Rotel vs ?

[admin_exported]

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum, but I was reading a lot in the past months.

I want to buy a new Amplifier and a new CD player my budget is around £600. I have just bought two B&W 685. I have listened to the Rotel RA 05 togheter with the Rotel RCD 06 which is about £200 over my budget but if I don't find better I will buy these. I've also listened to Cambridge Audio Azur 640A with the Cambridge Audio Azur 540C. They weren't good on the bass side with some rock music. But I have to say I haven't tried them with my B&W. I've also listned to NAD C325BEE + NAD C515BEE and these were not precise enough for me, good bass though. I've listened also at the Marantz PM 8003 + NAD C515BEE but they were too clinical. At the moment I have a Denon amplifier with a no-brand dvd player for CD, and with these the bass is almost completly absent.

My question is😀id I forget some good brand for this kind of money?

Thank you for the answers

Marcuzzo

 

[Anonymous]

The rotel is a great amp, I have the Ra-04 which is the same as the Ra-05 your after but without the remote. The ra-04 & 05 punch well above there 40 watts per channel rating so would be ok with your 685's. I actually listen to some 685's with mine and they sounded great but I just prefered the sound and finish of my RS1's plus I got them for £270 new. The rotel Ra-06 is also a good amp, similar sound to the others but with a bit more power, which doesn't always mean better. Let us know which you go for. Also I have the rcd-06 and I think it is very good but apparently you can now get better for the same money just depends if you want your cd and amp to match.

 

[d_a_n1979]

You can still get the NAD C352 integrated if you search eBay. The NAD C355BEE integrated is a good amp as well.

What kind of music do you listen to?

I also agree with the Rotal RA-04 reccomendation; very good amp and kicks well above its weight!

 

[Cypher]

If you can live without the remote buy the RA-04, you will not regret it. I've had mine for two years now and I still think the amp is extremely good for the money. Very reliable, great build and a very accurate and detailed sound. Perfectly balanced.

It's only 40 watts but the amp sounds very powerful, it can drive most speakers with ease.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the answers.

I usually listen to Classical music, but I
like also Country, Oldies and Progressive Rock. The amp and CD has to
match.

m1rfy how can you live without remote? Do you get used to it?

What about Arcam?

Thank you

 

[d_a_n1979]

Arcam would be a good choice IMO but i think you'd be looking at the 2nd hand market via eBay with your budget.

I had, up until recently, the Arcam Alpha 9 integrated amp along with the Arcam Alpha 9P power amp paired with M/A speakers and the Arcam Alpha 9 CDP. Very good combination! Would also sit well with the B&W 685's.

If it's just an integrated amp and CDP youre after; for the B&W 685 speakers, the higher the power on the amp the better IMO.

The Arcam Alpha 9 or 10 integrated amps would work very well as would the Arcam DiVA A85 integrated amp. The above can all be upgraded with their matching power amp at a later date.

As for a good Arcam CDP; the Arcam CD72 or CD73 CDP would also be a good choice and would pair well with the B&W speakers and Arcam amps

 

[Anonymous]

Living without a remote is ok, you get used to it fairly quickly. You get a remote woth the cd player so changing tracks can be done it is just the volume changing you would need to get up and actually change. This isn't usually a problem for me though as you have to get up and put your cd in so when your there just select your volume and listen to the cd, simple.

 

[Anonymous]

Hello again,

what about Pioner? I see the review here of the Pioner A-A6 + Pioner PD-D6-j which cost around £700.

How are they togheter? Anyone has any experience?
Is Rotel still better?

Thanks

 

[d_a_n1979]

May be better to some but not to others; i personally didnt like the pioneer gear.

You need to demo and visiting a few shops isnt out of the norm if you ask me; within one weekend (last weekend) i travled from Preston to Southport to Chedle to Congleton and back to demo various equipment

 

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I have found a Creek EVO Amplifier + Creek Evo CD used 6 months old for around the same price then the Rotel RA 04 + Rotel RCD 06 new.

What do you think of it?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

I would have thought that the creek evo amp would be a step up up from the rotel due to its original price and creek are a bit more of a high end brand but I couldn't say as I have not listen to the creek just the rotel. Superfi are selling the creek evo amp for around £390 new so have a look. Best thing is to demo them. Go to superfi and demo the creek and the rotel stuff with the speakers you have, I think they sell B&W so you should be ok.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

marcuzzo:
Hello,

I have found a Creek EVO Amplifier + Creek Evo CD used 6 months old for around the same price then the Rotel RA 04 + Rotel RCD 06 new.

