Some impressions on the Rotel RA-931MKII

[peanutbutterjam 0]

Hi Guys,

 

After some suggestions and some searching, I got the Rotel RA-931MKII. Thanks everyone for your suggestions and help http://www.sgheadphones.net/index.php?showtopic=9449

 

Anyway after I brought it home, I opened the Rotel and I was so impressed that I decided to write a little about it. I will not comment on its sonic performance since my speakers are completely not worthy to evaluate this amp. However the impression I got from listening to this amp on a pair of Wharfedale Diamond's for 3 min is just fantastic, its so smooth, not yet tubes but certainly not the kind of typical SS sound.

 

Why was I impressed? Let take a closer look at this beauty.

 

On the outside, it seems like a very typical amp, nothing flashy, plain black front plate, simple letterings, minimum controls. Left to right - power switch, headphones output, remote speaker switch, bass and treble controls, tone switch, big volume knob, balance, tape monitor switch and the input selector switch.

 

At the back, its also very straightforward, 2 sets of binding posts, and inputs. Here some quality starts to show - the jacks are gold plated.

 

Opening the bonnet, the first thing that struck me was, the toroid transformer. Frankly I wasn't expecting much for the price I paid; I paid peanuts, and I expected nothing too far off from peanuts. But wait, there's actually a toroid! My god, the Rotel engineers certainly know the importance of good power components.

 

The next thing that impressed me was the design. There are plenty of products out there with neat wiring, an indicator that some though has been put into the design process. Well this piece has almost NO wiring. The only wiring I can see is the connections to the power transformer, and the LEDs, and THAT'S IT. All the input and outputs are soldered directly to the PCB. Overall a very purist approach, and for its price this almost seem like a miracle.

 

Going on to the circuit, I'm not too sure about it, but it seems like there's a Burr-Brown OPA 2604 opamp for the pre-amp line stage. The opamp is surrounded by 1% metal film resistors. Wow. Quality stuff here. The power amp section seems complete discrete, I can't verify this, but I don't see any opamps here, and there seem to be quite a bit of transistors, I counted 11 each.

 

Soldering seems to be quite well done too.

 

But certainly nothing is perfect. The switches and volume pot is cheap at best. The binding post are just dumb, they don't let you use banana plugs, nor do they let you insert any speaker wire, as there are no hols in front or inside the posts. The only way to use them is spades or winding the wire around the post. There was no remote too.

 

Basically all I can say is that Rotel did an excellent job for this. The budget was tiny, but they put the money in where it matters most. For this price I don't expect perfection, and indeed I'd rather the Rotel folks did what they did, save on the cosmetic design, save on extra functions like a remote, but give you those 1% resistors, toroid transformer and fully discrete power amplification stage.

 

Final word: Full marks for Rotel.

 

P.S. Thanks Calvin for your RA-02 recommendation. Looking at this I don't think I would have been disappointed by the RA-02.

 

And Happy New Year everyone!

Edited January 26, 2009 by peanutbutterjam

[ical 0]

No problem bro.

 

Rotel has always make good product at a reasonable price. The first stereo amp that I've bought is also a Rotel.

[peanutbutterjam 0]

Hey does anyone know the price range of the above mentioned Wharfedale Diamonds?

[cyberfrog 0]

Have you checked if the centre of each of the binding posts can be pried off? It's quite a common feature, to cap the holes for banana plugs.

 

congrats on yr purchase btw. I take it you dun hv to audition my amp liao.

[peanutbutterjam 0]

Have you checked if the centre of each of the binding posts can be pried off? It's quite a common feature, to cap the holes for banana plugs.

 

congrats on yr purchase btw. I take it you dun hv to audition my amp liao.

Oh my so sorry bro, I forgot to reply you. Thanks for your offer btw, the amp looks great, but problem is that its too great and most likely way over the budget alr.

 

Hmm I never thought of the binding posts. Will go check later. I recall that the backs were plastic or something, certainly not metal, so that might be true.

[jtsin67 0]

Which version of Diamond? You can check on audiogon as there will likely be some there - not what you pay locally but might give you some idea. Theres a set of bookshelf Diamonds here: http://www.phing.com/listing/36690

[ical 0]

Hey does anyone know the price range of the above mentioned Wharfedale Diamonds?

I'm not too sure the price but it shouldn't be costly since it a budget speaker. Once a while it'll appear in Xtremeplace marketplace. If you're looking for new, KEC at Adelphi carry them at a very reasonable price.

[ical 0]

Someone is selling here.

 

http://www.xtremeplace.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=60346.0

 

This Quad is even better:

http://www.xtremeplace.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=59940.0

 

Edited January 30, 2009 by ical

[peanutbutterjam 0]

How much better is the quad 11L compared to the warfedale diamond 8.1?

 

Hm actually I'm having very mixed feelings about my speakers now... Originally I just intended to get a simple amp for my lousy kenwoods (some leftovers from an ancient karoke set) to just make it work so I can listen for fun. But despite the kenwoods being super muddy and really horrible, I find myself listening to it most of the time rather than the rest of my stuff.

 

Hmm.

Edited January 30, 2009 by peanutbutterjam

[ical 0]

To me, Quad sound more musical and refine with a better detail. As usual, best to hear for yourself. You can audition at KEC at Adelphi.

 

If you're happy with what you've now, then it a blessing. Best to know what you want before upgrading or it will be never ending.

Edited January 30, 2009 by ical

[peanutbutterjam 0]

To me, Quad sound more musical and refine with a better detail. As usual, best to hear for yourself. You can audition at KEC at Adelphi.

 

If you're happy with what you've now, then it a blessing. Best to know what you want before upgrading or it will be never ending.

No la not that I'm happy with it, but I'm just saying that somehow my speakers attract me more than my other stuff despite the vast difference in quality.

 

Problem is that there is no way I can condition the area I am in. This is the primary reason that I stuck, so far at least, to cans and IEMs. And it doesn't seem too wise to me to spend too much on speaker setups when I don't even have the room for it.

 

Yup I have heard a friend's Quads before, though not very seriously, but they did strike me as very capable of bringing out detail. Definitely better than the Warfedales in this aspect.

[peanutbutterjam 0]

Hey has anybody tried the ALR Jordan Entry Si?

[ical 0]

Heard the ALR Jordan Entry M pair with Cambridge Audio 840C and Creek Destiny. Very nice and musical.

 

Our local guru, TS Lim from Diva Audio is using the ALR Jordan Entry Si. So it should be very good. Best to drop by Sky Audio for an audition.

http://www.divaaudio.com/diva/divateam.html

 

If you're looking for Hifi/HT impression, best to check out Echoloft or Xtremeplace. Lots of info there for reference. But don't fall too deep. Hifi is many times more poison than headphone.

Edited February 6, 2009 by ical

[peanutbutterjam 0]

If you're looking for Hifi/HT impression, best to check out Echoloft or Xtremeplace. Lots of info there for reference. But don't fall too deep. Hifi is many times more poison than headphone.

Yep I've checked that out, but not much info on the ALR Jordans. A search on the net also didn't produce much. But I gather from the little I've heard that they are around the same range as the Quad 12L?

 

Looks like a visit to Bukit Timah is in order soon.

 

Too late for the warning bro

 

Am asking cause someone is selling them. Also just saw someone putting up the Wharfedale Pacific Evolution 30 for $750...

[ical 0]

You should also check out Usher. It sound really good. Available at Audio Basic and X Audio. Don't jump in too fast. Try to audition as many as you can.

Edited February 6, 2009 by ical