Suggestions for Rotel amps

i have a pair of rb970bx & thats 180w/ch when it runs on bridged mode for each block. i'm looking for a good rotel pre amp to drive those power amps & looking at the options that i have (within my budget) theres two nice rotel equipments that pull my attention. one is the ra985bx, an integrated amp churns out 100w/ch & has pre-out/main in option which enable to use it as pre amp or power amp, in the other hand, theres a rc980bx, the natural sounding pre amp without tone controls. both pre-amp has same output voltage which is 1.0v/100ohms.

so which one would you reckon is the best to have a go ??

Personally, if I were you since you already have the PowerAmp RB970BX, I would definitely go for PreAmp RC980BX. I prefer direct sound with no tone controls mean more cleaner/shorter signal path which leads more natural sounding. You tweak them with brighter or warmer interconnects/cables whichever way you like it rather than tweaking the tone controls.

Later on, kalau ada budget upgrade the Power Amp to RB980BX. I really love the low grunt of Rotel stuff. This is really hi-end product at mid-end value.

hey mr sam, sounds like racun audiolab hehe. you know that multi channel audiolab is sold out!! some one did notice a bargain that cant be ignored & theres a pair of M selling for $1.5k or something. i guess i'm not dare enough to try that make. anyway i do think trying rc is a better catch. i've tried to combine those blocks with sansui pre & it does not sounds right. further more i read some reviews of a rotel pre-power combo user saying the integrated (from the same model & it was this series > 980bx) sounded better. so hope to hear more advice on this.. cheers

Try demo Audiolab 8000Q with RB970BX? Bet very interesting sound will come out from there.

hahaha racun audiolab lagi

Rotel power amp + tube preamp ngam or not?

Anyway, how much should I expect the selling price for Rotel RB-985 (5 channels power amp, 100wpc 8 ohm, THX certified).

en armi, cant help you on the price. at this moment im running tube pre with rotel power amp & its ok to me. replacing rotel dgn emotiva 5 ke? hehe

Haha not another Emotiva. I owned XPA-3 before and I sell it just after one month. Good for movies but not for stereo music. Simply say Emotiva is not musical sounding. More like just raw power 200wpc.

I'm asking about the RB-985 coz I'm getting one and wondering if the RM1.3k I'm paying is reasonable. Reviews all around very good for this model. Gonna use it for stereo biamp later.

seriously i dont have a clue on the price.. but do give it a try !!!

http://www.rotel.com/content/manuals/rb985_eng.pdf

Got that bro thanks. Looking for service manual just in case.

once i tried one of my power amp for center channel (in mono configuration, through pre out options) on my ht receiver which produce 120w x 6 & the difference is huge. i had to tune down the pre-volume to -3 instead of +6 before. the clarity, the bass, mids & highs were definitely at higher level but later on i had to pull of the amp as my boston center is too small to the handle the powah thats coming out from that block.

plus.. someone in bolehland already promise me rb-1080 & thats 220w/ch.. slurrpppp.. mr. samn is surely right.. the grunt at low volume x boleh tahan hehe

Azri, right now i'm using RCD965BX, RC980BX & RB980BX. I had tried to compare them with another few set up and i feel that the Rotels are more better. They produce sweet, warm and nice sound but not as good as the tubes amp. The speakers are B&W.

Well my idea is to pair the RB-985 with tube preamp in biamp setup so I got the tube sound I love but with the low grunt from Rotel which currently missing from my current tube amp setup.

IMHO, combining a ROTEL power amp with a tube preamp is really a worthy risk you may want to try, but personally, I think the sound could be interesting and tingling at the same time because I think based on what I heard before on a friends' system, you need to be very carefully to match the tube preamp with ROTEL power amp. Rotel is kinda amp that hits really hard on you with mellow midrange and treble. When combine with tube, it could extend the Rotel's wamth and clarity and at the same time may "tone down" its bass to something like tame/controllable bass.

I believe the idea of matching the Rotel with tube preamp is to address Rotel's shortcoming with tube's characters sonically. If I could spare my opinion, I would prefer to remain with the same brand to ensure that I get the same sonic characters with enhanced sonic value. So if you like tube, then I would suggest you go the tube way all the way and match them with high sensitivity speakers to gain the low grunt, warmth and sweet sounding.

p/s : Btw my friend chucked away the tube preamp and replaced it back with a Rotel PreAmp. He didn't like what he experimented, maybe you like it. Good Luck! Let us know your finding. Thanks.

well at this stage im ok with my tube pre + rotel power amp & its not mono configuration, just plain 60w/ch. i do feel rb985 with its 100w/ch powah you can have lots of headroom. especially when you bi wire them where you can experience more open sound.. imo

Amir wrote:Azri, right now i'm using RCD965BX, RC980BX & RB980BX. I had tried to compare them with another few set up and i feel that the Rotels are more better. They produce sweet, warm and nice sound but not as good as the tubes amp. The speakers are B&W.

