Rotel RA-02

mrk

mrk

mrk

Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
102,313
Location
South Coast
ra02reow2.jpg


I can pick this amp up for £100 (offered @ £125) and was wondering if anyone here has this amp or the next one up/down - what do you think of it? I think it looks very nice and going by the limited reviews I have read so far it is promsing! - it's going to be driven by my pc (xfi gamer) on a pair of tannoy m3s and hd485 headphones - I'll move the receiver downstairs where we can enjoy decent tv audio for a change :p



Just wanted to know what I can look forward to before picking it up hopefully tomorrow!

Edit*

The Marantz amp I was looking at the other day unfortunately sold at the last moment, bit of a let down but maybe this one will be better :)
 
Last edited:
I havent heard the amp myself but its highly rated and seems a bargain at that price. What speakers are you running off it?
 
Well my 10 year old arcam delta 290 cost me £100 about a year ago, so HELL YES it's a good deal.

Would love to demo rotel equipment.
 
I will be using them on my Tannoy Merury M3 pair - I heard the Rotel amps are a bit brighter than normal but the bass is well controlled - some reviews said the Rotel amps are best coupled with a speakerset that have dome cloth/silk tweeters to dampen the brightness and make it sound more natural - I'm hoping my Tannoys will be a good combination for it as they have a bit more direct bass but a little less brightness due to their tweeters so should equalise nicely I reckon.


edit*
Sod it I'm buying it tonight :D - expect pics and excitement aplenty, but mainly excitement ;o
 
Last edited:
Got it !

Well I did offer £100 as mentioned earlier and the guy said he'd see but once I arrived I saw his car (A new Exige), house (nice!) and his existing audio equipment (brand new NAD and other high end kit) - his speaker cables were as thick as a £2 coin.

I knew he was not going to back down from the £125 asking price and after looking at it all boxed with paperwork etc and in mint condition I was happy with the asking price.

About 30 mins of idle chat about his car and his audio tastes (audiophile for 30 years!) I made way.

This amp certainly has more detail, playing Jack Johnson there is more liveliness in many of the tracks especially songs like Drink the Water from the Brushfire Fairytales album, the backing just comes to life and sounds like it's live.

I will buy a sub later down the line as it has pre-outs and make use of extra bass that my speakers cannot output but other than that I am very happy. I will keep this as a life long stereo amp I think. Will get some better speakers in the near future though just to see how much better it can get.

Some pics:

av_rotel_1.jpg


av_rotel_2.jpg


av_rotel_3.jpg


av_rotel_4.jpg


av_rotel_5.jpg


One happy music enthusiast here!
 
Nice! Always adored Rotel. Clean lines as well as sound! Very tidy. :)

Glad you're happy with it mate!

I very nearly got one myself as i was after a fast accurate sound - went Cyrus in the end as i tracked down a great deal.

Also, how much bass do you need? Those M3's should be fine! ;) :D

gt
 
Last edited:
I admit they are fine but they do not forgive poorly mastered usic tracks as I have found, some lack detail and some lack bass so maybe in the enar future would like to add to it with a sub :)

Also for movies I'd like to enjoy a bit more vibration especially on scifi movies!
 
I found that too!

So much of my music turned out to be horribly recorded - amazing isn't it! But when you find something good... it can be awesome!

I'm a bit of a fan of some of Norah Jones' stuff. That has some wonderfully recorded stuff. Feels like she's in the room.

What sub you gonna get?

gt
 
No idea yet!! but it's gonna be another adtrader buy by the looks of it, the guy I got the amp off was selling a few subs for £500 (£900 normal price) but I think that's a bit out of my league for the moment LOL

The Cowboy Bebop OST set is an amazingly mastered compilation btw, I highly recommend it as are Jill Scott albums!

I really like the blue glow leds!
av_rotel_6.jpg
 
Last edited:
Nice amp, Rotel has a long and good reputation, yes partner with smoother speakers.....
Oh that Jack Johnson album(s) absolutely stunning recordings, Brushfire is my reference disk.
Re your bass comments, a SUB !!! no way, get a decent CDP, and hear how it gets cleaned up and better defined... If you are using the analogue output from a sound card it will be ****, now the new amp is showing it up !
 
I have no idea what a CDP is! at work we have a Clear Desk Policy but I'm certain you don't mean that :p

Please tell!

I also may need new headphones, had the hd485 for almost 2 years now and I could swear that the left can is a little weaker than the right can!

It has been dropped on the floor many times though so it's no surprise :/
 
I was going for the 24-105 but I read some user reviews about it being soft after 70mm at the wide end so looked at the long picture (heheheh!) and decided to go for the 17-55 2.8 IS then get the 70-200 F4 L IS - the majority of my work is indoors so a short range fast zoom with IS on a .6x crop body was the ticket this season \m/

Still I only wish the 17-55 had the build quality of the 24-105 - real shame tbh, L glass but normal body :S takes cracking photos though :)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom