Rowland 825: owners or folks who have listened out there?

[musicargyle]

It's time for me to move ahead a acquire a replacement for my beloved JRDG 625 amp. The likely choice is Jeff's new 825. Is anyone out there in a position to comment on their impressions of the new 825? It is very attractive case work indeed and may be JR's best stereo amp to date using the N Core module in combination w/ a design that should yield a very holographic, dynamic & musical result. 925 owners of course may have a thought on this matter.

Thanks, Argyle

 

[GuidoCorona]

Hi ARGYLE, I own M925 and have listened to M825 at RMAF 2013 for a few hours... If I remember correctly, the System consisted of Joseph speakers, M825, Capri S2, Aeris DAC, and was completely wired by Cardas Clear and Clear Beyond cabling. I can confirm what you might have already read online elsewhere.... Incredibly musical without any grain, no obvious frequency hotspots or suckouts across the spectrum... delightfully resolving, and in general the kind of amp that will draw you into the music for counteless hours without fatigue.

I have not had an M825 in my own system, but I have no reason to suspect that M825 sounds significantly different from M925... M825 being a stereo implementation of the M925 architecture. The only difference that I would expect might be marginally reduced authority/headroom.... After all, M825 shares one 2500W power supply for each 400W channels, while M925 has a 2500W supply in each chassis.

But here is the interesting thing.... if at a later time you yielded to an irresistible craving for even greater authority and headroom... You can add a second M825, and flip the "link switch which permits electrical linking of both right and left channels for bi-wiring applications" as you can read at:

http://jeffrowlandgroup.com/kb/questions.php?questionid=686

Guido

 

[flez007]

I had also heard the 625 both at shows and dealers, always liked it no matter what speakers were pairing it (Joseph Audio, Raidho, Avalon), I think it is a safe move by all means.

 

[musicargyle]

Thanks all! My main hesitation is the very long break-in time the 825/925 will require.

 

[GuidoCorona]

Hi Musicargyle, M825 and M925 do not require any more breakin than other amps... In fact they sound enjoyable within minutes of getting them out of their crates. It is just that yours truly is anal about break-in, and does not declare a device to have reached peak performance until it has stopped evolving.

In terms of M825's ability of driving your Salons... I expect a single M825 to outpower a pair of M725s.... From a pure numbers point of view, M825 has a 2500W power supply, which is a bit more powerful than the 1200W+1200W of M725... The rated output of M825 is also greater than M725, being 400W/8 vs 330W/8 on M725.

Finally, M825 being a class D implementation instead of A/B, little power supply output gets wasted in heat, and more of it is used to generate music and authority.

I will check if a used M825 exists anywhere.

Guido