Detail.bass and open sound

no remote

I recently bought this product at a hifi store in their used second hand products.i could not beleive the sound this rotel produces and how well it imagies the sound stage.
bass and midrange are tight and fast while the treble is sweet even if a bit forward.good interconectors and better quality speakers will probably give better rewards.im saving up now for good speakers.
if u can pick up one of these for relatively cheap money then i would not pass up the chance.a bargain

Tight Bass, Crisp Treble

None (bang for buck its very good)

Well, Ive had this beast for about 4 1/2 years now. Ive gone through a couple speaker changes in this time, (Paradigm Titans, Soliloquy 5.0's, now Totem Sttafs). Ive gone through a couple source changes (Denon CD, Cambridge Audio CD6, now Cambridge Audio CD 4se). But never a amp change.

I have always thought that I should post something, but because production was halted in '97 was their a point? Absolutly! Now that I am fully trapped in audiophilia, i realize that used equipment is where its at.

If you are looking for a used intergrated solid state -regardless of wattage- buy a RA 970BX. Simple as that. I have listened to a lot of great systems in the last couple of years and the presence of my Rotel compares to every one of them IMHO. For a student/appartent/office system it cant be beat. I guess the people with more money than they can spend will not even look at it, but thats their loss.

Actually, in some cases (ie last weekend at my fav audio shop) when listening to the new J Roland intergrated ($9000) i was left feeling kinda empty, just like the music it was creating! It was coupled with Soliloquy 6.3's and I know they sound good from listening to them in differnt setups. Its a nice feeling to listen to a 25 000$ system then go home and realize that you 5000$ system is comparable! - keep in mind that with the right amp it would have eaten my system alive! - but regardless.

The Rotel has good soundstageing, a nice stridant upbeat feel, but still has lots of lushness right in the mids where u want it. It has nice control over my drivers too. It really moves the tight,accurate bass we all love and apprecaite. I enjoy the plebian front (one large knob, 4 small selector knobs, 1 small red light over the power switch).

The only real drawback I have found is I attempted to use it to bi amp my speakers (you heared me...)the amplification circuts are diffent for main/remote speakers so i hooked them up. there was no bass what so ever, the power supply (while being high current)just doesnt have the real umph to work double time - of course it wasnt designed for that i guess! I dont really think the average person would try that anyway, only the crazy's like me. The bright part is i realized that every part of the amps circutry is fused. I blew three differnt ones. Fixed it myself.

So if you have made it this far, here is my final comment; I have a (IMHO) well thought out, matched budget system. I have spent about 5000$. It compares to 20 000$. I owe it all to my '97 Rotel RA 970BX. Thank you Rotel. Some day it will be upgraded - but not forgotten. And definatley not replaced for under 5 000$. Makes you think.

My System
Cambridge Audio CD 4se
Clarity Cables (IC's)
Rotel 970BX
Homemade heavy duty speaker cable (10gauge fine strand 99.999 O2Free copper terminated with gold bananas)
Totem Acoustic Sttafs with the tweeter upgrade.

Similar Products Used:

small NAD, larger Rotels, OCM 500(!)

Plenty of welly, good speaker control, solidly built, stunning value

At this price, not much

A typical Rotel amplifier, which means loads of clout, great control, a good standard of build, and a reasonable price. Lacks the finesse and detail of the Pioneer A-400, but then so does anything else at this price. However it adds welcome weight and solidity over the cheaper 930 AX, and will drive some very demanding speakers.

Great with rock and dance music, and stunning with big, bassy speakers like the TDL RTL-3, the Rotel's speed, rhythm and control come to the fore. Detail is good, although I found the midrange to be occasionally a bit shouty (possibly exacerbated by the TDL's). Not a major problem, but just taking the edge off what is otherwise a fantastic performance.

Highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer A-400, Rotel RA-930AXII

Detail, Soundstage- both width & depth,very musical, articulate and great value

no remote

After auditioning a new Marantz Pm 6010 ose and a NAD C350 I came across the Rotel at almost 1/3 the cost. Apart from having no remote I cannot fault this amp. It fulfills my need for a musical sounding two-channel amp in a most satisfying manner.It replaced the duties of a Technics sadx930 five-channel Dolby Digital amp extremely competently. From the first notes of the Holly Cole TEMPTATION cd I was arrested with the fast bass, clear vocals bags of detail. JAZZ AT THE PAWNSHOP had a soundstage that made me think that I had previously been listening to it outside the club and that I had just walked inside! I haven't heard the Cowboy Junkies TRINITY SESSION sound so natural since the time I auditioned a pair of cdm7's at the Hi-fi shop with their reference gear!! THE ROCKMELLONS are sweeter than ever & Saint Saan's THIRD SYMPHONY is just spectacular.I will now take the troube to separate my home theater from my cd system and set up a decent sound room. A pair of Scan-Speak d2905-9500 tweeters for my Vifa m-t-m's will be the next step now that I know the expense will be worthwhile. The amp may not have the "slam" of a 200 watts+ system but I truly think that a worthwhile upgrade would mean having to go to something like the Redgum Dual mono 300w + 300w/Dual DAC combo or a Musical Fidelity New Vista & Vaf Research speakers and you know what they say about diminishing returns! Meanwhile I will stick with the NAD CD 540, Rotel amp, Kimber cables and North Creek design Vifa mtm's and listen to my entire cd collection all over again!

Hola!! I would love to know where to get this amp for that $$, it's a steal. Please let me know I need a decent amp to dive a pair of NEAR 50s I got second hand. How would they match? I've heard the rotel and is exelent.Gracias (thanks) in advance. Miguel

It is a discovery for $380.The RA-970BX has exellent midrange resolution and impessive detail.The amplifier recreated a wide soundstage.I compared it with Arcam Alpha7 and NAD314 int. amps.In both comparisons, the Rotel did better.So I recommend it to anyone who loves warm,smooth natural sound.By the way retail price is $500.

About two years ago I bought the 970 and the only bug I have is the left right balance at low volume. When I asked some people of Dimex (importer of Rotel in Holland) and Rotel they said it is because of they take of the protectioncap of the atenuator because it gives a better overall sound and at great volume and the speakers they want you to drive in practise it would not give to much problem, though they offered me with a sad face to fix it for free because paying more for worse was not what they wanted.
What else can you say about the amp, for the price it is great, if you want a clean fresh controled sound with plenty of speed and dynamics on a small budget it is one to get on the shortlist, but sometimes it does loose controle though, when the recording gets very complex or the recording is bad it tends to get harsh and it is very reactive to the grid as well, but overall it is a sweet little monster with power a plenty on tap.
If you like to purchase a 980 or 981 and you have speakers who are not to dificult to drive (say speakers which consume up to 50 whatts at 8 and 70 to 80 whatts at 4 at a sensititvity of 88db or up) listen to the 970 as well you could get a suprise and more money left to buy music.

For the last year and a half I have been reading through this website and reading audio magazines, slowly upgrading and tweaking my system, putting money into where I can and building myself a nice little budget system. I just replaced my H/K AVR20II with the rotel RA-970BX and I simply can't believe the improvement! All of the sudden the soundstage opened up, the bass became clear and responsive, and the overall depth of the system has been dramatically improved. The rest of my system includes a Marantz CD-63 (with MF X-ACT D/A converter) and pair of Infinity 2000.6's. My next upgrade will obviously be my speakers, but I am not as anxious to upgrade as I was before I bought the Rotel. It fixed most of the weaknesses in my system, and I think that I can live with the Infinities for a little longer. I got a great deal on the 970BX as a demo for $270...can't get much better than that!

I have had the Rotel integrated for more than two years. I have never had any problems with it and think that it is overall a great unit. Yes, the treble can be harsh, but set up with the right cables and source, it sounds tremendous. Complex pieces of music are not always well articulated and the soundstage has no real depth. It sounds super smooth with vandersteen 1c's and a rega tt hooked up with MIT T2 interconnects andT3 cables

Just bought this amp. Incredible sound for the price. Soundstage Is noticibly wider than the speakers. This amp has great bass control, and notes apowerful and clear. Midrange is lush--full of dynamics. Highs sore, but are not overpronounced. If you're buying an integrated amplifyer, consider this amazing contender.