Thanks for the reply, Mathewpiano. I currently own a Rotel RA-04- Bx2s combo and, while I do like it very much with certain music I, on the other hand, find it quite bright and agressive with some other music. I mainly listen to indie rock and, folk rock music and while "A Ghost is born" by Wilco sounds fantastic, "Songs fron Northen Ireland" by Teenage Fanclub or the self title Clap your Hands Say Yeah album sound close to harsh. I know it has to do with the tonal balance of the recordings, but I was wondering if I could tame a little bit that brightness with a new amp. This not only happens with CDs (I use a Denon DCD 710ae) but also with vinyls, as I have an At120/e mounted on my Technics 1200, which tracks very well and gives me nice clarity but leaning on the bright side.
I had the chance to audition both the Yamaha and the Denon with the BX2s and, overall I liked the Denon better, as the Yamaha sounded too soft for my ears, lacking the punch the Denon (and the Rotel) has in the botton end. The thing is that the two songs I tried in the audition were kind of easy to listen to, so I'm still not quite sure if the Denon will eventually be warmer or at least more neutral than the Rotel. Do you have any experience with the Rotel to compare?