Rotel A8 vs Marantz PM6007: which budget stereo amplifier is best for you?

[What Hi-Fi?]

We pit the Rotel A8 against the long-running Marantz PM6007 to determine the best budget amp for you.

Rotel A8 vs Marantz PM6007: which budget stereo amplifier is best for you? : Read more

 

[Mr. C Nation]

Sorry to say, as soon as I read the 'analogue only' comment, it was as your reviewer suggested - the deal-breaker.

Why amplifiers of any level fail to provide digital connections as we move into the 2nd quarter of the 21stC is something I don't understand. Bizzarely, connections for a mid-20C device, the turntable, are sometimes featured instead of digital.

Good luck and listening to the Golden Ears brigade and their needles scraping along a wiggly groove in plastic. I saw a news item that spending on music has taken an up-tick - overwhelmingly streamed.

If Rotel has passed on digital connections to save money, they've made a basic marketing error that flies in the face of how music is delivered to the vast majority of listeners now. There can't be any legitimate technical reason.

It is, indeed - quote: "the last thing anyone needs" - an amp stuck in the pre-digital era

 

[suburbansky]

Sorry to say, as soon as I read the 'analogue only' comment, it was as your reviewer suggested - the deal-breaker.

Why amplifiers of any level fail to provide digital connections as we move into the 2nd quarter of the 21stC is something I don't understand. Bizzarely, connections for a mid-20C device, the turntable, are sometimes featured instead of digital.

Good luck and listening to the Golden Ears brigade and their needles scraping along a wiggly groove in plastic. I saw a news item that spending on music has taken an up-tick - overwhelmingly streamed.

If Rotel has passed on digital connections to save money, they've made a basic marketing error that flies in the face of how music is delivered to the vast majority of listeners now. There can't be any legitimate technical reason.

It is, indeed - quote: "the last thing anyone needs" - an amp stuck in the pre-digital era

Why does an amp need any digital inputs at all, especially in the budget bracket of the market? Any device whatsoever that you may want to connect to the amp has an in-built DAC, arguably more suited to the technical specifics of the source than a "one size fits all" DAC used in an amp. Transport-only devices are usually much higher-end, and then you'd rather use a dedicated DAC seperate.

Or is it Bluetooth you're concerned about? Then just buy a Bluetooth speaker and don't waste money on a more expensive device, as the quality will hardly be any better, due to the limitations of the Bluetooth protocol.

 

[Fandango Andy]

Sorry to say, as soon as I read the 'analogue only' comment, it was as your reviewer suggested - the deal-breaker.

Why amplifiers of any level fail to provide digital connections as we move into the 2nd quarter of the 21stC is something I don't understand. Bizzarely, connections for a mid-20C device, the turntable, are sometimes featured instead of digital.

Good luck and listening to the Golden Ears brigade and their needles scraping along a wiggly groove in plastic. I saw a news item that spending on music has taken an up-tick - overwhelmingly streamed.

If Rotel has passed on digital connections to save money, they've made a basic marketing error that flies in the face of how music is delivered to the vast majority of listeners now. There can't be any legitimate technical reason.

It is, indeed - quote: "the last thing anyone needs" - an amp stuck in the pre-digital era

While at a glance your comment about the lack of digital connections being a basic marketing error makes sense. However, on reflection I disagree.

I think there is a legitimate reason both financial and technical. You refer to how the vast majority of listeners now receive music. But the vast majority of people don't have a Hifi, they have Bluetooth speakers, televisions, soundbars, smartphones, tablets, and computers. Any stereo amp is aimed at a relatively niche market.

What if a consumer listens to records, and Cd's? Why waste money and potentially sound quality on stuffing the box with unnecessary components?

If on the other hand someone wants digital, many digital components have a built in DAC, and if they don't, external DACs are readily available and getting cheeper by the day, or they could just buy the Marantz!