AudioAddict1123

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 7.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
In deference to dogorman's inability to take a position on this item ("Obviously it's not fair to compare..."; "it isn't unfair, either"), I'll take the high road on the RA-1062: it's classic Rotel, built like a tank with a pleasing sound that was never intended to compete with the likes of Arcam Alpha series or Music Hall. Rotel has always appealed to the entry-level hi fi set, and that's what the RA-1062 delivers. Having just replaced some very mid-90's stuff--an Adcom power amp and a Parasound preamp--I'm totally impressed with the performance and function of this integrated amp. It has a very nice, tight and punchy bottom, and clear, uncomplicated highs without a lot of sizzle. Granted, I'm using an upgraded power cable (Tara Labs Prism) which has always brought out the best of anything I've ever used it on, but still it's a huge improvement over my old stuff.

I give a 5 star all-around rating because this is one of those pieces that you can throw on your shelf and know that it will continue to please you, trouble-free, for many years to come. If you're going to rate it's performance based on "above- or below middle C piano" (see dogorman review), you should probably be writing for Stereophile, in which case you'd get most of your gear free. If you're going to plop down 600 bucks of your hard-earned cash, might as well do it on something like the RA-1062, where you don't have to work so hard to enjoy the music.

kenqc

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
4.56 of 5, 9.00 votes

Price Paid:  $625.00 from The Soundworks

Summary:
I have owned Krell, NAD, Sunfire, Musical Fidelity, Rotel, Quad, Rega and other high end equipment. I have bought and sold almost all of it over the years as I have been in and out of the hobby due to kids, and other life events. Now I am jumping back into High Fidelity. I enjoy the audiophile life and am anxious to plunge back into the hobby.

My first purchase in many years is the Rotel Integrated amp that is being reviewed here. I have paired it with a Denon universal disc player (the model escapes me at the moment) and Acoustic Energy AE-1 speakers. I have a relatively large room (699 sq ft.) At first I was concerned about the relatively low watt output for the room size. But to my surprise, the rotel gets it done and then some. I have played CDs and my DVDs with the set-up and they sound great. The amp doesn't seem to add or delete anything from the music I have been listening to and it sounds pretty good with the movies and my satellite tv.

I suppose that the speakers with stands are the weakest link in my system, and I will address that need shortly. However, I have been playing The Police, Pantera, The Clash and others with little disappointment. As you may be aware, Pantera is best heard with volume up and a deep bass. The speakers come up short, but the amp can play loud and clear. I am not one to dance to my music, but this combination did inspire me to shake my groove thang.

I am very happy with my purchase. I did consider Marantz, NAD and others for my entry level purchase, but Rotel has looks, performs well and was higly acclaimed both here and in the press. My dealer was also very high on Rotel. He offered other choices but strongly encouraged this purchase. I have to agree with him 100%.

Strengths:
Affordable, good looks, great sound.

Weaknesses:
none at this price point.

Similar Products Used:
Krell, NAD, Sunfire, Musical Fidelity, Rotel, Quad, Rega, Denon

dogorman

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.19 of 5, 16.00 votes

Price Paid:  $475.00 from Audiogon

Summary:
This piece came my way on a bit of an impulse: I'd been listening to a Naim Nait5i (see my review) but because I'm such a cheapskate I only buy pre-owned stuff, and the Nait has turned out to be in need of some service. So I bought this unit on Audiogon to keep me company while the Nait was away.

On the up-side, the Rotel is a straightforward and solidly-built little machine with few question-marks for reliability or performance. Straight out of the box you know you're dealing with a piece that was built to Rotel's exacting standards for wear. Hook-ups are a breeze and the ambient noise with no input signal is essentially nil. The remote is relatively straightforward, if also a bit on the Japanese-y side, at least for my tastes. The amp has a nice look, and the performance is solidly middle of the road: nothing to make you write home about (or perhaps even stand up and dance to), but nothing to chase you screaming from the room, either.

Obviously it's not fair to compare a $699 amp with a $1600 amp, new, or for that matter a $475 amp with a $1050 amp, used, either one. But I'm not sure that it isn't *unfair*, either, in that a person who can afford them both and wants the best sound would want to know that the Nait was doing more for the extra dough. And it is. Besides, there are other amps out there in this price-point that I didn't keep, but which seem to handle the main business of making good music just that little bit better.

I have a demo disc that I've been using to audition any number of combinations of electronics and speakers over the past year (upward of a dozen total configurations, I've quit counting) and as such I've gotten to know it pretty well. There are spike-marks on my hardwood floor that show me exactly where to put my Linn Ninkas when I'm done listening to some other pair of speakers, and in those spike marks I know exactly -- *exactly* -- what the demo disc should sound like, on specific tracks, with very specific sibilants, what-have-you. This has empowered me to make very quick judgments about what a specific combination is and is not doing. And this Rotel, while certainly not offensive or jarring in any way, can only be described as a journeyman amp with journeyman sound and positively nothing to recommend it over any of the other pieces I've tried, including the comparably-priced Onkyo A9555 and (used) Arcam FMJ A23 or Arcam Alpha 8.

