Sound of Music Man

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Mar 27, 2005 | by JIM BAINBRIDGE THE GAZETTE

Radio stations and recording studios are among those who buy Rowland's equipment, but mostly his customers are audiophiles, people who just want the purest sound quality money can buy. The list includes former Denver Broncos defensive end Willie Oshodin and actors James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos") and Michael Ontkean ("Slap Shot"), along with Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, Taiwanese violin virtuoso Cho-Liang Lin and drummer Danny Carey of Tool.

To come up with this list, Rowland calls on associates Rich Maez and Kelly Rigby. It isn't an element of his business he tracks. It's all about the sound, all about advancing the technology so that, in his words, "one day people may be able to walk into a Best Buy and get this sort of sound quality for $400."

"This high end audio is really about component audio, about experts in each field," Rowland said. "I only do power amps. I don't do speakers or wires. It's about specialization in a certain area and expertise. I use the analogy that you can't buy a pickup truck from Porsche or a Lamborghini station wagon. It's the same thing with this."

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