Rowland 625

Hi Guido -
How do you feel the 312 compares to the 625 in terms of "soul"...? The "it" factor that makes you listen to music for hours and hours...

Don't get me wrong... I still wish I could own/buy either amp, right now, if I had the cash.

One of the criticism's of the ICE based Amps (perhaps less so in the 312) was that although they are very musical, they seem to lack the "soul" of Tube Amps and Rowland's older non-ICE based Amps. It is hard to describe in words. In other words, ICE based Amps seem to present the beauty and detail of the surface of musical performances, but perhaps not as much in terms of substance/body.

Arguably, there may be an unfair criticism or bias against so called "digital amps", simply because they are digital. But an amp that has the "it" factor and can power virtually any speaker well, is very tempting...

Tks.

Hi Optimus

there is an incompatibility problem with the cables I just purchased and the 625 ... nevertheless I will try to compare the 625 to the 312 with a set of Cardas Clear.

The 312 set up properly, with the right spikes (there are huge sound differences between spikes & spikes), the right power cable and the rest of the fine tuning in combination with Corus preamp., Puccini dCS & clock, is absolutely terrific and makes wonder either on Avalon or Magnepan speakers.

Of course after the very intersting post of Guido I am very curious to discover the 625.

Husk,

If I understand correctly you want to use either 625 or 925 with Magico Q5 ?

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

Clavil, Yes, I am thinking about driving my Q5's with the 925. I am going to wait and see what Guido has to say about the 925 as he will probably be getting one of the first few pairs released. I want to see how warm they run among other things.

Guidocorona, I think you was hypnotized by the M625.

Because you want at any cost to believe that the M625 is better than the Model 312.

But the most important thing to me is that until 100 hours the Model 312 was better than the M625, as you have said.

Anyway, what you have said to Optimos about the Model 312 was wonderfull and I start to like the 312 even more.

So, it's great that you start to like the M625 only after 150 hours. Now I love my Model 312 even more.

Isvaldo