Rotel RA-12 Amp Anyone?

[Anonymous]

I auditioned it against Audiolab M-Dac and a power amp for use as a dac for my sonos system

Rotel Dac way better than the Sonos and its amp was very good too much more detail and better soundstage not too cold or too warm quite neutral but plenty of detail.

I then listened to the Audiolab M-Dac and seperate pwer amp and for me that was even better still but obviously more money. I went for the Audiolab and bought a power amp of Flea Bay ( Musical Fidelity)

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

I wonder if anyone has thought the same thing as me. Here's the dilema;

I want to pair a new amp with a Sonos system which gives maximum output quality of16 bit 44.1 khz (ie CD quality) if fed lossless such as Apple Lossless from itunes - (sonos does not support FLAC). So I have been reading that the Rotel RA-12 has a 24bit/192khz DAC, so does this mean that if I feed it a sonos digital PCM signal via the optical or coaxial input, it will upscale the signal to produce a better quality sound akin to if I were feeding the Rotel 24/192 HD audio which you can download from the likes of HDTracks.com. Will this be similar to the actual 24/192?

This upscaling approach is professed by the Cambridge Audio DAC MAGIC 100 whose instructions say that a 44.1/16 signal can be upscaled to 24/192 to give an improved sound.

Alternatively can the Rotel take 24/192 via an ipod or USB device connected to the front USB slot. The instructions say it can only take an ipod and I am guessing it is only really meant to detect apple converted music on the ipod as opposed to taking lossless 24/192 files on a usb hard drive, so an ipod wont be a solution to getting these higher quality files on the system locally without PC being near by. I doubt it can take a usb hard drive.

The DAC MAGIC can only be connected to a PC and not a hard drive so is there anyway around the problem to get this HD music into a Hi fi system locally (without PC near hi-fi) for future proofing without spending a fortune. Will a Rotel assuming it has this upscaling capability be a good enough solution for now or alternatively how about buying a good 'normal' amp with a the Cambridge Audo DAC. I am not sure if only really high end hi fi's like the Linn HD streaming systems can get this HD music, and then the sound is probably in a different price bracket anyway so perhaps not much point, but I suspect my Tannoy's DC-6T's are good enough to hear the difference between HD CD and CD quality sound!!??

 

[igsta77]

Thanks for all the good info so far. Will the RA-11 be good enough to drive the Monitor Audio BX6's or should I go for the RA12. What would I lose if pairing with ra11 instead?

Also any news yet if these amps will ever support flac over USB?

 

[khas]

sorry my english is bad!

Rotel ra12 sound=Rotel ra 04 se sound?please help!Rotel ra12 have traditional Rotel sound?

 

[khas]

anyone help me?!

 

[Baldrick1]

sorry my english is bad!

Rotel ra12 sound=Rotel ra 04 se sound?please help!Rotel ra12 have traditional Rotel sound?

Can't advise as to "Rotel ra12 sound=Rotel ra 04 se sound?" But can say that IMHO the new Rotelas (I have an RA-11) have the traditional Rotel sound (I had an BX-840 previously...and I loved it hence why I went for Rotel again).

Hope that helps?

Regards

Balders

 

[khas]

yes!thank you Baldrick1!i love traditional Rotel sound

 

[csq2]

It is as good as the Brio-R, but has more features, so it is a better value than the Rega. It does sound quite large and sound seems to spread across the room with great clarity and control. The only thing it is missing is the deepest bass. Other than that, great amp for the money.

 

[khas]

wtf?!traditional Rotel sound=sound RA-12=Rega Brio-R sound?!

very bad!

Rega Brio-R have different sound vs traditional Rotel sound!(vs 04-05-06)

csq2 you failed joke?!

 

[Andy Madden]

Hi guys,

FYI there is an RA-12 in the building and we'll be reviewing it in the March issue of the mag, out Feb 13th...

 

[khas]

congratulation me!i have rotel ra-12

its superb sound!Beatiful wonderful and traditional Rotel sound!im happy! :cheer:Rotel the best!i love Rotel!

 

[Baldrick1]

Hi guys,

FYI there is an RA-12 in the building and we'll be reviewing it in the March issue of the mag, out Feb 13th...

Hi Andy

Thanks for the heads up. Although I have already bought an RA-11 (the little brother but oh so musically sweet in my humble opinion) I will read the review with interest. I suspect that the -11 & -12 are somewhat similar in a number of areas, so that should be revealing..and also suspect that after testing the -10 & -12 there will be no test for the -11.

Also, congrats to you khas...enjoy...as I am sure that you will. :clap:

Regards

Balders

 

[Zax89swe]

Since there is a bluetooth usb adapter including Does anyone knows if you can do streaming from a computer directly to the amplifier?

 

[Rick1979]

Anyone heard this against the brio r / Dac combo? Would be interesting to see how they compare considering it works out £400 cheaper :?

 

[Baldrick1]

Since there is a bluetooth usb adapter including Does anyone knows if you can do streaming from a computer directly to the amplifier?

