Rowen A12

To read this review, you will need to first provide yourself with a pair of stickers Albat, you will paste in the following pattern:

- (Approx. 12,800 Euros) 1 of your brain to open your chakras to a negative opinion on a speaker that costs anyway whopping 16,000 Sfr ... I know, there's still comma after that, but I think it is no longer ready.

- 2 glasses, to continue reading this review, made under torture to end.


Rowen is a Swiss brand that makes "normal" very good stuff. Nevertheless, I note, for years, a serious esoteric corner of the mark.

The speaker in question is in any case superbly constructed and is full of original ideas (at the limit of cheeky) with all HP arranged pair left / right for each speaker. With the ability to activate the enclosure via an external switch, for amplifying each pair of hp with a dedicated amp (which was the case for this test). the amount of wood available is excellent, it's not quite a discharge, but there is a choice between species mainly used in furniture, and that's all we ask.

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Implementation:

The auditorium was not a reference acoustics, thus my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. I would just add that your shows are probably not references acoustic either. Therefore, the result seems more suitable that a typical user will reach home than anything else.

We denote the multiplicity of elements of very good quality for food: a pro-ject CD Box Carrier RS ​​and DAC Pro-Ject DAC Box bi-processor RS. The cd's were the same as I use on all my tests and I know on the fingertips. The pre-amp was Rowen Absolute Pre, a very good pre-amplifier that we also tried other combinations during the day (and I highly recommend). The cabling was a total esoteric species with fire hoses wrapped in silver and copper ofc rhodium ... something sick ... I'm not even going to dwell on it as waste of land resources me vomitting.

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Tones:
For me, this place is the best proof that after a certain degree of perfection, it is no longer possible for manufacturers to improve a good return, and any attempt to do so will eat a huge amount of resources, which in addition, will almost always be suboptimal.

Beautiful example here, with a nice tonal balance and acute medium and severe struggling to portray the full bass signal. Overall, I do not feel that artists are present before me. Even if it sometimes based on records and types of music.

WORST: printing almost always very good spacialisation on my tests, is here a little truncated and some details are thereby erased.

On the excellent live unplugged Eric Clapton, the sound of his guitar is certainly more sythétique, but details of his game are no longer audible.

Details on the bass sigh no more of Mumpford and sounds, are non-existent and / or, mostly inaudible. This is not disturbing on a vessel less than 3000 euros, but not a speaker of this caliber.

The thunder of cymbals mythical album Where the West Was Won, Led Zeppelin is not specifically depicted and I hardly know what cymbal is struck how. It's all a bit flat.

I want to say that everything that happens at very high levels. In connection with a blue NAD 5005, the spacialisation holds, and the definition in the bass is even better. But 5005 was a blue chamber below 1000 euros.

If it relates to an ATC SCM50, the lack Rowen A12 seat and articulation in the bass, his medium is any room for improvement and treble. Same compared with fact8 PMC PSI A-215M and another XN270 Xavian.

I would add that the A12 needs a significant engineering effort to be implemented. Both upstream and at the level of the part. Where the above fellows just need a good play, and where the PMC can be satisfied with a small amplard in a proper room (really excellent for that this place).

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Overall: The A12 is, for me, a particularly esoteric delirium failed to result and landmark in my perception of THDG speakers.