Jeff Rowland 302 or Conrad Johnson Premier 350

Thf: The lamms are stable to a short, he actually tests all amps by shorting them out.. the safety cicuitry kicks in and then in a few seconds it plays music again..

There is a reason they are so expensive.. the build quality and the sound! These can drive the big apogee's!

http://www.lammindustries.com/PRODUCTS/m12spec.html
Lamm M1.2 specs
Pure Class A hybrid amplifier producing 110 Watts into 8 AND 4 Ohms,
400 Watts into 2 Ohms,
600 Watts into 1 Ohm (continuous).

Low impendence settting produces an amazing! Most other Class A amps roll to Class AB after 4ohm and lower..

110 Watts into 4 Ohms (Class A operation).
220 Watts into 2 Ohms (55 Watts Class A operation).
400 Watts into 1 Ohm (27.55 Watts Class A operation).

If you needed more the M2.2 in high impedance
220 Watts into 8 Ohms (41 Watts Class A operation).
440 Watts into 4 Ohms (20.5 Watts Class A operation).
700 Watts into 2 Ohms (10.25 Watts Class A operation).
900 Watts into 1 Ohm (5.125 Watts Class A operation).

or in Low Impedanc (flip of a switch on the back)
220 Watts into 4 Ohms (41 Watts Class A operation).
440 Watts into 2 Ohms (20.5 Watts Class A operation).
600 Watts into 1 Ohm (10.25 Watts Class A operation).

Based on the specs I would go with the M1.2's

Cytocycle- Thanks for your very detailed effort. Actually, my first choice is the Lamm M1.2s. The only drawback is the heat. I will seriously look at them again before I make a final decision.

Raquel and the rest- What are your thoughts on the Lamm M1.2s?

Thf:

In my opinion, the Lamms hybrids are very competitive with other top-shelf solid-state amps, the downsides being a slightly dark character that requires a bit of system matching or tube rolling, they produce a lot of heat, and I think they are ugly. They are extremely well-made and Lamm has a reputation for supporting its products. I can only guess how they sound when partnered with your ARC Reference preamp (probably pretty good -- the ARC Reference preamps are reputed to be sunny and open sounding). A final comment about the Lamms: while they are very good, my understanding is that both Lamm's hybrid and tube amps are a bit overrated, and that the honey of the Lamm line is Vladimir's $14K preamp.

I do not know about the availability of these products where you live in Asia, but if you are opening up your list of contenders, I would mention the CAT JL-2 stereo or JL-3 mono tube amps. They are incredibly well-built, will man-handle any solid-state amp you are likely to consider and would likely be exquisite with Extremas. But if your choice is limited to the Rowland, the c-j, and the Lamms, I would go with Rowland -- his stuff sounds and looks really good, it won't break, and if it does break, Rowland will likely be around to fix it (PS - I use a Rowland Coherence II preamp and Cadence phono stage in my main system, and used to own Rowland Model 6 monos w/ batteries that worked really well with an ARC LS-3 solid-state preamp in my second system).

Cytocycle. You said you have heard both the 501's and 302's. Do both possess the ability to drive low impedances in the bass ( ie 3ohms) and play effortless loud. ie for my Vienna Mahlers which are bitches to drive.
Does the 501 have the refinement and dynamics of the 302, or is the 302 in another league.

cheers Shane