Hi Zax89swe

Have tried steaming an iPod & iPad to my RA-11 via the dongle but have not yet tried anything else but I cannot see why you could not as the dongl broadcast's it presence clearly and as long as you can receive that you should be able to connect...as long as your PC is close enough to the amp...as Bluetooth range is relatively short.

I do not have a Bluetooth card in my PC but do in my laptop so will try out connecting with that and seeing if that works. :?

Regards

Balders

 

[Baldrick1]

Anyone heard this against the brio r / Dac combo? Would be interesting to see how they compare considering it works out £400 cheaper :?

Hi Rick

Interesting question. I have heard both amps (the Rotel more than the Rega) and I think that whether or not the Rotel is cheaper than the combo I think that they are so very different in sounds that not combo/combo price comparison would be a bit superfluous unless you have no strong preference to the sound, colouration, etc., of different amps (and by this I am not saying that one amp is better than the other...just very different musically...IMHO).

But that is just little ol' me.

Regards

Balders

 

[khas]

Zax89swe

for working dongle-install on pc Bluesoleil soft!

 

[khas]

my AS cable Raptor 2x2,5 mm change Supra Sky 2x4mm.I have more big bass RA-12 with Supra 4mm!im very happy with Rotel RA-12 !

p.s.:RA-12 >>>Rega Brio RA-12 much better

 

[khas]

my AS cable Raptor 2x2,5 mm change Supra Sky 2x4mm.I have more big bass RA-12 with Supra 4mm!im very happy with Rotel RA-12 !

p.s.:RA-12 >>>Rega Brio RA-12 much better

 

[BigColz]

Has anyone heard or compared this amp recently? Going to book a demo for 3 weekends time for a friend probably with B&W 685's.. I have a feeling I may end up loving it and sell up all my high end gear, buy a NAS 6TB, iPad, ATV, Sonos connect, 20+ CD's and still have a few grand to put towards a Golf Rallye or M3 :clap: ray: :cheers:

 

[Baldrick1]

Has anyone heard or compared this amp recently? Going to book a demo for 3 weekends time for a friend probably with B&W 685's.. I have a feeling I may end up loving it and sell up all my high end gear, buy a NAS 6TB, iPad, ATV, Sonos connect, 20+ CD's and still have a few grand to put towards a Golf Rallye or M3 :clap: ray: :cheers:

If the RA-12 is anything like the RA-11, which I have the pleasure of owning, you are in for a treat IMHO. The RA-11 has, in my opinion, great control, great cohesion & a good degree of musicality but not so much as to be what I would call 'over musical', if that makes any sense? It ticks all the boxes for me. I suspect that they are very similar only that the RA-12 cranks up the wattage.

Believe that someone advised that the RA-12 is due to be reviewed in the upcoming issue so you should have access to that given your timeframe.

Only thing that I would say is that I considered buying 685s but found them a bit thin (something to do with the Titanium HF?) with the Rotel amps, which I think one could say is fairly neutral sounding in terms of warmth. I ended up going Q300s as a better match...may be worth seeing if you can get a comparison of 685s vs Q300s also?

 

[BigColz]

Has anyone heard or compared this amp recently? Going to book a demo for 3 weekends time for a friend probably with B&W 685's.. I have a feeling I may end up loving it and sell up all my high end gear, buy a NAS 6TB, iPad, ATV, Sonos connect, 20+ CD's and still have a few grand to put towards a Golf Rallye or M3 :clap: ray: :cheers:

If the RA-12 is anything like the RA-11, which I have the pleasure of owning, you are in for a treat IMHO. The RA-11 has, in my opinion, great control, great cohesion & a good degree of musicality but not so much as to be what I would call 'over musical', if that makes any sense? It ticks all the boxes for me. I suspect that they are very similar only that the RA-12 cranks up the wattage.

Believe that someone advised that the RA-12 is due to be reviewed in the upcoming issue so you should have access to that given your timeframe.

Only thing that I would say is that I considered buying 685s but found them a bit thin (something to do with the Titanium HF?) with the Rotel amps, which I think one could say is fairly neutral sounding in terms of warmth. I ended up going Q300s as a better match...may be worth seeing if you can get a comparison of 685s vs Q300s also?

Ok great cheers.. I'll bear that in mind for the dem.. I def hate a bright/thin sound as long as it doesn't sound muddy or fluffy.. I did see about that review and look forward too it.. I will probably add a sub so low end may not be a problem.. Will have to see. Thanks

 

[stevebrock]

I used to have a RA971 MK2 - I actually thought this was an incredible amp for the money!

If I was in the market for an amp/dac combo then I think the RA12 would be it, shame as when I bought my Rega combo the RA12 was not out!

BTW I dont think the Rotel has a phono stage only a phono input - a negative for me!

 

[Anonymous]

Can anyone confirm if this has a phono stage for turntables?

 

[BigColz]

Can anyone confirm if this has a phono stage for turntables?

it has phono in but no phono stage..