The bass notes on Radiohead's "Packed Like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Box" are a particular favorite tell-tale of mine: with the Naim Nait5i and a few other candidates the individual synthetic drum hits on this track have shown themselves to be individual, taut, shut tight at the very end of their allotted time on stage, positively spot-on in every respect. With the Rotel they wallow around the back of the room like nursing home residents trying to find the door leading from the bingo hall. The same disappointments (to the extent that one could be disappointed with such a disequal comparison) recurred across the full range of my demo disc's assortment. The above-middle-C piano on Cyrus Chestnut's "Blues for Nita" were gritty, almost over-modulated, and the below-middle-C piano on Patricia Barber's "Bye Bye Blackbird" were muddled and uninvolving. I noticed very little in the way of microphonics and even less in soundstage.

Now, I hear you saying, "Wait a minute, this is preposterous, you can't really expect an amp that sold for $699 new to compete with an amp that sold for over twice as much," but the thing is, I've heard other pieces in this price point and, while they don't measure up to the Naim either, they do a better job of defending their own turf. Besides: yes I can. On the pre-owned market the separation isn't one that should scare anyone from stepping into something with true, lasting sound quality. I'm still hooked on my Nait5i and that's even with the wrenching discovery that I got flim-flammed by a dishonest seller who had to know that his particular specimen would need to be repaired.

I would say that the Rotel is a solid choice for people who are looking for full functionality and an inoffensive sound in this price-point, but, alas, I can't: the Onkyo A-9555, the Music Hall 25.2, and the Arcam Alpha 8 all sound better -- at least one of them for less money. If you're serious about good sound, spend the extra dough and get the Nait. It's more than twice as much cabbage, and it's more than twice as good.

Strengths:
Clean functionality, reliable, decent performance, great value. Would make a great dorm-room amp for that Freshman in your midst who wants to rock-out his neighbors. Pair it with a set of Klipsch kg-4's and no one has to care about the snobby details, as long as it's real *loud*.

Weaknesses:
Uninspiring sound, mediocre soundstage, fuzzy bass, thin on microphonics.

Similar Products Used:
Arcam FMJ-A22
Onkyo A-9555
Naim Nait5i

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Monkey Mouse

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $699.00 from Audio Connection NJ

Summary:
I purchased this Rotel integrated amp as a present for my father this past Christmas - definitely the right choice. I was also looking at NAD and Marantz and decided that the Rotel was the best choice in terms of sound quality and flexibility - having a built in phono preamp and a great sound. What sold me was the dealer's simple setup in their entryway - the Rotel Integrated, Rotel CD, and a pair of Vandersteen 1's - sounded like a $10K system for $2,400 - even using cheapo cables. I really like the fact that it has a built in phono stage - the NAD didn't. The MArantz didn't have the sound quality or the smart looking appearance either.

Strengths:
Awesome sound quality. A built in MM phono stage. Good looking design. Well thought out cooling (the air pass through hole). Preamp outs for an external amp or subwoofer. A decent remote. Huge transformer inside. Under rated in terms of power.

Weaknesses:
The one weakness that I have found so far is that when you have a signal into an output, you can still hear bleed through on an empty input. Not a deal breaker, but on real quiet passages (that the volume is up high) you will be able to hear the muted sound. Can be sensitive to cables in terms of being a tad bright - an easy fix.

Similar Products Used:
Kenwood AV receiver, JVC integrated amp.

Jugdish

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.80 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $630.00 from Authorized Dealer

Summary:
I purchased this integrated amp based on reviews, as I could only order it from the dealer (they didn't have one on display). I used it with a pair of Paradigm Mini Montor's in an averaged size living room. The sound quality is quite good: Tight powerful bass, balanced mids. My issue with this amp is it tends to be a bit bright. Unfortunately, Rotel has cut costs buy removing separate Bass and Treble controls, and replaced it with a "contour" control. You can increase bass by 2 settings and treble by one setting, or bass and treble together. However, with this limited tweaking, I couldn't make the treble blend very well. Paradigm Mini monitors tend to be a bit forward to begin with, but paired with this particular amp, I became fatigued rather quickly. You need to be careful in choosing speakers with this particular integrated amp. I would really have like the separate controls as Rotel used to have on earlier models, I think I could have balanced the tone to be acceptable.

Strengths:
Crisp clean sound
Compact unit
More power than it's rated at

Weaknesses:
Bright sounding
Difficult to find a delar who has one to demo before purchase
No separate Bass/Treble control

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