Excellent amplifier for the money, found one used from Audio Classics, in box for $320, but it ended up being brand new! I was using a older Yamaha dolby surround receiver and wanted to build up a cost effective replacement for it using a seperate pre amp and power amp. I was looking at a used Carver amp, but since they are out of business, decided to find something current production from a company still in business, and bought the Rotel 976.

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I bought my Rotel RB976MkII for €250,- about two years ago, it is second hand from a friend!!
The only real problem at that time was the truthfull fact that I didn't have a pre-amplifier (darn)

To cut a long story short, some weeks later I purchased / tried the well respected Rotel RC995 but was left disappointed / frustrated : it sounded awfully pale / blend!!!! Luckily I could return
the RC995 and got my money back!! Then the same friend from which I bought the RB976MkII helped me out by lending me a Denon AV 3806 and used its pre-out :> It didn't sound bad, but in the end it coudn't satisfy me either :-(

Comming to conclusion : I actually withheld some pretty amazing information true to the story.
Another very good friend of mine gave me his helpfull advice that lead to my audio-nirvana in the first place : he told me to use the headphonesocket from my RA970BX integrated amplifier and use it as a "pre-amp output" to my RB976MkII !!

What I initially thought to be a temporary solution at the time being to my problem (lacking a pre-amp), eventually turned out to be the golden tip / egg!! I use the RB976MkII in 6x60Watt
configuration : all 3 volumeknobs (Chls A/B/C) are fixed in a 10 minutes before 12 position!!

The sound is tremendously good & very well-balanced!!!! Together they deliver a fenomenal soundstage / sound-reproduction with lots of sheer power !! Not even in my wildest dreams
I ever thought possible that this unconventional way of combined / connecting amplification could or would outperform pre-amp / power-amp standard situations :-) :-):-):-):-):-):-):-) !!

Kind regards, Quadrupp.

I have the full sound system from Rotel for music and surround Sound This AMP is amazing and has served me well over the years. I have had problems with the left channel going out, and it has done it again... Help if you know what that is about... I am ready for a new system but I will turn over this system to my 14 year old son and yes, I expect the speakers will be blown out in no time... Amazing clarity on DVD both sound and Rotel player....

Rotel name, Bridgeable config(6,5,,,3)

Signal Sense maybe acting up

I picked up this AMP just over a week ago to begin my move to seperates. I was looking for an AMP to power my fronts but the price of most high wattage 3 channel AMPs would run me $1200CDN+(Adcom, Rotel, Anthem). So the RMB-1066 fit the picture nicely because of its bridgeability to 3x150w.($875CDN) The AMP is hooked to my Denon 1801 pre-out and powers Paradigm Mini Monitors and CC-350. I'm no audiophile but I certainly can hear the difference in sound quality over the AMP in the Denon. Now the Denon is no wimp, but the AMP allows you to here detail and seperation of sound affects that I never heard before. Down the road I may pickup another one of these AMP's to power my rears. But for now I am quite pleased with my purchase. On the downside I'm trying to diagnose a problem with the signal sensor. Once in a while when watching a movie the unit will just shut off, then come back on. FIrst I thought it was going into protection mode since when bridge your really driving the AMP. But its still cool to the touch even though its in an enclosed cabinet till I get a rack. Increasing the volume I listen at from -30 to -25 to -20 on my reciever solved the problem. When I turn off the signal sense the problem goes away. I've contacted the dealer I bought from and they're calling Rotel for some answers. Then again it could be my recievers not sending a strong enough signal too the AMP. With a 5 year warranty on the AMP, I have plenty of time to resolve it. Other than this minor quirk, I'm very satisfied with my purchase.

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None

Very versitile, heck of a bang for the buck

Input level controls

Excellent amplifier for the money, found one used from Audio Classics, in box for $320, but it ended up being brand new! I was using a older Yamaha dolby surround receiver and wanted to build up a cost effective replacement for it using a seperate pre amp and power amp. I was looking at a used Carver amp, but since they are out of business, decided to find something current production from a company still in business, and bought the Rotel 976.

My humble system is a Fosgate 3a THX preamp driving the Rotel 976, with a powered Audiosource sub, amp setup for 60X4 for front and rear speakers, 130X1 for the center channel speaker, and using Energy Take-5's for speakers. Don't have a DVD yet, my main source is a Sony A-50 DTV deck.

I have the input levels around 50% out the preamp outputs and the poweramp inputs, with the preamp setup of 0db input and output and measue a solid 96db at my prime listing area 18ft away from the front speakers and 5ft away from the rear. It get louder than I really care to listen to it.

The system just blows away the Yamaha, and handles music like a dream. Very clean amp. They only grip I have is the input level controls control two channels per control. If you are running bridged mode, no big deal, but if you are not (like myself), you need to set the balance properly between channels on the preamp, no huge deal, but a bit annoying, but once balance is set, it's kind of a nice feature, control the volume of the front, rear or center speakers with one gain control, kind of a mixed blessing I guess.

