Price Paid:  $30.00 from Thrift Shop

Summary:
Having had this unit almost literally fall in my lap, i was very excited regarding Rotel's reputation, and the reviews found on these pages. All for naught.

I totally dug the design and construction of the 950, but the sound was weak. It projected a large soundstage, but inner detailing was weak, mid range tended to splatter at high volumes during intense passages, and mid-bass was relegated to the back of the bus. I switched cables to a pair of Tara Labs interconnects which have a rep for mellowing the harsh, but still the experience was dissapointing.

I passed the Rotel on to a friend with a less discerning ear, and sytem, who seems happy with it. Back to my beloved Adcom.

My reference system:

Adcom 565
B&K 4420
JBL L-212 system
Audioquest and Kimber intercoonects

Strengths:
Build quality, control layout.

Weaknesses:
Weak mid range, anemic mid-bass.

Similar Products Used:
Adcom GCD-575

Nakamachi CD Player 2

California Audio Labs Alpha

hcelen

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Zwaard Hi-Fi Capelle

Summary:
I have been using this machine since 1997, and it is the best CD player I have ever owned. And boy, I have owned some good units from Marantz, Teac, Pioneer and Kenwood.
Even after nine years the cd-player still rocks. It has survived sticky fingers and other abuse when my son was a toddler, and I never had to apply serious maintenance.

I have paired the player to Rotel 970 series pre- and power amplifiers and I use Hepta Spring Excellence speakers (find them on the web, they are awesome) with Audioquest interconnects.

Strengths:
Build Quality
Sound
Transport
Digital Out
Bass and Mid sounds

Weaknesses:
No Display on/off switch (but who cares, really)

Similar Products Used:
Marantz CD-63SE, TEAC VRDS10

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
This is a long term review. I had this CD for more than 5 years now and it still runs flawlessly. I simply cannot say enough good things about this unit. The sound is sweet and unfatiguing, the musical presentation is punchy when needed but without the slightest hint of "digititis" and its clarity plus the sheer amount of detail it extracts from every CD still rivals today's best in its class. In all honesty, in a matchup with one of my friend's hi-end Linn Genki (some $1800 and 4 years difference between the two, the Linn being ofcourse more expensive and newer) my old faithfull Rotel left VERY little to be desired (the Genki vas a tad smoother) much to my friend's surprise (not to mention mine). I was thinking of upgrading and the Linn was the player I was looking to get. The direct compairison made me postpone the upgrade. While the Genki is superb (both in sound and build quality) I don't feel the price difference it commends is 100% worth it, not from a sonic point of view anyway. If you can get a decent RCD950 used, JUMP on it. Just bear in mind the model was designed in 1997 so it WON'T play CD-RW media or your MP3 disks. As for your "regular" CD copies or compilations burned on a PC, make sure you "finish" (or close) the disk (aka the burning utility writes the lead-off) and they will play just fine. Finally, with a small kid in the house (would you turn that racket off ??!??! :-) ) , the RCD950/ Accuphase C200/ Grado SR125 combo gets me closer to the music than any other equipment I have lying around.

Strengths:
Excellent build quality, still beats 90% of the CD/DVD players out there in stereo playback prowess, excellent CD transport, excellent digital out.

Weaknesses:
Somewhat slow random track access, dynamics and smoothness leave a wee bit to be desired when compared to the absolute best.

Similar Products Used:
The Linn Genki match equipment: Audio Analogue Puccini, Triangle Zephir II, QED interconects and speaker wire. Other CD playing devices in my household: Sony DAV S500, Sony CDP-CE505, Nakamichi OMS-1

Price Paid:  $425.00 from audio advisor

Summary:
Found this player lacking in almost every respect.. my $100 DVD player smokes it's sound..

Strengths:
none

Weaknesses:
Cannot play or recognize computer "burned" CD's.. stutters and jerks on others.. this is a totally inferior product advertized as "high end" audio... I notice that audio advisor, from whom I bought the unit, no longer carries this line.. beware

Price Paid:  $550.00 from Top Hi-Fi Shop

Summary:
I''ve had the RCD950 for about four years now. Previously as a student, I worked my way through three Technics and two Sony cd players. I A-B''d the 950 against a mid level Marantz, which lacked the tight bass of the Rotel. The 950 is now matched with a recently restored Musical Fidelity A1 and a pair of Micro Grove (locally made) speakers. Have not experienced the static noise problem as mentioned by others, but did notice a few manufacturing modifications with respect to EMC noise reduction. Looks a bit mickey mouse, but I think they''ve got it right in my 950.

Strengths:
Tight bass, simple design, sturdy construction, easy on the ears, numbers don''t rub off the remote buttons, good quality capacitors used for analogue power supply

Weaknesses:
No display on/off option,