Summertime ss amp Question

Raquel any chance you ran your model 6's with the battery option?

Rleff:

I did, yes. Assuming your question goes to the differences between battery power and wall power, I had 20 amp dedicated lines and battery power was still the way to go. The batteries, even in a highly resolving system, brought no improvement at normal listening levels. It was only during very demanding orchestral passages that the batteries showed their worth - because they provide a very low-noise power supply, the crap/grunge that would normally find its way into the signal path, and which gets amplified very audibly at high volume, is largely absent. The effect is a sense of more natural dynamic range, even though the batteries actually lower available peak wattage. The benefit is also audible with cleanly recorded rock played back at high volume, but mostly, the batteries are for people who are very serious about the playback of orchestral music.

The Rowland Model 2 and 6, if run from batteries and run balanced (i.e., with fully differential balanced source components and preamp) in a well-assembled system, offer some of the very best performance available from solid-state. I sold my Model 6's several years ago (my current amps are a darTZeel solid-state amp and VAC Renaissance 70/70 Mk. III triode tube amp), but have been running a Rowland Coherence II battery-powered preamp in my main system for seven years now.

... fit into 17 X 8 X 19 inch space in Stereo closet and run cool, budget under $2K used.

Is it possible to take the $2k that you're going to spend on a amp (that will most certainly not compete with your wonderful Atma-Spheres) and instead spend it on modifications to the stereo closet that would help the amp run cooler? I ask because...

I recently moved my equipment into a dedicated closet just outside my listening room. My amp is class A, so I was worried about heat. My solution was to place the amp on the top shelf of a tall rack and have the closet ventilated from above with a large but quiet cooling fan. The fan sends the hot air through a duct in the attic to the exterior of the house. A one inch space between the bottom of the door and the hardwood floor acts as an air intake. Even with the door closed all day and the equipment on, the closet doesn't get warm. Total cost of construction work (not including rack): $300.

Oops. Just read Elizabeth's post and your reply to it, which addressed my suggestion.

Rleff, the Rowland Model 5 looks huge, but no dimensions are mentioned in the manual, but it weighs over 100 lbs and I dont see XLR inputs in the photo, although the manual alludes to them. For what it's worth, I'm looking for a Conrad-Johnson type-sound, rich and lush, not lean, as close to tube as possible, without grain or glare in the highs; the C-J MF 2250 would be ideal but has no XLR inputs. Anybody heard the Cary CAD 200? Thanks for suggestions so far.