encik amir, glad to hear you enjoy those combo. being a mid end ss equipment rotel does a very good job i reckon..

azri wrote:once i tried one of my power amp for center channel (in mono configuration, through pre out options) on my ht receiver which produce 120w x 6 & the difference is huge. i had to tune down the pre-volume to -3 instead of +6 before. the clarity, the bass, mids & highs were definitely at higher level but later on i had to pull of the amp as my boston center is too small to the handle the powah thats coming out from that block.

plus.. someone in bolehland already promise me rb-1080 & thats 220w/ch.. slurrpppp.. mr. samn is surely right.. the grunt at low volume x boleh tahan hehe

heheheheheh....

ho yeah!! what system are you using right now mr fizi?

azri wrote:

Amir wrote:Azri, right now i'm using RCD965BX, RC980BX & RB980BX. I had tried to compare them with another few set up and i feel that the Rotels are more better. They produce sweet, warm and nice sound but not as good as the tubes amp. The speakers are B&W.

encik amir, glad to hear you enjoy those combo. being a mid end ss equipment rotel does a very good job i reckon..

amir, saya tambah racun, add another rb980bx buat bridge...hehehe! tapi watch out speakers boleh handle additional watts or not nanti tak pasal pecah! kalau tak silap dgn bridge boleh pergi sampai 240watts. Anybody had tried this before?

samn, i think i would prefer DAC than bridging the power amp. But, i'm still wondering if the DAC could produces better sound. And if it is effective, to what level the sound can archive?
May any sifus share some experience? I'm still new in rhis hobby. Tq.

samn wrote:

azri wrote:

Amir wrote:Azri, right now i'm using RCD965BX, RC980BX & RB980BX. I had tried to compare them with another few set up and i feel that the Rotels are more better. They produce sweet, warm and nice sound but not as good as the tubes amp. The speakers are B&W.

encik amir, glad to hear you enjoy those combo. being a mid end ss equipment rotel does a very good job i reckon..

amir, saya tambah racun, add another rb980bx buat bridge...hehehe! tapi watch out speakers boleh handle additional watts or not nanti tak pasal pecah! kalau tak silap dgn bridge boleh pergi sampai 240watts. Anybody had tried this before?

Personally i have good experience with rotel RB980bx power combined with
RC980bx 240watt power monoblock, Rotel RCD965BX and RCD971BX CD
player. Rotel does a goob job as asual. Audiolab, Cambridge, Arcam at
their age not much different to says compare with rotel. Using rotel
monoblock not much to hear, coz the power its still there to drive the
speaker, maybe a bit sound separation can hear in coloration of music,
but not easy to find, must together with same Interconnect and cables.

Rotel
is warm, punchy and pleasant to hear any kind of music especially Jazz.
For that kind of price, Rotel done well. . Value for
money, you can expect more with B&W speaker, must together match
interconnect and cables can bite the RM10K system.

Now im using
Arcam 9 Pre Power, Rotel 951 CD player, also have character to says.
Budget system not mean budget sound, more than that you can expect. Im
expearince listen to 10K-20k system, but for budget people you can judge
with your own hear. Yes! 3D sound available in High Setup, but music
not about 3D or 2D, its about pleasant to hears. If i get free 20K to
spend on system, im rather buy 5k setup, it enough good for me, but
people never satisfied.

Rotel mostly for beginner, but can be
last long of your journey to hifi world.

Kancan, how about your experiance using DAC? Is that any difference between DAC Magic and Black Box?

Any difference between Rotel 980BX and 981 (apart from 120wpc vs 130wpc)? Why some model got "BX" at the end? Better?

Amir wrote:Kancan, how about your experiance using DAC? Is that any difference between DAC Magic and Black Box?

Amir, with my humble experience, DAC did not make much different, now day good CD player, DAC inside box already. DAC like filter, but sometimes can make worst. Im using Cambridge Audio DAC 1, Yes! its sound more balance, airy and warm but if you using only budget CD player, then im change to new Roksan kandy L3 CD player, bump my credit card for karma hoping. Nothing much to expect with CA DAC. Little loose in crispy thing, then change to Yaqin Buffer, more worst, total rugi..so i not really recommended buffer thing. Decide focus on interconnect, cables and power cord. .

arremie wrote:Any difference between Rotel 980BX and 981 (apart from 120wpc vs 130wpc)? Why some model got "BX" at the end? Better?

Aremie, sorry i dont know much about 981 and BX..but im sure u can find the fact inside net.

Thanks kancan. I'll cancel to buy tube buffer nor DAC. And will looking for 1 good tube amp.
Your Sugden is still with you? That Sugden A21a sound like a tube amps.
I also interested to have the Sansui au9500 or the 7 series.
Looks like you are having many amps from various brands.

