Great Full Sound, Hot Outputs

Time to recognize disk

This CD player is quite good. If you a perdon that can't see spending too much on a CD player because they are all alike. This will surely change your mind. I compared it to the ROTEL RCD-931( the model below it). It was $200 cheaper and sounded great to me old SONY player. However the RCD-951 just blew it away. I imediately realized the difference that $500 can make.

This player also has the ability to play HDCD's which sound very nice but I don't think they will catch on with DVD-audio around the corner. I just can't wait until ROTEL makes a DVD-audio player.

I listen to this CD player through a ROTEL RA-971 integrated amp and (2) B&W 603s

HDCD, Soundstaging, Smoothness and price

NONE

This awesome player made my whole cd collection "New" . It recently received a "Golden Ear Award" from Absolute Sound Associate Editor Neil Gader. Save the extra cash and get the 951 instead of the 971. To quote Mr. Gader's review...."The perfect player to annoy your snootier audiophile friends with!

Similar Products Used:

Denon CD2700, CAL lab DX2, Pioneer dvd player

sweet uppers, smooth middle, great bass extension

somewhat cheap transport tray

This is a great product that anyone will
enjoy. Of course, it is essential to have
high quality amps and speakers to reap
its benefits.

Actually the retail price is $499, and some dealer will sell it for $425-$475.
I did a direct comparison between the Denon 1650 and the bottom of the line Rotel with HDCD the RCD-951. With the PMD-100 filter the Rotel sounded as good as the Denon on non-HDCD discs and much better on HDCD discs (obviously). The amp was a Krell Kav 300i and Martin logan Aerius speakers (MIT 330 plus interconnects and 750 cables) The dealer was kind enough to leave me alone and only come back when I wanted to switch the interconnects. Consequently, I spent a lot of time listening. Everything from HDCD jazz and classical. to non-HDCD clasical and rock (hard core gothic stuff, very very low bass). I would have easily bought the $500 Rotel over the $1000 Denon. If Denon added the Pacific Microsonics filter (HDCD decoder) it may make a great improvement. But until then get the Rotel.

I personally got the Rotel RCD-971 (Dual higher end DAC's, same as Krell KPS 20i)

System (for now)

Rotel RCD-971 CD-Player
Bryston B-60R Integrated Amp (Awesome Stereophile Class B amp!)
PSB Stratus Silver speakers
DH Labs Silver Sonic Cables throughout

Total $2560 (Retail $4517, call me a bargain shopper!)

Vocals, bass musicality, build quality, hdcd

Needs break in time!

This is a sweet sounding player with excellent imaging (after adequate break in, at least 200 hours). It does a tremendous job on vocals. I listen to a lot of opera, and this player does Pavarotti's voice justice. The bass isn't real strong, but is extremely musical, in that you can recognize the pitch. This seems to be a difficulty with a lot of budget players. HDCD is wonderful, but honestly wasn't my main concern when buying because of the lack of material recorded in HDCD. The build quality is excellent, and the drawer is very smooth. I could not discern enough difference between this and the 971 to justify the extra cost.
I can't stress the break in enough. I was horrified at the sound quality right out of the box. Bright, grainy, and no bass. Put it on repeat and don't come back for awhile!
Overall, a true bargain.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz cd67se, Rotel 971, NAD 520,540

detail, openess of sound,sound quality, build

presentation of quietly sung vocals

rotel has done an excellent job in producing their entry level cd player. the 951 goes far beyond all other players that are within its price range. in fact, even those that are over $300 higher do not seem to reproduce recordings significantly better than what the 951 does. to spend under $900 on any other cd player would be fruitless for someone that was that concerned about a nominal gain in the sound quality of their system. the HDCD feature is very nice, and adds a lot, but in reality their are not that many good HDCD's out their, and the technology will probably soon fade away. if you have between $300-800 to spend on a CD player, seriously consider the 951. I doubt their will be any regret in doing so.

Similar Products Used:

rega, 971, arcam, cambridge audio

HDCD, Plays CDR's, Small sleek appearance.

Remote,

Overall a fine unit for the price. I had my heart set on the Marantz 6K. Unfortunatly the Marantz refused to play any CDR's. I had a difficult time finding ANYTHING of quality in this price range. What got me interested in this unit was the HDCD capability. I probably would have purchased an Arcam or NAD. But both have serious tracking problems with CDR's. All of my CDR's work fine with the Rotel. Is it the best unit I've ever heard? No, not really. But it does what it's supposed to do. I've found it to be quite sensitive to cable selection. I was "just this far" from reboxing it and returning it when I pulled the Kimber Hero's and snapped on a set of "cheapie" Monsters. My world was changed forever about cables. I could not believe the difference in sound quality with the less expensive cables. Yes, I returned the Kimbers!

Similar Products Used:

Marantz 6000OSE, Nad, Pioneer, Arcam, Rega in the same price ranges.

Clarity and bass extension.

lack of features such as display dimmer that have nothing to do with sound quality.

