Price Paid:  $2800.00 from audiogon

Summary:
I have been an audiophile for over 50 years. I've owned a lot of equipment over the years innitially building my own from kits.Over the las t 6-7 years I've owned Pass Aleph 0s, Levinson 331, Pass X-1, and just recently purchased the Rowland 112. Associated pre-amps were: Levinson 38S, Pass X-1 and now the Conrad-Johnson 17LS. I had originally paired the C-J 17LS with the Pass X-150 for what I felt would give me a little more life, warmth, dimentionality, which it did. The Pass X-1 did a beautiful job, but the C-J 17LS was better. I then contenplated moving up to the Pass X-250/350 and somehow started researching the Rowland products. I researched all his amps and finnaly settled on the 112, For the price, age, condition and conversation with the seller. I really don't know what I expected being that the X-150 and the 112 being of equal power. The quality of the sound knocked me out. The synergism between thr C-J 17 LS and the 112 was outstanding, For the first time, my wife who is very tollerant of my hobby, exclaimed how beautiful and lifelike the sound was. I became aware of layers and textures that were just not there prior to the 112 and its partner the C-J 17LS. I have a musical background in classical guitar and clarinet so i suppose that I might have an awareness of what live sound should be.

Strengths:
The Rowlands ability to handle most of the sonic range in a delicate and comprehensive manner. The highs were clear and crystal like, the mid range was perfect and the is solid and not over blown. The build quality alone make one a proud owner.

Weaknesses:
None that came to mind.

Similar Products Used:
The closest in sound was the Pass Aleph 0s (not enough power) Associated Equip: Sony SACD 777ES Fanfare FT-1A Totem Mani-2 Kimber Select Speaker wire 3033 Elco gold/silver interconnects (excelen