Amir wrote: Thanks kancan. I'll cancel to buy tube buffer nor DAC. And will looking for 1 good tube amp.
Your Sugden is still with you? That Sugden A21a sound like a tube amps.
I also interested to have the Sansui au9500 or the 7 series.
Looks like you are having many amps from various brands.

Sugden A21a..Sold already, yes, mostly like tube amp, but class A amp very hot, not rich in coloration of music, easy to punch my Epos 11. Better Arcam alpha 9 pre power that my currently setup. Amazing vocal, not to soft not to hard, suam-suam air.. ..british style sound, if compare with rotel, not much can says, just japan and british,..two kind of type style. both definitely stunning.

the differents in plain model like 985 > AX > BX is like marantz cd 63 > SE> SE KI & yes, beware of buffer, you may not like the sound it tweaks. 980bx on bridged mode will churn out 360w & thats a hefty power to handle..

my rc is on the way.. ho yeah !!

kancan.. good inputs..

azri wrote:the differents in plain model like 985 > AX > BX is like marantz cd 63 > SE> SE KI & yes, beware of buffer, you may not like the sound it tweaks. 980bx on bridged mode will churn out 360w & thats a hefty power to handle..

my rc is on the way.. ho yeah !!

I think for Rotel BX for power amp, AX for integrated amp and RC for PreAmp...kalau tak silap ler.

There's someone selling Rotel Power Amp RB971 http://www.hifi4sale.net/audio-video-equipment-for-sale-f1/rotel-rb971-power-amp-used-t8461.htm. Any comment.

samn wrote:

azri wrote:the differents in plain model like 985 > AX > BX is like marantz cd 63 > SE> SE KI & yes, beware of buffer, you may not like the sound it tweaks. 980bx on bridged mode will churn out 360w & thats a hefty power to handle..

my rc is on the way.. ho yeah !!

I think for Rotel BX for power amp, AX for integrated amp and RC for PreAmp...kalau tak silap ler.

There's someone selling Rotel Power Amp RB971 http://www.hifi4sale.net/audio-video-equipment-for-sale-f1/rotel-rb971-power-amp-used-t8461.htm. Any comment.

RB971 similar like 970BX, different might be series. i have experiance
using RB971MK2 but not made in Taiwan, China already. if im not wrong
all rotel MK2 series made in China and all button round, new rotel also
made in China..but old version rotel mostly by Taiwan manufacturer,
British technologies, Japan Owner, NAD also do same way...correct me if im wrong.
China or Taiwan have different quality production. , for me
Taiwan Rotel better than China Rotel. Nowday new Rotel made in China.
but still in budget and good reputation, very demand in europe country.

971 series still good, punchy, warm but not ready to push in lower 87db speaker.

mr. samn, ax & bx does exist for integrated so thats not entirely true..

kancan, not ready to push means what? the sound goes harsh or something? any of you has experience the class D power amps? any comments?

azri wrote:mr. samn, ax & bx does exist for integrated so thats not entirely true..

kancan, not ready to push means what? the sound goes harsh or something? any of you has experience the class D power amps? any comments?

Ha Azri, sorry..mean 'not ready to push' like not enough power to drive in full capacity of your speaker. Like waste..most of new speaker need more power to drive, however all depend on your speaker. for 89db above 70watt is enough. 87db below you must think twice to use 70watt Rotel power amp, Last 2 years ago im also using RC980BX and RB970BX power amp, 70watt rotel monoblok become 140watt when bridge to drive my chario syntar 100, its sound marvelous and happy what i have that time until i upgrade to RC980BX 120watt bridge to 240watt, and the sound really totally change. more airy, more acoustic. That was my humble experience with Rotel, and never forget how Rotel sound.

Awat tak habag masa nak jual sugden tu kancan? ... Ayoyooo....

kancan, rb980bx in bridge mode produced 360w :
http://www.rotel.com/content/manuals/rb980bx_eng.pdf

RB981 produce 390w in bridge mode. I was wondering why this one got no BX behind.

azri wrote:ho yeah!! what system are you using right now mr fizi?

Hi kaki's...apa khabar semua???

my latest line up -

cd player - foobar 2000
amp/processor - gateway laptop / dual core intel processor
speaker - altec lansing VS2620

Ok la for my small room and enjoying music ( the main things it is.... )

hahahhahaha jangan marah semua...since im working in penang i already stop enjoying music from hifi set up...most of the set up already sold among kaki`s in blog and friends...only keep few things like cdp,av amp+HT speaker,power amp ( ehem,ehem ) even my usher speaker also sold to our blog kaki.

Not totally stop hifi`ng just rest for awhile due to current work load!!!!ARGGGHHHHH ( Ooohhhhh...I really love my time in Cameron Highlands a lootttssss )

for now i concentrade to collect cd's and Lp`s ...

