Rotel RX1550 Review, slightly confused

[Terryff]

Hmm, five stars yet we get 

"If you can't get past the holes in the spec, well, it's not like you're short of alternatives. "  

Isnt that a tad inconsistent? 

 

[Clare Newsome]

Nope - we're saying we think it's a magnificent machine, but that some people might be put off by it being 'only' 5.1, for example. If that's the case, they have plenty of feature-packed 7.1 rivals to pick from.

 

[Simon Lucas]

So now we're both confused.
The Rotel is a one of the best-sounding amps we've heard at the price, especially for movies. At the money, though, some prospective customers might want a more comprehensive specification than the Rotel provides. If you're not prepared to go short of toys like mic-assisted set-up or Ethernet, the likes of Yamaha and Pioneer have similarly-priced alternatives that offer more of the niceties.ÿ
Not sure that's inconsistent.

 

[Anonymous]

Forgive me if I appear a bit thick when I ask you the following questions - but are you saying the Rotel RX1550 is as good as the Pioneer SC-LX81 - which has better specifications and cost the same - which is also recommended by WHSV as the best AV amp/receiver in the £1000 to 2000 Price range?. Was the Rotel directly compared to the Pioneer ?

 

[Simon Lucas]

We considered the Rotel against the Pioneer SC-LX81 and the Yamaha RX-V3900, and it's worth its five stars every bit as much as those two. Until we Group Test £1500 multichannel receivers again (the Rotel missed January 2009's 3-way) we won't be able to establish our definitive favourite - so in the meantime, we're saying that if you're in the market for a Pioneer SC-LX81 (or anything else at that sort of money) you should definitely make the effort to hear the Rotel too. Unless its specification shortcomings put you off, of course.

 

[Anonymous]

So should I be concerned. I've just purchased the Marantz AV/MM 8003 several months ahead of Rotel's 1500 series release. ÿAnd I was a core Rotel fan so a hard call . . . looking forward to your new group test, or individual tests for the pre/pro/multichannel Rotel combo and the Marantz combo now you've done the Pioneer's, Rotel 1570, etc. Great work guys in a tough field. cheers