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Rotel vs. anthem


fifteen20s

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I have a friend who uses Anthem with Klipsch reference. It sounds great, and that's with a Yamaha receiver up front. Plenty of folks on here through the years have liked Rotel. I would search the forum and read the old threads.

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Ive had my heart set on a Anthem MCA50 but have a chance to purchace a Rotel RMB-1095 in excellent condition for $1000.

I have no personal experience with Rotel, pretty much only what Ive read.

Thoughts??

I've owned Rotel and really liked them. The 1095 was the one I was looking for but kept reading so much about the Emotiva XPA-5 (5 x 200 watts) for half the money for a new one with 5 year warranty vs a used 1095 without warranty.

I've read a lot of reviews that say that if you take two amps of the same power and the gains are set so the SPLs are the same that in blind A/B test people couldn't tell one amp from another. I think for the money I didn't lose out buying the Emo, but I've always felt my Rotels had a better sound stage and sound that my Emo has now. If a 1095 came up for sale close to me at a good price I'd probably jump on it just to know for sure which one should be sitting on my shelf.

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I use an Anthem MCA50 and a Yamaha RXV-2095 for a pre-pro

the MCA50 made a difference in sound over just the AV receiver

also no problems with bussing or grounding when using this amp which is a good thing

had an Acurus 200x3 and this had issues with buzzing/grounding and did not sound good to me at all

go for an Anthem

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  • 1 year later...

anthem/rotel vs emotiva are apples and pears and are just in different leagues IMO (yes yes i know brick and mortar vs online direct). I have a rotel rx-1052 that i bought used and it needs to be serviced. The volume knob on the ptentionometer needs to be replaced, the unit doesnt adequately go into standby and one channel goes quieter than another. I can only assume the guy duped me on it. Of what i have noticed though, only time wouldnt have shown. Other than my issues, the unit works great and sounds great too! It really is a well made piece of equipment and i am going to go with the nub that owned it before me was a nub and didnt care for it right and that between a move across the country and that hes a nub i have some of these issues or it was just an off unit which happens from time to time. I will say though, after spending 250 on the unit and having it cost $350 min to have b&w look at it has made me warey of buying used amps in the future. I would only do it again if it was "Free" and it camer with a set of something else or if i had money to blow. Youthman and many other members have had great luck and have owned many used amps with little or no issues so i consider my story just "one of those" unlucky ones.

There are other brands to explore as well! Outlaw which i enjoy more than my Emotiva amp, b&k, acurus, arcam, parasound etc.

You are also right to be cost factor into the equation. To have a good warranty is nice to have.

The new rotel HT amps are class D now and no longer class a/b so the older models may be what you should be after if you take a/b vs d into consideration.

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I tried out a Rotel integrated amp last year with my Heresy IIIs. At first I thought it was a pretty good match, but after about a week of critical listening I changed my mind and decided to return the Rotel. The bass seemed weak, and the highs were a bit grainy, especially at higher volumes. Now, that 1095 is a beast of an amp, and I'm guessing it would sound quite different than the little 60 watt integrated...

But I can tell you that Anthem and Klipsch is a great match. I've been using an Anthem Integrated 225 for the past 7 months, and my speakers have never sounded better. Even though Klipsch are very efficient and require little power, my HIIIs really came alive when I put the 225 watt per channel Anthem in my rig. They sound like a much larger speaker than they are, and put out more bass than I thought they were capable of, all while sounding very refined and grain-free. I attribute much of this to the huge power supply and gobs of current the Anthem delivers. And Anthems are built like a tank, and use very high quality parts inside...

Having said that, I've been bitten hard by the Marantz Reference Series bug since purchasing my SA-11S1 SACD player in September, and will soon be purchasing the matching PM-11S2 integrated. I will likely be putting the Anthem up for sale in the garage sale section this weekend, and I'll miss it...

Others will probably chime in more on the Rotel 1095, but I can easily recommend Anthem amps with Klipsch... [Y]

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I would have to say you cant go wrong with either. If the 1095 is half the cost of the Anthem, I would go in that direction. Both amps are way over built when it comes to power supply and caps. I can attest to a quiet noise floor on the Rotel, but not the Anthem. Dont settle for Emo my friend.

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