Rotel RCD-1072 HDCD Player

In a world where cramming as many home theater speakers as humanly possible is the norm, it is nice to know there are electronics companies still dedicated to quality two-channel music. Enter the Rotel RA-1062 Integrated Amplifier and CD-1072 HDCD Player. These are slim line components designed to fit in tight spaces and deliver big sound without breaking your bank account. You won't find any fancy DSP or surround modes, no On Screen Displays or learning remotes. Instead, you will find the essential high quality audio reproduction guts of what today seems to be a dying art - two-channel music.

Rotel products were one of my first introductions to high end audio. I can clearly remember the day I brought home a Rotel two-channel amplifier and CD player from a hi-end dealer I worked for during my college years. The amplifier was modestly rated at 150wpc (only 50 more wpc than my flagship Pioneer home theater receiver), yet when I preamped out my Pioneer to the Rotel, my jaw dropped in amazement at the increased fidelity of my then modest system. What I heard was much tighter control and deeper extension of bass, greater dynamics, and more effortless reproduction of music. My next step was to face off my Pioneer mega CD changer against the single tray Rotel. I was again startled by the higher clarity of detail and lack of sterility I was so accustomed to in my mass market equipment. It was then I experienced an epiphany as an Audioholic, realizing the existence of sonic differences in quality electronics. Despite the fact that my receiver had excellent paper specs, the published specs alone did not explain why I was experiencing sonic nirvana with equipment that didn't seem to measure as well on paper. In my course work as an Electrical Engineering student and with my continued experience working in a hi end home theater shop I learned some of the metrics that began explaining sonic differences. Metrics such as the importance of well-designed power supplies, filtering, quality of components used, amplifier topology & output impedance, Signal to Noise Ratio, etc. Upon comparing the guts of my mass-market gear to the Rotel, it soon became evident as to why I preferred the latter. In defense of my own gear at the time, however, the Rotel CD player alone cost as much as my receiver. I guess the saying " you get what you pay for " applied quite well in this instance.

The RA-1062 is essentially a two-channel power amplifier with a built in preamp for switching up to 6 audio sources (no video provisioning) and supports two sets of speaker connections (A,B or A+B wired in parallel). It has no bass and treble controls but does provide "Contour" settings which offer low frequency bass boosts (3-4dB @100Hz) as well as high frequency boosts (3-4dB @ 10kHz) and both.

Setting up and configuring the RA-1062 was as easy as pie. It was actually refreshing to not have to navigate through a parade of on screen menus just so I can listen to a CD. Its ease of use brought me back to a warm familiarity with high end audio in the earlier pre-home theater days and will certainly appeal to the low tech audiophile alike.

Both units come equipped with a 12V trigger to connect to each other or other equipment for simplified one remote operation and one touch power cycling. However, be cautioned, neither unit will turn on without the remote control. When you press in the front panel power buttons on the RA-1062 and CD-1072, they remain in stand by mode as indicated by their hypnotic navy blue power indicators. However, until you toggle power via the remote control(s), you will not be able to listen to or operate either unit in all of their glory.

Pictured from Top to Bottom: Rotel CD-1072 and RA-1062, respectively. Notice the WBT speaker connections on the RA-1062 which are uncommon in a product of this price range. I was a bit bummed that the RA-1062 had no video provisions as the Display monitor in my remote system has only one composite video interface. As a result, I had to toggle cables between DVD and my Satellite box depending on which one I wanted to watch at the time. The CD-1072 comes equipped with RCA level analog connections and coax digital connection for those wishing to use an external DAC.

It doesn't get any more basic than this. While I would have liked to have seen a backlit programmable remote control, I had to keep reminding myself this is a high quality two-channel integrated amplifier selling for less money than some of the nifty universal starship driven remote control units out there. It managed to control both the Integrated Amp and CD player hitch free, but when I wanted to play an SACD on my Sony changer, I had to locate the other remote. Those who contemplate hooking up multiple non-Rotel electronics to the RA-1062 may wish to consider buying a cheap universal remote control to simplify their lives and avoid the headache of a crammed table top.

I was very pleased overall with the build quality and craftsmanship of both products which is a rarity within this price range. For those seeking performance and build quality first, over bells and whistles, it appears Rotel has delivered nicely in this regard.

I moved on to the RCD-1072 and discovered an elevated noise floor when the master volume level of the RA-1062 was set about 1/3 of the way up. This was surprising considering the excellent quality DAC's and components used in this CD player, thus I once again contacted Rotel. The factory informed me that the noise was sourced from a combination of the noise levels of the DAC and the output/filter op-amps of the player when tested. However they claimed the noise should not affect the playback of the audio signal as it is still significantly lower than the audio signal.

