Rotel RB-1070 Amplifier Review

[pseudoid]

Maybe someday a Rotel class-D amplifier will find the way to Amir.

Today, I asked @amirm if he wanted to test the Rotel RMB-1565. (tbd)

Nothing fancy but served me 24/7 for over a decade. Notice the lack of fans and minimal heatshink'g.
I had it up for sale here... but sold it locally... but bought it back for $250...

 

[Laughing Rabbit]

I'm not into spending a lot of money, but I have in the past. Had top of the line beasts from Musical Fidelity, that sounded as good as double or even triple priced Mark Levinson. Had Manley Snapper monoblocks that reminded me more of my Marshall amps. Now, thru a career change I very happily settled for Rotel 1592. It's got everything, and a guy sold it to me in mint condition for about a grand. It's got fine resolution, PLENTY of power, almost no grit in its depths, and conveys well to reasonably priced Focal Aria 936 K2s. Perfect little rig for a large living room. I've always been favorably impressed with Rotel's higher end power amps. You really can't go wrong, but speakers, to me are more important. If you're getting a MSRP $2K amp, get MSRP $4k speakers. I think Polk, although some may sneer, is quite nice for the money. If you want high end, you'd have to get Mark Levinson's very best to, say, BEAT the audible distortion on my Musical Fidelity M8Xi. Smooth, and about 6k. But for normal rational budgets, Rotel, high end is just fine. I also very much like Harman products. They are high quality and not necessarily terribly priced, something for every budget. Levinson's just way too high for most budgets. If money didn't matter, I'd go top of the line Revels or Focals speakers and Krell amps. But my music performance/studio experience tells me that Genelec top of the line is really the simple way to go. Class D. Maybe a couple 8361As and the W371AP. Boom.

 

[DMill]

I'm not into spending a lot of money, but I have in the past. Had top of the line beasts from Musical Fidelity, that sounded as good as double or even triple priced Mark Levinson. Had Manley Snapper monoblocks that reminded me more of my Marshall amps. Now, thru a career change I very happily settled for Rotel 1592. It's got everything, and a guy sold it to me in mint condition for about a grand. It's got fine resolution, PLENTY of power, almost no grit in its depths, and conveys well to reasonably priced Focal Aria 936 K2s. Perfect little rig for a large living room. I've always been favorably impressed with Rotel's higher end power amps. You really can't go wrong, but speakers, to me are more important. If you're getting a MSRP $2K amp, get MSRP $4k speakers. I think Polk, although some may sneer, is quite nice for the money. If you want high end, you'd have to get Mark Levinson's very best to, say, BEAT the audible distortion on my Musical Fidelity M8Xi. Smooth, and about 6k. But for normal rational budgets, Rotel, high end is just fine. I also very much like Harman products. They are high quality and not necessarily terribly priced, something for every budget. Levinson's just way too high for most budgets.

Damn. So much fun you are having in audio. I really like you just from this post. You might read a lot of money saving advice from people who make and measure the stuff. And probably a few things you should rethink. When you do a Levinson amp is still pretty awesome.

 

[dualazmak]

I'm not into spending a lot of money, ...

I am not too!, but I am enjoying really wonderful audio life (as you are)...

For amplifier selection in my multichannel multi-SP-drover multi-amplifier system, my policy and practice are "right-person in right-place", and I always do not exclude HiFi-grade (but reasonably affordable) "integrated amplifiers" even in DSP-based multichannel system for safe and flexible relative gain (tonality) control in analog domain which has no effect at all on upstream DSP configurations and performances.

If you would be interested, please refer here for the latest setup (as of June 26, 2024) of my multichannel multi-amplifier audio rig.

I have once tested ROTEL RB-1582 MkII in my audio setup at my home acoustic environments; ref. here, here and here. It is very stable, robust, reliable nice amp indeed, rather heavy though.

 

[Laughing Rabbit]

I am not too!, but I am enjoying really wonderful audio life (as you are)...

For amplifier selection in my multichannel multi-SP-drover multi-amplifier system, my policy and practice are "right-person in right-place", and I always do not exclude HiFi-grade (but reasonably affordable) "integrated amplifiers" even in DSP-based multichannel system for safe and flexible relative gain (tonality) control in analog domain which has no effect at all on upstream DSP configurations and performances.

If you would be interested, please refer here for the latest setup (as of June 26, 2024) of my multichannel multi-amplifier audio rig.

I have once tested ROTEL RB-1582 MkII in my audio setup at my home acoustic environments; ref. here, here and here. It is very stable, robust, reliable nice amp indeed, rather heavy though.

That's a powerhouse. I always wanted a pair of Benchmarks, and the cost is what got me into the Genelec monitors like the 8361As and the W371AP I mentioned. The wave of the future. I love their application also, going beyond 2 in front to surround, and an app to blend them perfectly to the room. Cool stuff. Already being done in huge venues...

