to prefer the Chord Dave and Berkeley DACs to the Aeris.
dev's avatar
dev
832 posts
 

Two different animals and it's really going to come down to which actual pce you are making reference too, pairing up with - it's just not that simple but also personal preference.

I like tube pre's paired up with solid state amps, my preference being all tube if you have the right combo and speakers.

I have owned numerous Rowland - absolutely gorgeous pces, at the same time also owned numerous ARC absolutely stunning SQ wise.

Presently have a REF6 paired up with 75SE driving Avantgarde speakers, sounds marvelous.

 

tdimler
132 posts
 
One thing to keep in mind on the ARC pre-amps....if you are driving a subwoofer with your solid state pre, you're gonna be out of business with ARC.  They say the impedance of most subs is too low, and that trying to drive one alongside a stereo amp will be deleterious to sound quality. Sad situation as I would love to try an ARC pre with my Rowland 625 S2.
ricred1
2,005 posts
 
tdimler,
You make a good point about ARC preamps and their inability to drive a sub. Al(on Audiogon) told me that before and that’s why I ruled ARC preamps out...I have a JL Audio F112 sub.
gpgr4blu
1,082 posts
 
IMHO your speakers are fairly efficient and should respond well to a tube amp and preamp. I actually slightly preferred the ARC Ref 40 and Ref 150 over the ARC Ref 40 and D'agostino Momentum stereo amp after an in house weekend long test with Wilson Sashas. I was concerned about the loss of grip and slam with a tube amp, but the loss was so slight compared to the gains in the midrange and high end as well as the height, width and depth of the soundstage that I went all ARC. Of course, Rowland amps will be similar to D'agostino in liquidity and transparency with warmth--so you simply can't go wrong. 
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