Should i go Boulder 1060 or Jeff Rowland 625

I know this doesn't address your question, but - if I were in your shoes - I would be thinking more about new speakers than either the Rowland or Boulder. Both great amps, but they're not cheap. For the same or slightly more money, I'd be wanting to get into potentially *much* better speakers. I'd be thinking Rockport, Tidal, etc. Even Merlin.

And there are big Soundlabs here for sale for only a little over $6k. And then I could add that Rowland to them or some great and powerful tube amp.

Both Rowland 625 and Boulder 1060 are great amps, if a little different in sound .... Boulder's sound tends to be a little leaner and snappier than Rowland, while Rowland tends to generate a more filegreed presentation, with a greater exposure of inner detail. On the other hand, Boulder may yield a more outwardly impressive stage. Please bear in mind that the Rowland 625 yields 300W at 20 Amps peak .... This is quite enough for many speakers, but not for the most power hungry speakers. The If you were considering speakers as well, it's my experience that Rowland amps work extremely well with Vienna speakers .... at CES 2011 Rowland 625 was featured with Vienna Die Muzik and Vienna Kiss ... The combination was considered extremely synergistic by many listeners ... No, I did not attend CES, but have direct experience with Rowland M625 and Vienna speakers. G.

I'm curious with your comparison of the Rowland and Boulder GC as my Dealer (who deals in both brands) felt the Boulder was on another level compared to the Rowland (as it should be given the price differential). My impression of the Boulder from reviews is that it is certainlyl not lean, but dynamic with deep, layered bass. Jeff Fritz in his review for Ultra Audio felt the Boulder matched the bass drive, control, authority, and slam of the big Gryphon Antileon Signature, so lean is certainly not the impression I have of the 1060. By "lean" did you mean not as lush or warm? The Boulder to my ears is on the slightly warm side of neutral, so no it is not as warm as Rowland, but that doesn't mean it isn't a great amp.

Melbguy1, I agree with you. When I mention 'lean' on Boulder 1060, I should qualify it with 'slightly', and only in the context of yielding harmonic exposure compared to Rowland M625. Furthermore, my findings of M625 vs Boulder have been inderect, as follows ....

System A: Boulder 1060/2060 vs Rowland M312 -- M312 appeared to be more harmonically resolving than the Boulder amps on sostenuto notes.
System B -- Rowland M312 vs M625 -- M625 appears to yeald greater harmonic resolution and bass integrity than M312 on sostenuto notes.
Hence by extension .... probably M625 yields more harmonic content than Boulder 1060, but until I have the opportunity of having both machines into the same system, my findings are tentative .. And yes, all amps above were well broken in when I listen to them.

I further agree with you that with only 20 Amps, Rowland M625 will simply not deliver the brawn, authority, and stage size of any of the Boulder amps, well known for yielding a significant stage size, or Rowland M312, which delivers over twice the peak current of M625.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that Rowland M625 produces a rather, ahem .... toasty experience .... Its class A/B design gets closer and closer to class A heat generation as the devices is in active playback. I have been told that this is by design, as its bias rises automatically during operation.

G.