Through researching a good cross-section of designs core to my interest for the past year, I became intrigued by the favorable reviews and comments in the direction of designs employing either Hypex or B&O (ICE) modules. This quickly turned into a solidified interest and diligence as it does many times paid off in the form of a press release: touting the introduction of Rotel’s 15 Series.
My last brush with Rotel was many years ago having given a high school graduation present to a nephew consisting of a PS Audio 4.5, Rotel RB-981 and Eminent Technology LFT VIII’s. Back then it was a fun setup, but since then Rotel (for a few specific reasons) has been off the radar as a serious consideration for anything I’d put into a “cost-effective” system. Mild reservations aside, along with knowing the 15’s were just introduced at the ’08 CEDIA with updated Class D amps, in my price range and they just started shipping... I quickly made way to my local friendly neighborhood Rotel 15 Series merchant in Ann Arbor to see if they’re worth it!
Day 1
Before hitting the mid-fi area, I looked through their high-end room knowing that I most likely would want to audition the amp(s) there. This practice helps me discern what a component may be adding to/deleting from the signal and better understand if I want to pass on the component, audition further at home or just buy it. It also helps an open-minded high-end dealer become better aware of their mid-fi equipment and eschew possibly pre-conceived notions concerning limitations; therefore I, the dealer and prospective customers to a given product - benefit.
Program Material
• Patricia Barber – Café Blue
Room:
Roughly 14' x 16' x 10'
Rig:
• Denon DVD1800 Blu-ray player
• Transparent HPHDMI (when video)
• Rotel RSP-1570 Processor
• Transparent MusicLink interconnects
• Rotel RB-1572 250w 2-channel amp
• Rotel RMB-1565 100w 5-channel amp
• Tranparent The Wall Plus speaker cable
• B&W 703 series 7.1 system
• ~ $15.5k in equip and cabling
After a tour of wares from Wilson Audio, B&W, JL Audio, Krell, Wadia and Runco, I made my way to the ‘mid-fi room’ containing the Rotels, met a very cool member of the staff and began an all too brief encounter with the RMB-1565 (5 channels 100w/8Ω 200w/4Ω). With ~ 50 hours under it’s belt, it helped convey a strong campaign for putting the 2-channel version through its paces in one of their better rigs on the following day. The salesperson agreed and told me he would have it set up and running before I got there. Excellent; we said our goodbyes and the stage was set!
Day 2
Program Material
• Patricia Barber – Café Blue
• Stephen King's The Stand – Original Television Soundtrack
• Cantate Domino by Oscar's Motet Choir
• Loreena McKennitt – The Mask and Mirror
Room:
Roughly 15' x 18' x 10' treated with Real Traps
Rig:
• Wadía 781i Mult-format player
• Krell EVO707 Preamp
• Transparent (single-ended) Super interconnects
• Krell Evolution 600 Monoblocks
• Transparent Reference MM2 Speaker Cable
• Wilson WATT/Puppy System 8
• ~ $100K
• Evaluation component: RB-1572 (2 channels 250/8Ω 500w/4Ω) with roughly 50 hours on it.
Given the company it was in, I entertained the possibility that the 1572 would give a valiant effort and possibly fail to one degree or another with its variation of common characteristics found in relatively inexpensive Class A/B amps (leaner side of neutral, tight somewhat dry bass, good dynamics, slight loss of instrument body in the midrange, appreciable but somewhat bright upper-octave performance, etc.), which can be very easy to hear. However, seeing that Rotel is spinning their latest take with ICE Topology in this series, I was certainly open as to why...
Before the first track of Café Blue hit the Wadia, I remembered my nephew and the first Rotel I purchased as I was about to compare its diminutive “statement” Class D successor against Krell’s sizeable statement Class A Monoblocks in a very revealing system. Amused at the David and Goliath visage sitting on the floor, I was sure that David was just about to get his ass kicked… As I’ve been a musician since age 3 and got into audio ‘bout the time I was 8, I’m no stranger to live music and certainly know what to listen for when it’s reproduced. Even still, it’s always fun in this hobby when something pleasantly catches you completely off guard, because roughly 30 seconds into the disc - I was not fully prepared for the levels of nuance, neutrality, micro dynamics soundstaging and imaging being reproduced; I sat surprised at what this rogue started to do. From there it was a series of 7 or so bouts between the Krells and Rotel with the sales person moving interconnects and cables when I needed.
Roughly two hours later, it came down to this: Between the frequency extremes, the Rotel is just as neutral as the Krell except the latter squeezes out a tiny bit more information at the upper and lower octaves; and the soundstage was slightly more defined as was the imaging. Comparatively its presentation is neither forward nor laid back; dynamic swells in choral music are accomplished without congealing individual voices and the soundstage into a globular mass as everything remains stable with the sonic signature and position of each voice unaltered. By way of contrast, reproduction of acoustic instruments such as drums and stand-up bass keep the attack and sustain along with the character of the instrument body – unaltered except for an incredibly small degree in the lower end. In other words its roughly 98% there, the Krell just does it that much better. It never clipped, lost composure or turn noticeably warm to the touch and it was being done at realistic volume levels for that room. In fact, seeing that the Krells raised the room temp. to roughly 80 degrees, the Rotels were noticeably cooler than the warmer air just above them.
Pros:
• Incredible sonic performance across the board!
• Ree-DICULOUS bang-for-the-buck!
• Efficient (Tech. Support wasn't sure how much).
• Output doubles as ohms are halved.
• Temporarily handles 2Ω dips.
• RB-1572 provides an extra set of outputs for bi-amping, or driving another pair of speakers.
• 12v trigger input and output.
• Very light weight.
• Local support (providing there’s a dealer in your area): hopefully they’ll be knowledgeable and down-to-Earth enough to take time to work with you as they did with me in Ann Arbor. Conversely I had to be respectable of their foot traffic and worked with my salesperson to find time slots to get the things done that I needed.
• Don’t have to wait for shipping before you can audition (providing your dealer is stocked).
• 5 year warranty garnering a free replacement in the first year should the amp fail for any reason.
• finished in silver or black.
• Contemporary inoffensive utilitarian look.
Cons:
• Blue light around the power button doesn’t dim; there should be a user-selectable switch for this function (i.e.: Theater Dimming – disengaged, Level 1, level 2, Off).
• Connections on the rear aren’t logically laid-out on the 5-channel.
• No balanced inputs (ICE Modules are balanced in and out).
• Output connections are too close together.
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