I'm not going to tell you that this CD player is better than sliced bread, sounds better than CD players costing twice as much, makes me feel like I'm listening to my CD's for the first time, or other cliche exaggerations. No CD players will do those things. What this CD player does do is play accurate, sweet sounding music with good bass extension at a fair price.

The retail price is $500. I paid $415. You should never have to pay retail from a dealer. I've been auditioning CD players and DVD players for over a year. This Rotel outperforms any other CD or DVD player I've heard under $500. I previously owned a NAD 522 which I could not stand and promptly sold. Prior to this purchase, I did most of my listening on a Sony Dual Discrete DVD player, the S300 which is an outstanding bargain that is unfortunately no longer available. I kept holding off on purchasing another stand alone CD player until I was sure that I found a CD player that was not only the best sounding under $500, but more importantly, one that I would be happy listening to for years to come. Too often audio consumers settle for a product based on budget, not satisfaction. Just because you purchase the best sounding CD player at a certain price point, doesn't mean that the CD player's performance will make you happy. The Rotel 951 is the cheapest CD player that meets my critical standards and I can listen to it for hours and hours without being haunted by thinking "if only I was able to afford a more expensive CD player". In other words, it makes me happy.

The Rotel 951 is suitable for entry level high end systems. To gain a noticeable increase in performance you would have to upgrade to the $700 price point with the Rotel 971 or the Arcam 7SE. But, that's the rub. There is always a more expensive, better sounding product. You have to draw the line somewhere. I drew the line at the Rotel 951. I think this CD player is not only a good starting point into high end audio, but will also perform very favorably with higher end gear as you upgrade.

Many people avoid Rotel products because of looks and lack of features, and this Rotel is no exception to either criticism. There are a bare minimum of features but remember, all that matters is the sound quality. You can listen to Marantz, NAD, Denon, Yamaha, etc. but If you ignore looks and features, I think that you will agree with me that at the $500 price point, the Rotel 951 sets the benchmark for performance.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz CD-6000 OSE, NAD 522, Sony dual discrete DVD player S300.

Good, honest sound
Supports CD-R, CD-RW, HDCD flawlessly
Good, clear display

Lacks the sparkle of similarly priced, warmer players
Slow back / forward within track
Lacks gold-plated phono connectors

I'm sorry to let the side down, but overall my reaction to the player after having listened to it for two months is 'disappointing'.

I listen to a great deal of music from my PC - MP3 files and DVD movies - but I bought the Rotel RCD-951 because the computer's CD-ROM drive contains a cheap DAC which really doesn't bring out the best in CDs. The player set me back GBP350 - a big investment, but I did like it when I heard it compared (at great length) to the NAD 524 and the less expensive Rotel RCD-930AX at the shop. And for the first week or so, I played all of my CDs over and over, and they sounded good - clear, crisp, and with the warmth that my CD-ROM lacked.

However, the novelty of a slightly new sound has now worn off, and I can't help thinking that I paid too much for the sound I'm getting. The system's main strength is classical music - especially powerful, orchestral stuff, which really comes alive in a way I had not previously heard through my hi-fi. For all other types of music though, the difference in sound between an original CD and that from my computer when playing MP3 music is minimal. I have spent hours switching between the two, and am satisfied that the Rotel CD player just doesn't stun me the way it should when compared side-by-side to a standard desktop computer containing a GBP60 soundcard. I'm not an MP3 freak by any means - I bought the CD player because I wanted quality of sound and I know that MP3s (or a CD-ROM DAC) are fundamentally less capable than CD separates.

The product gets four stars because it does what a CD separate should - produce a good sound from a compact disc. It's one of the least expensive players to offer HDCD support (although I haven't any HDCD discs, so I can't comment on this) and it's fairly well built - my only real criticism against the unit itself is that it doesn't offer a sound that stuns. That said, the performance does not justify the price tag. I'm convinced this player outperforms UKP120 units, perhaps to the extent that the improvement is worth UKP50. However, it just isn't worth three times that. Unless my system suffers from a fundamental weakness elsewhere (which, based on my experience of MP3 music, I don't believe to be the case), I can only advise people thinking about buying this player to save themselves UKP200, or make a move into the realm of the UKP600+ player.

The rest of my system comprises a NAD C340 integrated amp and B&W 601 speakers with decent cables.

Similar Products Used:

Arcam 7SE

I originally bought this unit to replace an old CD player in my video system.For a lark I tried it in my reference system in place of the Esoteric P10 transport & D10 D/A convertor.
Well, the build quality may not be the same but the sound is much superior from the Rotel. This is true even on regular CD's.
On HDCD, the sound surpasses anything except direct-to-disc vinyl.
The moral of this story... If you don't have an HDCD player get one. A decent HDCD such as this Rotel will outperform the best conventional CD players of a few years ago.
Fortunately, TEAC will be releasing HDCD equipment soom, So I'll keep the P10 and upgrade the D10.