Price Paid:  $265.00 from Steve's TV (Waterloo

Summary:
I bought this amp and a NAD C160 pre-amp to replace my faithful old mid-80's college-era Harman Kardon integrated amp a few years ago. A single amp sounded good, but 70 wpc were a little underwhelming for my Mission 704's. I've just picked up a second, used RB971 MkII in fine condition and am now running the two of them in bridged mono mode, bi-wired. The soundstage is clear and the mids and highs are especially transparent, and jazz sounds great. Bass is tight. I was concerned that bridging these amps might result in increased distortion, but I can't discern any.

Strengths:
Good price to quality ratio. Ability to bridge amps adds considerable "oomph".

Weaknesses:
Power cable is built-in; it would be nice to have the option to replace it with something heavier. I've read some reviews suggesting the importance of a good pre-amp with this amp, but am pleased with the NAD/Rotel combination.

Similar Products Used:
NAD, Rotel, H/K, Marantz.

Price Paid:  $120.00 from 225

Summary:
I have this power amplifier bridged with another, being fed from a RA972 preamp. for the money this is an excellent amp and I would consider no other at the price. The combination in total is about £700 (English pounds, no American crap as is usual on audioreview) and has a much larger power supply than is common at this price point. This allows the dynamics in a musical signature to be reproduced realistically. Under-powered amplifiers do not have this capability that is common in high-end amps.To reproduce music realistically you need a wide bandwidth (10Hz-70KHz), Also large well designed loudspeakers are required to reproduce this frequency range. Though back to the point. These amps, as I have them in bridged mode will power almost any speaker above 4 ohms to its limit. I can't recommend these enough. PS. At the date this literature was written, new replacement products were already released. Trust rotel. B&W Loudspeakers are now distributing Rotel components. Since B&W are the best loudspeaker manufacturers in the world, I think everyone should trust their judgement!

Strengths:
Power, Quality, Ability to drive a wide range of loudspeakers.

Weaknesses:
In bridged mode cannot drive speakers below 4 Ohms

Similar Products Used:
Similar products used within price range: Arcam A85, Cyrus 8, Roksan Caspian, Naim 8, Linn Kolector combo.

Price Paid:  $190.00 from London

Summary:
I have had this amplifier for a couple of months and I did not appreciate how good it is until I acquired a considerably more expensive amp and listened to both side by side. The midrange and highs are very brilliant. It does not have the last word in bass extension but even then the bass is very clean. In my opinion you will be hard pushed to find a better amp for this kind of money. Note of caution it requires a very decent preamp to sound at it's best. I went through three preamps before settling on my present preamp. The reported system Preamp: Rotel rha - 10 Source: Sony SCD XB940 Speakers: Kef 35.2 Interconnect: TCI Tigers Speaker Cables: Shark silverplated high caps

Strengths:
Very excellent sound. Good midrange and highs. clean bass. For the price, it is bargain.

Weaknesses:
Not the last word in style. I wish it had an IEC power inlet. Not the last word in bass extension.

Similar Products Used:
exposure Super 18 Stereo

Price Paid:  $400.00

Summary:
I bought the RB971 after reading tons of positive reviews about this fabulous amp. It was nominated as one of the best value amplifiers under $1000 in both Europe and Asia. I pair it up with the Pre-amp RC972, they work perfectly well. What really stood out the voice of this amp is its warm, open midrange. And this is what I prefer since I love to listen to female vocal and Jazz. It sounds very sweet and musical with Jazz and acoustic instruments, also giving you sufficient dynamic on low frequency. I have not discover the needs to use it in bridge mono to gain 180W per channel considering I only have a small 10’x 15’ room. Here’s my setup: CD: AMC CD8b Pre: Rotel RC972 Amp: Rotel RB971 Speaker: B&W 602 S2 Interconnect: Audience Au24 Speaker cable(Bi-wired): Audience Au24 (high) and Kimber 8VS (low)

Strengths:
Midrange and sweet high. Overall tonal balance..

Weaknesses:
may not suitable for rocks.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I bought the RB971 after reading tons of positive reviews on this product. It has been listed as one of the most valuable budget components by many audiophile reviewers in Europe and even in Asia. I pair it with the RC972, they work perfectly well. What really stood out about the RB971 voicing was its cool, open midrange and tubey female vocals. If you are a fan of Jacintha or Dianna Krall you would agree with what i said. The RB971 is also very musical when playing Jazz and acoustic instruments. For music lovers and entry level stereophiles, it's a steal to begin with this component before you pouring out more green notes to high ends. If you are willing to pay an integrated amp under $1500, i would strongly recommend you to get an audition on the RB971 1st. Here's my setup: Room: 10'x 15' CD source: AMC cd8b player PreAmp: Rotel RC972 PowerAmp: Rotel RB972 Speakers: B&W DM602 S2 Interconnect(CD to Pre):TaraLabs Interconnect(Pre-Power):Kimber silver streak Speaker cable: Bi-wired with Au24 for high and Kimber 8VS for low.

Strengths:
High value for money consider its price. Sweet, musical, beautiful jazz vocal, good soundstage, air....

Weaknesses:
Probably not enough dynamic at low frequency, (this could not be the case if it's used in bridge mode, 180W)

Similar Products Used:
Integrated Amp: Audio Analogue Puccini SE, Creek 4330R, 5350SER, .....