Middle band absolutely sweet, human voices as natural as they can be, the silences and inter notes space deeply dark (quiet). Space large, deep and focus. Instrument timbre as "they were there". No blend of instrument sounds. They are there in the right place. Deep bass, controled and fast. Sweet but extended treble. To conclude this Rotel player is a "great pleasure machine" of what listening music could mean. (By the way, I red here other reviewers saying the need of change the clock and other stuff. No need at all. As it is, it sounds absolutely astonish.

In the weak side we have some isues with electronic mechanical control, expecially with the open close of the cd tray.

How can I expect any more from a 200$ CDP?
Good detail, good dynamic, good balance in all three range (high, mid, low) and an incredible soundstage
Before having this, I can't believe that a CDP can make such a great improvement in the soundstage - simply wider, deeper and clearer

It focuses on the music, not on the details. (Kind of listening to a Linn system - it may not always be "correct" but you just want to play some more music..)

Well - it's old and I'm not sure if you can find spare parts....

I bought this CD in 1993 for 4500 SEK (Around $600) and it's been playing on a daily basis. For a few years with an Audio Alchemy DDE v1.0, but recently as a standalone player.
Recently I purchased a clock from Net Audio in the Uk (www.net-audio.co.uk) and installed it my self (good detailed instructions on the website, and emails from the founder/owner of the company convinced me that it was doable).
I have never had a better upgrade! The best $100 I spent on my audiosystem...
I recently tested Cambridge C640, Marantz SA7001 and Rega Apollo (and Arcam cd72) - and the only player that I thought was better was the Rega Apollo but it's a bit pricey...
TIP - buy a RCD 965 (LE or discreete if you can find one..) on ebay, install a clock and be amazed.

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Pioneer PD-S802, 901,904, Marantz SA7001, Rega Apollo, Arcam cd72

Highs, midrange & lows are all good for the age & cost. Non fatiguing with all kinds of music. A bargain at the time of its release.

Maybe not as detailed as current players, But not much else.

Price shown above is Australian $.
Purchased the 965BX new in 1992 to use in my then system of Naim 42/Snaps/110 amp & Naim IBL speakers. It sounded great right from the start. However, the Naim system, though musical & exciting to listen to, began to be a bit overbearing. About a year ago I started to replace my system starting with the speakers then the amp & now the CD player.
The Rotel proved to be an excellent musical player
& very reliable. I never got tired of listening to it with its good alround performance with jazz, blues, rock & (my wifes) classical CDs. Thanks Rotel for 14 years of listening pleasure.
It was a hard task finding a player to replace it. Ended up listening to Rotel 1072, Rega Apollo, Marantz 17, Shanling T80, Jungson SACD & the Consonance CD120 Linear. The CD 120 Linear proved to be the best for my tastes & system.


If you can find a good cheap 2nd hand 965BX buy it

Current system:
Consonance CD120 Linear
Analogue Audio Puccini SE (ebay buy)
Vandersteen 1C speakers
Vandenhull Thunderline i/cs
DH Labs T14 spkr cables.

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See above

sound stage, refined but very detailed, smooth sounding, can be listened to for hours. vocals and strings sound lush.

some would say it's laid back. that's what i like about it :)

This player really sparkles. in it's time there was nothing better for less than a thousand pounds, and although these days it's been surpassed, it still nocks the spots of most budget players, and even some midrangers. I originally auditioned mine in 1993 along with a marantz (think it was the 52 at the time). there was no comparison. recently i upgraded the clock and the sound improved slightly. if you planning to spend anything less than £300 on a CD player, i'd recommend buying one of these on ebay (you can pick them up for £50) simply because it'll sound better HONEST!

Now my player is a nice listen, i have no plans to buy anouther. Even my bloody expensive Meridian amp doesnt show it up.

Poor as standard although may work in a warm budget system.

I picked this player up on the cheap to replace an old marantz and to be honest the sound in standard form is a tad poor. Quite detailed BUT... ...Detached one note bloomy bass... ...Hard glass like mid range... but not bad for £50. So seeing as how it was an interim player i thought i'd do some mods, not really caring is i fried it. First change op amps, i tried burr brown opa134(nice and fast bass, glare gone,shut in top end) opa604(same as 134 but top end a little obvious) and opa627(fast, detailed and smooth...real texture....ace!). Next mod was trichord clock2, not quite the revelation that new op amps did but still...more detail and sound stage depth, less "smear" if i could use that term, more texture to instruments and last mod was to remove the muting tranny's from the output stage, again more detail.

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Has been fun to mod and now sounds good.

Detailed, smooth, less mud. Vynl ish with out the hiss and pops.

Instructions need pictures for us non-electrical engineers. BE WARNED: Soldering is involved.

This is more of a Trichord Clock2 review. I wrote a review a while back about how much I liked the 965bx. Well alot of reviews say it can stand a better clock, so on a lark a few months ago I purchased a trichord clock 2 (Trichord is selling them so cheap now since the clock3 is out). The clock came to about $100cdn after shipping. The install? SCARY. I had to pull piecies off my circuit board. The instructions could SERIOUSLY have used some pictures with arrows or somthing (took forever to find where the clock module was ... and yeah ... it was right in front of my face the whole time). The Result: WOW. I mean, I thought this whole jitter thing was a load of hooey. The sound was clearer, more defined and detailed. The difference is pretty astounding really. Even on my lowly PSB 2Bs. Man ... it almost sounds vynl on some recordings. Yeah ... that good. Worth it?: Every Penny. Should you?: Yes ... buy one now ... GO!

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None ... my first clock upgrade.

Build-quality, excellent sound, remote

None at this price

Very Very good CD-player. You have to use good interconnects to bring out the best of this player.

Similar Products Used:

Accuphase, Conrad Johnson, Mark Lewinson, Naim, Marantz

everything :))

None worthy of note.

Oooopsss !!! This is a truly wonderful CD player and I can't see it being beaten by anything other than machines costing ridiculous sums of money, perhaps not even then.

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Marantz CD7, BAT VKD5 SE, Accuphase, Nad,

Excellent sound,long live endless musical pleasure!

can't find one.

Far better than you imagined.

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Nad, Krell, Accuphase, Marantz, Sony, ....