Amir wrote:Awat tak habag masa nak jual sugden tu kancan? ... Ayoyooo....

SALAM Abg amir...still remember me? hahahahahha
Still looking for a rite tune it is ?

encik armi, must be their marketing strategies. some are even AXmk2 hehe
encik fizi, as long as you are happy with the sound than its ok bro

azri wrote:kancan, rb980bx in bridge mode produced 360w :
http://www.rotel.com/content/manuals/rb980bx_eng.pdf

Azri, you right, sorry seem like im calculate at mono block mode without bridge, miss point here, very sorry, when bridge watt gain more..

Amir wrote:Awat tak habag masa nak jual sugden tu kancan? ... Ayoyooo....

La Amir .. maaf, memang time tu dah ada orang booking..class A punya amp tu..bilik panas kalau tak letak Aircond. bunyi ok ok saja.

fizi wrote:

Amir wrote:Awat tak habag masa nak jual sugden tu kancan? ... Ayoyooo....

SALAM Abg amir...still remember me? hahahahahha
Still looking for a rite tune it is ?

Fizi dulu dok pakai latest Rotel power besar, dah jual ka Tuan Fizi?

kancan wrote:

fizi wrote:

Amir wrote:Awat tak habag masa nak jual sugden tu kancan? ... Ayoyooo....

SALAM Abg amir...still remember me? hahahahahha
Still looking for a rite tune it is ?

Fizi dulu dok pakai latest Rotel power besar, dah jual ka Tuan Fizi?

kakakakaak...dalam kotak...kalau kat penang ni gelaran tuan untuk tuan yg tertua <---hhiihihhihi...

My dear friend fizi, How come i could forget u? U appear at my Nokia Speaker at the right time while i am 'dizzy-dizzy flies' . Hahahaha... I'm still holding your outstanding advices. Tq so much.
Maybe in the future me and samn w ill visit u at your five star dot dot dot in Tanjung. Since you don't bring any hifi to Penang, so we will bring our hifi to you so that we can enjoy together. Hehehe...

azri wrote:mr. samn, ax & bx does exist for integrated so thats not entirely true..

kancan, not ready to push means what? the sound goes harsh or something? any of you has experience the class D power amps? any comments?

you r rite, bro! last nite i was browsing thru old what hifi mag 1993, saw review of rotel rc970bx bridged with 2 rb970 bx. from there baru faham as follows :

i) RCXXXX - Preamp
ii) RBXXXX - Power Amp
iii) RAXXXX - Intg Amp
iv) RCDXXXX - CD Player
v) RBXXXXBX - Special Edition/Upgraded Power Amp mcm MKII, MKIII etc.
vi) RAXXXXAX - Special Edition/Upgraded Integrated Amp.

In that review, in Normal Pre/Power setup 4stars but in Bridged Pre/Power setup 5 stars. along that review, there were Adcom, NAD, Harman Kardan, Musical Fidelity and Magnum tested for their bridged configurations. Surprisingly, the test winner went to Magnum.

Amir wrote:Maybe in the future me and samn w ill visit u at your five star dot dot dot in Tanjung. Since you don't bring any hifi to Penang, so we will bring our hifi to you so that we can enjoy together. Hehehe...

Lain macam je bunyi nih....tang mana 5Stars dot dot dot nih?

Thank you samn! Exactly what I'm looking for

samn wrote:

Amir wrote:Maybe in the future me and samn w ill visit u at your five star dot dot dot in Tanjung. Since you don't bring any hifi to Penang, so we will bring our hifi to you so that we can enjoy together. Hehehe...

Lain macam je bunyi nih....tang mana 5Stars dot dot dot nih?

hahaaaaha...hotel 5 star kot...bro amir serius ke nak pikul semua set up mai tanjung hihhihiihhi....

good news, i have just received my pre & immediately hook it up to the power amp. during the test i use one block so thats 60w/ch. kancan is right, since my floorstander has been tweaked to lower decibel (86db) whereas its original xover was rated (91db) the highs are bit laid back. during low volume its a bit muddy. the mids & lows are warm. perhaps i should start 'diy' a 99.9% teflon silver interconnect with cardas rca to gain back the loss

heres another good news, i went to nearby cash converters while im on my way to a friend place. guess what, i stumble upon one nice minimalist rotel, the RA931

one good reason i bought this one (eventhough without mkII, mind you theres no AX/BX for 931) because it has special made torodial transformer & receommended standard ohm is 4.. open it up theres a a pair of ruby caps sitting there to be explored.. again..

sound is good, as good as pre/power combo but the bass is more controlled hence the 30w/ch only. i shall use this for at least 3 months since that the warranty they gave me & my stack of equipment is getting higher hehe.. got to keep some in kotaks.. & seriously the grunt is good for a mid entry amp