soundstage it air and open

deep base is a little week

Nice sounding amp if you can get it for the right price. YOu can find them everywhere for about $500 so dont get carried away and spend to much. For $500 or more there are much better options in a used amp.

open sound stage airy highs with nice clarity in the upper range.

bass is a tad week which is common for rotel amps in this class

nice amp for an older unit. they can be found for aroun $500 so dont be conned into paying more than that for a 10 year old model.

price is good, I mean you don't need to pay for that Rotel 1080 for doubling price while you have the basically the same circuit.

none

This is my fifth home amplifier, and it seems like I will not need to upgrade in 5 years. wonderful sound field, great deep bass and detail mid.

Powerful and transparent

None, except they lack remote switching

I bought this amp as gap filler whilst I was upgrading my system, it will now be staying. It has masses of power, speed and transparency that, for the price, puts many exclusive brands to shame. Previously I have been using Naim amps (250s and 135s) to power by Naim SBLs. Against these 'legendary' benchmarks the 993 performs extremely well. I don't find it runs hot. It is now powering the three front bass units in my active A/V system. I have now bought a 991 ( The two channel equivalent) to runs the bass units on the 2 rear channels speakers. Treble units are handled by Rotel 981s. The planned Amp upgrade is now on hold as I think I will have to shell out serious cash to better the Rotels.

Similar Products Used:

Naim 250/135

- Detailed - Powerfull - Cheap

Nothing much for the price

I bought the 993 to add centre and rear channels to my ATC active system. The amp has done everything asked of it; originally driving Kef 100C & 65DS, it now powers Martin Logan Cinema & Scenarios with similar aplomb. This amp is an absolute bargain and when matched with a Meridian 565 (widely available used for 1000) confidently overwhelms the 1.5 - 2k integrated competition.

Open sound, Clean, great value for your $, nice looking front. I''ve owned Rotel for years and never once had a problem.

It does run hot, but who cares it doesn''t affect the sound. (RB-981 doesn''t run as hot)

First let me say that I''m hooked on Rotel amps. I have owned and listened to many other brands. For the money(value) you can''t beat Rotel. In the past when I owned my Martin Logan ReQuests/Logos, and before that the Carver AL-III''s, I ran my Acurus A250, it sounded ok. Then I hooked up my Rotel RB-981, that was the ticket. At only 130watts it ran them pretty good as far as power, and as far as sound, they were SWEET. The Acurus did have a bit more power, but unless you want to crank-up the ML''s(I never did)or Carvers, it didn''t matter. So anyway at that point I needed a 3rd Channel so I got the RB-993 for the front three and the RB-981 for rears. Awesome! I have looked and listened to many amps since then. The only amp worth an upgrade is a Krell, but who wants to dish out that kind of money? My system now is full blown Home Theater with all M&K''s (S-125''s, S-85''s, two MX-150THX subs). All seven speakers run by Rotel amps. I don''t go out to the movies anymore (big smile!). I''m working now on a dedicated 2-channel system and you bet it will be the RB-1090. Highly Recommend any of the Rotel Amps.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RB-981, Acurus A250, Acoustat Trans Nova 200, Golden Tube SE-40, Krell KAV-250a, Carver(various)

Incredibly open and dynamic sound. Tremendous soundstage.

Runs very hot.

I am currently on the upgrade path and I found that the Rotel RB-993 statisfied my needs for something usable in both a 2-channel and home-theater environment. Originally, I demo'd the 993 (as well as the RB-985 and the Marantz MA-700 monoblocks) using an Arcam Alpha 9 as source, Rotel RSP-985 pre-amp, and B&W 803 speakers. After listening to the RB-985 and the MA-700s, I was completely blown away by the 993.

First and foremost: DETAIL. The clarity and accuracy of the sound is just incredible. In particular, I am just amazed at the timbral accuracy of the sound. Specifically, horns, like in Latin Jazz such as Irakere, have the brightness which is associated with them without being overly bright. The midrange is equally beautiful, with cello passages, such as from Strauss' Don Quixote, leaping out from the speakers. The low end sounds equally impressive, with bass drum hits on rock coming through clean and tight.

Secondly, the RB-993 has a tremendous soundstage that is both wide and deep. Sometimes I find the width and depth of the soundstage to be somewhat disconcerting, given the size of my listening room.

In a review of the RB-991, the 2 channel version of the 993, "Dave" commented that he felt "the sound quality was poor", "very bright", "solo piano sounded particularly tinny", and "loud orchestral passages sounded pinched." I can only say that it must be a matter of system matching. Personally, I have not encountered any of these artifacts: I find the sound quality to be very very nice (especially for the price), certainly not "bright", and solo piano resonates beautifully with being "tinny".

With regards to home theater usage, although the 993 sounded good, I was not as impressed as I was when using it in 2 channel audio. However, that can be explained by my "no-fi" Pioneer 525 DVD player... *laugh*

Overall, I absolutely love this amplifier. The mids and highs are beautiful and crystal clear, while the lows are tight and accurate. My only complaint is that the amplifier runs _very_ hot.

Purchase Price: ~ $1350USD.
Desc: 200 watts x 3 into 8 ohms. Balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) inputs.

Home System
Pre-amp: Rotel RSP-985
Source: Old Technics MASH CD player
Amp: Rotel RB-993
Speakers:
B&W DM-22s (front L & R)
B&W CDM CSE (center)
PSB Alpha Mini's (rear)
Cables:
Monster 850i interconnects
Audioquest Crystal (center channel)
Audioquest Indigo (front L & R)

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RB-985, Marantz MA-700 Monoblock,
NAD 916, NAD 925THX

Bass, Detail....

None

It match perfectly with my speakers....
At this price, it doesn't get any better!!

Similar Products Used:

RB 980bx

This is a fine product with a reasonable price. The sound is a little bit to the warm side. The only complaint that I have is that it gets rather hot.
Associated speakers
KEF 100C
B&W DS6

I love Rotel products and am looking for a 3 channel amplifier to push my newly rebuilt Magnepan MGIIIa's and my magnificant new Maggie front channel. I am thinking about buying this unit and have been looking for some input for several months. I live where Rotel products are not available and Rotel does not sell online. If anyone has this amplifier please give me some input and do a review on it.