Showing Promise

We here at O/A, needed a change of pace at the cutting edge of signal transmission intergration systems HQ
So out went Broadswords and in came some french Flair (thanks to John Carter), some entery point floor standers the Chorus 710's, now adorn the 'office', still virgin fresh milage on the bores, and spotless, they been given a little wake up call this afternoon, although a long way to run in, for the cash seems like them may turn into a great budget buy, (I'll be spec'ing them up, after running in) but these do show signs of having a good pulse, unlike the broadswords which need cardo vascular treatment from time to time although a surprising fair sound, just too much 'realisum' they look pleasing too. Wm

 

You leave my Broadswords alone you big bully you. Just 'cos they can't run very fast. You try running with that enormous great inductor stuck in your insides ...... now there's an idea ......

JM Labs show promise, little bit bright and airy for me at the moment but running in is a marvellous thing....... Incidently we've blagged the loan of a Rotel 1070 power amp, which once warmed up also seems undisputably promising. That too has precisely no hours on it though atm so should settle down too.

Cheers

 

Ahhh, you got one . I always rated my 991 and an opinion would be welcome.

 

Hi Voodoo

Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get one, one thing we're not short of is opinions, .

Cheers

 

i dem'ed a 1070 when i got the Dyn's
was fairly impressed then tbh, considering price etc it seemed fairly capable.
Hmm, now youve got me thinkin.........................


LoL

edit -
just been scouting around, wouldnt mind your opinions on the RB when youve had a good listen

 

Arhh, we needed top 'borrow' a power until our replacement is ready , so a kind gent with a big store room said 'go hunt' and we found a virgin (lot of those today) 1070 rotel, it's not bad, decentish build, big, chunky, nice binding posts, purposeful look and blue led , power 100@ side, fair Tranny strapped down inside it's about £500 In think, It's had a 'warm up this after' and will be given sound thrashing at every oppotunity, first impressions quite favourable. Wm

 

yer
its the price that is atracting me.
I only had a brief listen, but was impressed at the price point. Although that was when i had the audiolab - so it needed a boost.
Im hopeing that this year will see a half decent power and maybe a pre.
If its a good un guv, means i could suffice with that and save sponds for prospective house buying.
Better sounds and pleased gurly! could this realy happen???

:;

 

What you lot like :gary: !

I had a mint RB-991 going for £350, 2 months ago !!!!!!!

 

Been on about Rotel power amps for years! The best value in audio IMHO. feed 'em a good signal from a decent pre and they punch well above their weight - just smoothing over some fine detail.

 

I had 991 + 993 with my Concertos, and they sounded more than fine, but then came the EAII and they nealed, clipping at medium levels...

Of course that doesnt happen with Bryston... :MILD:

 

You managed to run a Rotel RB991 to clipping !

I won't even ask what levels you listen at . I had my 991 & 993 for 3 years, driving standmounts and floorstanders and never once suffered from this.

V. strange IMO.

 

Yep sounds like a fault to me - either with the Rotel (very unusual) or with the SF's

 

Been looking around a bit more
seems people are claiming the Rotel 10 series is a hidden bargain, people claiming that they had to move up to the likes of Bryston et al to better it.
I have been hankering after a bel canto, especialy with current exchange rates. Getting an ear bash on that one tho as it still equates to nearly 2 * price of the 1070.
May see if i can hook up a demo on this one in a few weeks.

 

There was no fault at all, just the SF EAII are a quite difficult load, up to 50 ohms around 50hz, it would clipp, red lights on, at medium listening levels, also tried Plinius 8200, same problem, plus mushy sound, the same happened to a friend testing EAIIs in a store with his Plinius 8150...

The Bryston 4 B ST will also light the leds with very high dynamic recordings at VERY high levels, but you dont hear it, as it just compresses the sound after reaching its limit... :MILD:

 

I thought 50 Ohms would be an easy load, it's low impedences which make amplifiers struggle to deliver enough current.

 

I think I had precisely the same thought as well.

The only possible problem is the change in phase (between voltage and current) it would have to drive that is usually associated with a peak like this. Having said that, I can't see it worrying a Rotel, even if it was a budget one, which it isn't!

Cheers

 

I dont know the technical reason, but I know what I saw/heard, my friend wanted to buy those used EAII, and tried them on the store with several powers, most couldnt handle them, and I am talking expensive separates, one ML did well, also valves work very well with them, so does Bryston...

 

I take it the Rotel is a direct swap in replacement for the Pioneer A-400 GTE?

Why the changeover?

 

Henry, simple really the Pioneer had run it's coarse, for the money it's a great amp, and produces a good sound that a lot of others which are more expensive can't match. (as you've heard)
Plus The was a conflict of interest on the upper frequencies now we've sort the reference cabling out, so basicaly we need an amp a bit more representitive of general populas (it's also just a power amp, so Mr Wadia can show us what its got), and it's pretty fair, problem is we're running in some new speakers & the amp and I preformed some mods on the wadia 25 last week, op/amps/voltage regs and the entire cap field in the analogue stage, so it's a bit tricky to tell at the moment, although the rotel has some nice control (of the JM labs), greater detail and drive, but it's only a stop gap, we have a cunning plan

 

What's only a stop gap, the amp, the speakers, or both?