Although not the most powerfull amp in the world, it does just fine for my 15X18 living room, if I need more power down the road, I'll buy another 976 in a heartbeat and run them as two 3X130watt amps.

Also, I orded this from Frank at Audio Classics, great company to do business with, the Rotel was in the factory box, and was double boxed (three boxes total!). Shipped the day it was ordered, and arrived on time.

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Yamaha RV-98

very good

Have lived with this piece for 10 months now. What an investement from an audio and flexibility standpoint.
First, in the sound quality department, this amp is silky smooth with plenty of power in reserve. A very nice sounding piece of equipment. It drives my pair of Definitive BP 30's very well and delivers on the low end where my old amp could not (Yamaha). As i said above the sound is silky smooth. Your ears don't get fatigued listing with this amp.

Second, the flexibility of this amp is second to none. 2,3,4,5,6 channel configs guarnantee that if you outgrow this amp for HT and Audio, you can use it multi-room for years to come. I am currently using it bridged at 150 w/c ( or around there) to drive the BP 30's (12 drivers) and it does just fine.

The 5 year waranty is a good point as well.

Lots of configurations, Good sound, Price, Runs cool

I bought this new in the box from an authorized Rotel
dealer and the power button broke after 4 months of use

I have the RB-976MkII version of this amp. It has a bigger powersupply and different output transistors than the non-MkII version. I bought it new in December of 2000. The power button broke in April of 2001. I question the reliability of the MkII version of this amp. If you're looking at amplifiers I suggest also looking at Parasound. I've never had a problem with a Parasound amplifier. My HCA-800II is over 7 years old and it still works like new.
Parasound discontinued the HCA-800II a few years ago, however the HCA-1000A is a very nice amp. Also, if you're looking for 5 channels, the HCA-1205A is a nice amp.

Due to quality concerns I have rated this product below average.

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Parasound HCA-1000, Parasound HCA-800II

Very clean amp. Multiple configurations. Great amp for multi room application.

None so far.

I use this amp along with a Rotel RC980 pre amp and
RD945 cd changer for an outdoor system. I have 2 sets of speakers delivering sound to two decks. The sound is fantastic and the ability to control each set of speakers is a real plus. There are other ways to configure a system like this, but I can't find a more simple and stright foward approach.

I would also recommend for a home a/v amp if it meets your power requirements.

This is a very good amp at a wonderful value.

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Rotel RB985 THX, Rotel RB990

Flexibility

This is stage one of my move to seperates.

I have a 6 year old Sound Research Pro Logic receiver, driving Polk RT10s, a CS250 centre and mini monitors for the rears. I was not unhappy with the Sound Research, for the money I paid for it and its age it has served very well, and I will be keeping it when it is no longer required in this system. My main goal is to go DD/DTS.

I considered buying an integrated receiver, but would have had to spend a fair bit to get one with an amp equivelant to the Sound Research, and then when something new comes out I'll be stuck in the exact same situation I am now.

The Sound Research doesn't have line outs, so I bought car stereo high to low level converters, and fed them into the Rotel amp.

Hooking up was no problem at all. Just time consuming as I had to reterminate all my speaker wires with banana plugs.
There was also the problem that the system doesn't fit in its cabinet any more!

I am very happy with the performance of the amp. I would suggest that its 6x60 watt rating is conservative compared to some of the ratings other manufacturers claim. My Sound Research receiver was rated at 3x65 watt for the fronts, but the Rotel is doing a much better job with the RT10s. Bass performance is significantly improved. Only the reel deep stuff is a bit quiet, but thats why we have subs isn't it! In tweaking the system I wound the bass knob from its normal 12o'clock position to 2 o'clock, and the RT10s were able to deliver most of the bass range very well. I experimented with my M&K V75Nk2 sub and could only notice a difference in bass volume.

One big factor in buying this amp was its flexibility. The system will probably keep getting upgraded, and most likely the entire polk system will be upgraded to something much better. I plan to bridge the Rotel amp to 3x150Watt, buy another amp and do the same thing and have one very powerful system.

The other thing that really stood out was the channel seperation. The Sound Research is a nice amp, but obviously its channel seperation was not so good. I can now hear stereo and surround effects that I never heard before.


I havn't had a chance to really test the raw grunt of this amp yet. I don't think I will be dissapointed.

Summary:
As this is only stage one I wasn't expecting to get much improvement in my system, as the processing stage is the same. The Sound Research receiver is no whimp, I bought it specifically because it had a better amp than the Yamahas of the day. But I have a definite improvement in sound quality, channel separation and even the improvement on the rears is noticeable.

The Rotel amp is a good honest amp, excellent value and a good upgrade path to a seperates system.