Warm and Tight
Written: Oct 07 '99
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Pros: tight bass, clean highs, smooth mids, THX, looks
Cons: none
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| IQ9's Full Review: Rotel RB-991 Power Amplifier |
I listened to several other amps through my Paradigm Studio 100's before settling on the Rotel. $1,000 was my budget, and I wanted smooth, tight bass, warm mids, and liquid highs. I found all of that and more with the Rotel 991.
The CD that sold me on them was Sting, "Mercury Falling". That entire CD is a brilliant production, sonically, but the first track, in particular, is a excellent hi-fi test. It gives you some lush audio that fills the entire spectrum, and also breaks down into very simple, but beautifully recorded bass / guitar / drums / vocals. The kick drum was punchy and tight, while the Sting's five-string bass parts held strong all the way down the neck. The faint, subtle eight-note guitar part in the background was perfectly audible through the heavier instruments. Sting's voice, which oftentimes can be a tad edgy, was smooth and unobtrusive. Oooo, and the highs...The highs just floated from the speakers with no harshness or metallic sound. This amp just sounded so WARM!
I usually pay close attention to damping factor which, as you know, is a rating of how quickly an amp can return a speaker driver to neutral once is has been pushed outward with each sound wave. This is an important factor in achieving tight bass response. Well, I was so impressed with this speakers bass delivery, I forgot to check the specs for damping factor. I didn't need to. Later I found out that the Rotel's damping factor is 1000. That's extremely GOOD! More than enough!
The amp has balanced inputs on the back, but I do not have balanced outs on my preamp, so I can't comment on those.
I have StraightWire interconnects going to the amp, and MIT Terminator-4 Bi-Wires going to my Studio 100's.
The amp has a nice feature that when you turn it off, it activates its protection circuit, which cuts power to the outputs. This makes for no speaker damaging pops or surges. And, from what I understand, the protection circuit is merely a temperature sensor external to any signal path, not WITHIN the signal path, that cuts power when the temperature gets too high. This makes for a cleaner, shorter signal path.
This amp sounds wonderful, is a bargain at $1,000, and smokes the $1,500 Adcom I listened to, which, by the way, sounded grossly midrangy and sterile. The Rotel 991 reproduces every frequency with total clarity and accuracy, with clean, tight bass, and smooth, fluid highs.
I can't think of a reason not to buy it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 850
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Epinions.com ID:
IQ9
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Member: Russell Brooks
Location: North Wales, PA
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 4 members
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