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The best of Rotel amplifiers

RB-981 has treated me well for a few years now. I’m thinking of putting a Schiit Freya+ in front of it.
 
My first experience of hifi was my Dads system. Rotel RX602, Garrard Zero 100SB and Celestion Ditton 44s.

I’m on the lookout for a mint RX602.
 
I use two RB991 on the bass of my Keltiks (Klouts on holiday lol) and a spare 991 (well you never know when you might need one)

They are fantastic value.
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Just want to correct some total tosh up thread! Amplifiers are one of the most critical items in a hi fi system... not the least critical as said by several up thread. I think it's quite telling that most of the people who regard amps as not that critical tend to use units I consider pretty "generic" such as those from Naim, Exposure and Quad! Very few amplifiers are actually capable of top echelon performance in terms of soundstaging, depth and timbre..,
 
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I had a Rotel integrated in the mid 70's which I think came from Comet.

I was the only one with a decent hifi system among my friends so used to take it around to parties with some Wharfedale speakers and a Pioneer PL12d.

We used to play it loud even though it was only 20 watts. Banging tunes then it overheated and cut out so I had to switch it off, wait 10 minutes and start it up again. It was seriously abused but kept on going. Great amp.
 
I had an RA-971 MK2 which was very decent... I didn’t know how decent it was for a long time, I’d been using it with some ropey Tannoy Mercury F1 speakers (really not Tannoy’s best effort)... I pulled it out of storage and connected it between a Linn Ikemi and Katans before selling it on, it sounded superb!

I heard a full Michi system with Ruark Crusader 3s a few years ago, that was stunning!
 
About 10 years ago I bought a cheap system for my eldest. It was a secondhand Rotel 820 something for £20 a Rotel RCD 965BX and Rega Kytes for a total of about £100. The amp surprised me with its weight due to its dual transformers and performance. Now it's about to come back to me, having been used by my youngest for about 5 years,
and I'm looking forward to putting it back in second system upstairs with the same cd player and a pair of original 40 year old Celeston Dutton 10 studio series speakers on foundation stands. Will sound great.
 
RA820a was my very first amp over 28 years ago! way better than I knew at he time tracked one down last year to check and still a very good little amp.

last couple of years RA05SE seen off Rega Brio and Nait5i, really come into its own since I tried it with old speakers (Naim Nam 402) and shines way about the sum of its parts with a Naim CD3.

I had kind of forgotten how good the humble little Rotel can be.

For me at least gives about 90% of what i enjoy
 
Rotel RB-980 BX was my first love, two of them in bi-wiring with Infinity kappa 80 was my dream system spending first earned money. Still in use in my boys room, they enjoy it, too
 
RA820a was my very first amp over 28 years ago! way better than I knew at he time tracked one down last year to check and still a very good little amp.

last couple of years RA05SE seen off Rega Brio and Nait5i, really come into its own since I tried it with old speakers (Naim Nam 402) and shines way about the sum of its parts with a Naim CD3.

I had kind of forgotten how good the humble little Rotel can be.

For me at least gives about 90% of what i enjoy

RA820 is more than a match for Naim Nait on sound quality but look at the difference in S/H value!
 
RA820 is more than a match for Naim Nait on sound quality but look at the difference in S/H value!

yes I know they go for less than 3 figures and sometimes next to nothing real shame as very well put together and still sound very nice.

The RA05SE in my eyes is a bit special as well yet seems to have slipped through the net when I looked at reviews, think they were a victim of there success, sold well and for not a lot of money and seem to be not held in high esteem sadly. I know they moved into home theatre and AV amps but seems in amongst the model ranges there was a few good ones.
For me that was failing having too many models too alike both in looks and sound.
For me the very fact that the Nait5i is still in its box says it all, they offer similar features yet the Rotel stays even in silver!
 
About a decade ago I had a Rotel RA06 integrated which was replaced by a RC06/RB06 pairing. They were used to drive B&W 601s initially and then a pair of Proac Response 2S before being replaced by an Audio Note pre and a Croft power amp. The Rotels are very under-rated amps imo.
 
I expect a historic Rotel integrated would pair well with some JPW minims.

I can try that if you like. ;)

Yes please. Let me know what it sounds like.
Hi Del, I'm got them going now. It's a really nice combo! Articulate and detailed, if a bit wincey sharp in the upper frequencies. Switching the tone controls on helps a lot here and even improves my overall enjoyment. This seems to relate to the TW010 tweeter as I've found the same with the Diamond 2s, but not with the Diamond 3s I picked up the other day that have a different tweeter.

Recommended! :)
 
Hi Del, I'm got them going now. It's a really nice combo! Articulate and detailed, if a bit wincey sharp in the upper frequencies. Switching the tone controls on helps a lot here and even improves my overall enjoyment. This seems to relate to the TW010 tweeter as I've found the same with the Diamond 2s, but not with the Diamond 3s I picked up the other day that have a different tweeter.

Recommended! :)
Thanks for letting me know. Thought it may sound good. I paired mine with a Justboom amp/Dac. It controlled the tweeter well so it didn’t impact.
 
Resurrecting this thread as curious as to whether the newer Riotal amps still represent such good value for money? The A11 tribute looks pretty understated and would probably do everything I need it to - any views on those or the other newer Rotels? Looking to pair well with ProAc DB1s.

I've trawled the net looking for something suitable and have discounted the Naims and others of this world in search of something less generic and that belies its image. I have narrowed it down to the Rotels or something like the Abrahamsen V2 UP. Would welcome a view on the newer Rotels here.
 
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Resurrecting this thread as curious as to whether the newer Riotal amps still represent such good value for money? The A11 tribute looks pretty understated and would probably do everything I need it to - any views on those or the other newer Rotels? Looking to pair well with ProAc DB1s.

I've trawled the net looking for something suitable and have discounted the Naims and others of this world in search of something less generic and that belies its image. I have narrowed it down to the Rotels or something like the Abrahamse V2 UP. Would welcome a view on the newer Rotels here.


A £500 amp with £2000 speakers seems like a mismatch to me. As good as the Rotel is for the price, your ProAcs are deserving of much better amplification. (I’ve had a Rotel RB991 in the past and it was decent)
 


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