I tend to agree for the most part that it did not affect my real world listening tests, but argued the point that it could cause grief to unwary audiophiles with keen ears, and revealing systems in acoustically controlled rooms. Rotel went the extra mile and added a muting transistor that mutes the DAC and opamps when not in use whenever the disc is stopped or paused (a common practice with many CD players). The second review sample they sent me did not exhibit the noise problem and I was now happily ready to engage into my critical listening tests.

After a few I quick listening sessions of familiar source material, I quickly realized this Rotel combo was all about performance. My reference speakers as well as the Dynaudio bookshelf speakers I had on hand during this review were effortlessly driven by the RA-1062. I would characterize the sonic signature of this package as bold, dynamic, lively and with a somewhat forward, but not bright, tonal characteristic. Bass was tight and authorative, especially on the Dynaudios, as evident in music from Steely Dan's " Two Against Nature " CD. The more I cranked the volume control, the more my adrenal rushed and the happier my speakers seemed to be driven by quality amplification. Now that I developed a good understanding of how the RA-1062 could drive reasonably efficient small speakers, I was curious to see how it would handle my 4 ohm, less efficient, floorstanding RBH Sound 1266-LSE towers. I usually frown upon driving these speakers with less than 150wpc given their 87dB sensitivity and 4 ohm impedance, but since the RA-1062 seemed to be built to drive harder than speced, I figured I would give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the Rotel drive these speakers without incident. This was a good indication to me that the robust power supply and multiple output devices to source high current and maintain a low output impedance was paying off. Never would I have imagined a $600 amplifier would deliver power with such poise and conviction as the Rotel RA-1062 seemed to do effortlessly.

The RA-1062 and RCD-1072 did a bang up job for low listening levels too. I found the "Contour" settings on the RA-1062 particularly useful at low listening levels but mostly preferred adding no tonal bias to this already fine sounding amplifier. I spent a bulk of my listening sessions enjoying some of my favorite quality recordings which indicated to me that I enjoyed listening to the Rotel combo so much that I wanted to feed it the best possible source to squeeze out all of its performance.

I began with an intimately familiar flamingo CD that was given to me by my lovely wife on our anniversary a few years ago. This is the type of CD that is most enjoyable at soft listening levels in the quiet silence and darkness of the evening. I use this disc to judge just how well a speaker system, or component gear for that matter, can reproduce the subtle nuances of Eric Hanson's guitars, as well as all of the percussions and too many other instruments to notate here. The RCD-1072 was surely a fine sounding CD player to me. What I discovered when listening to this CD on the Rotel system was a very involving reproduction of the disc I have grown accustomed to on some of the previously reviewed fine performing electronics. I did feel the noise floor of the RA-1062 wasn't as dead silent as I have heard on more expensive gear, but it was certainly no slouch, especially when compared to a similarly priced A/V receiver. While it is getting challenging to discern differences in quality CD players these days, it was certainly not difficult to realize the RCD-1072 was handling CD within the limits of the format. I briefly popped in an HDCD sampler disc I happened upon, but was hard pressed to hear discernable differences between the CD and HDCD layers.

Since I have no other HDCD software readily available, I will reserve judgment on the merits of the format or how well the Rotel RCD-1072 handles it. Unfortunately the RCD-1072 doesn't support SACD so I had to switch over to my Audience modded Sony SCD-CE775 CD changer for this test. I choose Gloria Estefan for a variety of reasons {great sound, great music, great WOW factor}. Gloria's voice in " Por Un Beso " sounded wonderfully powerful and crisp. The drums were vibrant and the bass was well extended. " No Me Dejes De Querer " is the type of song you play loud at Columbian parties, or when you have a few moments to yourself with nobody around to yell at you. I had the luxury of the latter and took full advantage of it within the limits of my hearing. The RA-1062 again didn't disappoint. The bass remained clean and well extended. The overall tonal balance maintained uniformity with no signs of distress within the confines of my listening tests, room dynamics and test gear. Overall, my listening experience was not tainted at high listening levels like I have experienced with inexpensive mass market A/V receivers. I certainly felt as if I was listening to separates electronics not an inexpensive receiver or integrated amplifier.

I wont try to lead you into believing the RA-1062 is without limitations or that you can throw your bulking monoblocks away in favor of this little gem. However, based on the power capabilities of the RA-1062, I would recommend its no frills build and sonic signature to anyone looking to assemble an affordable, space saving quality two-channel system in small to medium sized rooms with moderately sensitive speaker systems with rated nominal impedances of even 4 ohms. The RCD-1072 is an excellent compliment both aesthetically and sonically. If you can live without DVD-A / SACD or have another player to handle those formats, it is certainly worthy of consideration. All in all this is the best budget package system I have had the pleasure of reviewing. It rekindled my fondness of the company that introduced me to high end audio and taught me that all amplifiers and CD players do not sound the same and are not created equal. In this respect, I would say this Rotel duo lived up to the reputation earned by audiophiles and the remembrance of my first experience with their products.