 

[dualazmak]

I always wanted a pair of Benchmarks,

Me too! I also intensively tested/evaluated Benchmark AHB2 in my audio rig at my home listening room (ref. here, here and here); it is really excellent wonderful dream amp...

 

[Iw79]

I have an RB-1552mkii with RC-1572mkii from 2021 at Canton Vento 896.2.

Previously I had a Naim Nac 122x, Nap 150x and a Flatcap 2x, a Denon Pma-2000 and a Kenwood KA-7090r at Canton Ergo 102 DC and B&W CDM 9nt.

The Rotel reminds me of the Naim in terms of construction. Cleanly constructed and discreet. I first wanted a Musical Fidelity M6si or Atoll AM200 and PR200 in the Range of 2500 Euro.But when I compared the internals of the Rotel with the SMD parts of the others I thought I'd better buy the Rotel. The SMD boxes seem to be difficult to repair while the Rotel will still be running in 20 years. One guy laughed at Rotel but he probably said that Rotel doesn't have a high end reputation but my dream would be a Michi X5 or X3 with Canto Reference 2.

 

[DMill]

I have an RB-1552mkii with RC-1572mkii from 2021 at Canton Vento 896.2.

Previously I had a Naim Nac 122x, Nap 150x and a Flatcap 2x, a Denon Pma-2000 and a Kenwood KA-7090r at Canton Ergo 102 DC and B&W CDM 9nt.

The Rotel reminds me of the Naim in terms of construction. Cleanly constructed and discreet. I first wanted a Musical Fidelity M6si or Atoll AM200 and PR200 in the Range of 2500 Euro.But when I compared the internals of the Rotel with the SMD parts of the others I thought I'd better buy the Rotel. The SMD boxes seem to be difficult to repair while the Rotel will still be running in 20 years. One guy laughed at Rotel but he probably said that Rotel doesn't have a high end reputation but my dream would be a Michi X5 or X3 with Canto Reference 2.

Rotel has had a great reputation for 50 years. The people who laugh at Rotel tend spend 5 figures on an amp because they need glowing green meters or some other such eye candy that comes with Uber high priced electronics. That’s what I find laughable. I will say I’ve noticed new Rotel gear climbing in price though the last ten years. A Rotel was my first “high-end” amp because it delivered watts, build quality, and guarantees at a relatively affordable price some 30 years ago. Now they are expensive enough to no longer be the value they once were compared to Class D offerings or a Benchmark amp for example.

 

[JA.]

The amp is about 2 dB more sensitive than usual which likely accentuates the power supply noise a bit. I was able to reduce 60 Hz hum in one channel but not simultaneously in the other. That is exceeded however by the power supply noise at 120 Hz and multiples. SINAD is likely dominated by distortion to the tune of -80 dB. This lands the RB-1070 slightly above average of all amplifiers tested:

Hi Amirm and thank you for a wonderfully informative test and review. Could I ask the means by which you reduced the 60Hz hum you mentioned above , was it wire routing, shielding, DC offset adjustemnt, bias ???? Also CH2 coloured in RED in the THD+Noise graph which shows some 2.5dB less noise: is that the RIGHT channel (as per the RCA socket colour) ? I would like to understand if perhaps the small 2.5dB difference in the THD+Noise might be due to the mains wiring running down the chassis beside the LEFT channel heatsink?

Best
JA

 

[AnalogSteph]

From the picture in #12, it looks like twisting of the primary (blue and brown) wires may leave a lot to be desired, as well as same for the red secondaries. That's something to start with.

I would also want to ground the chassis through a capacitor of maybe 4.7-10 nF (enough to address transformer parasitic coupling but not enough to get you in trouble with ground loops).

 

[JA.]

From the picture in #12, it looks like twisting of the primary (blue and brown) wires may leave a lot to be desired, as well as same for the red secondaries. That's something to start with.

I would also want to ground the chassis through a capacitor of maybe 4.7-10 nF (enough to address transformer parasitic coupling but not enough to get you in trouble with ground loops).

Many thaks AnalogSteph for your reply. i will give that a go when i get some measurements set up one day.

Best
JA

 

[EL_PW]

I've always liked the look of rotel gear. That pop on noise would be a dealbreaker for me though. It might seems trivial, but I had an amp that did that and over time it made me dislike it more and more.

Ime there's something to great usabilty and smooth operation that makes me value devices more.

The way I get around the pop with this unit is to turn the amp on first wait a few seconds and then turn on the pre-amp. I stopped using the trigger function for that reason.

 

[JA.]

The way I get around the pop with this unit is to turn the amp on first wait a few seconds and then turn on the pre-amp. I stopped using the trigger function for that reason

Good point EL. it's such a shame to have to give up the trigger function.
Best
JA

 

[ZCD]

Great to see some Rotel stuff.

I have an integrated RA1570 which i bought many years ago 2.nd hand. It´s a keeper for me as i like the robustness and versatility and it looks cool. No idea how it measures but I am pretty happy with it in use with a pair LS50s at the moment.