I just picked up a pair of the Murano P200s from a guy on Audiogon. The P200s is the latest from Murano, the 100 watt into 8 ohm/200 watt into 4 ohm version, similar to the Rowland 102 (but monoblocks rather than a stereo pair in a single case as is the Rowland.) I'm afraid to post how little I paid for them.....the seller has a $25,000 plus system and he bought them from the importer just out of curiosity and decided that, even though he "was amazed" by them, he didn't really need to keep them.
After about 4 or 5 hours of critical listening, my impression is that they are the real deal. I was afraid that they might end up being as "lightweight" in sound as they are in actual mass, but that is hardly the case!
My previous monoblocks were the IRD MB-100's (same as the later versions of the noRh "Le Amp")....."chip amps" based on the Thomson TDA7294 with a beefy power supply and heatsinking, quite well reviewed on the tnt-audio and 6moons sites. And, like the the Muranos, they are similar to a Rowland product (the second-generation Rowland Concentra integrated amp reportedly used that chip) and got a lot of "Wow, incredible bang-for-the-buck!" comments from users.
In as direct a comparison as I could make, the IRD's came off as somewhat slow/thick, with markedly less bass extension and slam. While the IRD's are dead silent at idle--I hear absolutely nothing with my ear right next to the tweeter on my Paradigm 40v3's--there is a very slight hiss from the Muranos. However, that hiss is less than what I recall hearing with my Acurus A150, the original power amp in this system. So far, that is the only "negative" and it's completely inaudible from a foot away to these 50 year old ears (YMMV.)
What impresses me most about the Murano is that the bottom end seems so extended and effortless. Bass drum and tympani hits in well-recorded orchestral pieces are much more realistic. One of those pieces would clip the MB-100's at high (but still realistic) listening levels, but the Muranos seem to say "What, so you want more? No problem!" For most music, using my sub would now seem to be overkill.
The image is a bit more forward on the Muranos, but the depth is greater. Overall, the sound is more transparent with a touch more extension on the top end. Not bright by any means, but "right".
As to fit/finish/feel, I have no issues at all. They are indeed quite light in weight, as are all ICEpower amps; all of the Muranos regardless of output power appear to be packaged in the same case with the same connectors. I'm not one to be all that impressed with "ultra" connectors, and all of them on these amps are more than adequate. Nicely finished gold hex socket screws and conical feet actually make them look more elegant than the pictures on various sites might suggest. The only visible cosmetic difference between the Murano models is the model number on the front panel, as far as I can tell.
My only minor gripe is that I would prefer a front panel power switch, but that's only a preference. It's not hard for me to reach the switch on the back in my setup. If you have a setup that requires a front panel switch, d-sonic.net offers their line of ICEpower amps cased up that way. If you prefer a fancier front panel in black and a single chassis stereo amp, check out wyred4sound.com's ICECUBE 200s as noted by rad212 (though it retains a back-panel power switch.)
These things are quite a winner. As Dimitris noted, some comments on another forum suggest that the P500 didn't give up anything to the comparable Rowland in a head-to-head test. Unless one has speakers that are incredibly hard to drive, I can't imagine a need for the 250/500 watt version, much less the 500/1000 watt monster.