What do you think of it?

Thanks

The Creek Evo amp is on a different planet to the Rotel. It is fantastic! I recently saw it reviewed in a certain mag amongst amps up to £800 and it came 2nd. I loved mine. I've not heard the Evo cd player but I did demo the RCD 06 and wasn't impressed. I would say go for the Evo gear. The amp is very powerful, especially as it looks very slim and sophisticated. It's built extremely well (the remote is gorgeous!). The sound is very accurate, good deep, tight bass and vocals come across spot on. I only sold mine as I wanted to integrate it with my AV receiver and it wouldn't play ball.

 

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone,

a friend of mine suggested Audiolab. He said they are on the same prise and they are better than Rotel. What do you think?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Clinical, cold and horrible sounding in my opinion. My ear may be very different to yours.

 

[matthewpiano]

I suspect you might find the Audiolab a little clinical given your comments about other kit.

You seem to be hunting the same holy grail as me. You want detail and clarity but you don't want it to sound overly clinical - the music has to sound coherent and, well, musical. Its such a difficult balance to strike.

I'd try a bit more with NAD if I were you. Have you tried the C352 or C355BEE as Dan suggested? I'd also recommend trying an Arcam CD player such as the CD73 with a C325BEE or one of the better NAD players with the C325BEE. I think you'd find the balance much better if you tried that amp with a C325BEE or the new C345BEE. I'm off today and A/B comparing my Denon DCD1500 with my old NAD C321BEE. The results, so far, are very interesting and I might end up better off financially at the end of the day!!

 

[Gerrardasnails]

marcuzzo:
Hello everyone,

a friend of mine suggested Audiolab. He said they are on the same prise and they are better than Rotel. What do you think?

Thanks

Seriously, try the Creek Evo. All the others you are mentioning are second rate compared.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you Gerrardasnail,

I will try it this week someday. I found a shop that have both B&W and Creek.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Matthewpiano

I would like to have both CD and Amplifier from the same brand and serie so that they match. So what would you suggest to try in the NAD series?

Thanks

 

[matthewpiano]

I'd suggest either C325BEE amp with C525BEE CD player, or C355 amp with C545 CD player. You could save a bit by tracking down outgoing versions of either of the latter as Dan as already suggested.

 

[Anonymous]

q1...do ipod systems ie b&w etc enhance the sound of ipod? rather than just putting the ipod thru the aux of an amp by cables etc?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi again,
on Friday I went to the shop and made a comparison between Rotel RA04 + RCD06 and Creek evolution.

For me Rotel ist still better. The orchestra in the classical music song was more defined, in all songs (rock and classical) there were more sound stage. The voice is more present in the room while with the creek was a bit far away. That is only my opinion and I think at the end I will go for the Rotel.

But I still have a questionThe Rotel I have chosen cost around £600. If I consider the NAD that metthewpiano suggests with this budgetwhat would be the better I could buy?

Thank you

 

[Anonymous]

I've had the Rotel RA-04 + B&W 685 (with Arcam Alpha 7SE cdp) for a year now and extremely happy with them. I've also had NADs in the past (C320BEE amp, C542 cdp) combo with B&W 601s and although the NADs were good, the Rotel + B&W sounds better. The only upgrade I would consider near term, is to add a power amp (probably Rotel again) to further improve the "-fi" on my system.

 

[Anonymous]

I have the audiolab pre and power (bi amp'd) with MA speakers and I can fault them, and I would try to get a listen (I was also looking at rotel but went for the audiolabs)

 

[Anonymous]

I've had the Rotel RCD06 for a year or so in a study system with the RA02, and I think it takes some time to burn in. Sounds amazing for the money now, makes my Naim CD player downstairs look very overpriced!

 

[plastic penguin]

Gerrardasnails:marcuzzo:

Hello everyone,

a friend of mine suggested Audiolab. He said they are on the same prise and they are better than Rotel. What do you think?

Thanks

Seriously, try the Creek Evo. All the others you are mentioning are second rate compared.

I agree with Mr. Snails, if your talking integrated then Creek, with the B&W's, will sound fantastic. The only word of caution is: If you want to upgrade at a later date, the Rotel, Arcam, Nad and Audiolab have pre-outs for bi-amping a power amp - the Creek doesn't.