Summary:
very good

Summary:
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.

Strengths:
Flexibility

Price Paid:  $550.00 from Oakville Audio

Summary:
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.

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

Weaknesses:
Signal Sense maybe acting up

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $450.00 from re-sale

Summary:
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.

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

Weaknesses:
None so far.

Similar Products Used:
Rotel RB985 THX, Rotel RB990

Price Paid:  $529.00 from Audible Elegance

Summary:
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.

Strengths:
Lots of configurations, Good sound, Price, Runs cool

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

Similar Products Used:
Parasound HCA-1000, Parasound HCA-800II