Motorised Pot and Remote control, rich warm sound.

balance problem, channel separation, lack of "excitement"

I was initially very impressed with the RC-972 - the remote is very effective as it works from just about any angle and even behind the unit! After a burn-in period, I sat down to have a serious listen. After about half an hour I started to get annoyed as the left channel seemed constantly louder than the right. This effect was quite marked. I switched the power amp for a velleman one which I had previously built to see if the power amp was unbalanced. Unfortunately it was the RC972. Using a signal generator and test meter, I measured the gain at various volumes between the channels. My theory was correct, at low volumes, the left channel was 13% louder than the right, and they only balaced out when turned up quite a lot.
With the new power amp the effect was less noticable and is now bearable. When tested against a Musical Fidelity 3B preamp (through some quad ESLs) the Rotel seemed to lack a vibrance and realness which the Musical Fid had. In fact the Musical Fid made the music alive and exciting. The rotel was not far behind though, but the treble needed to be adjusted to get it the same. The other noticable effect was the channel separation - the musical fid was much better as the rotel seemed to slightly merge left and right. In summary, a very good piece of kit, let down by balance problems. (This might just be a particular fault with this machine).

Similar Products Used:

Musical Fidelity Preamp 3B

Good sound, very well built and price

No phono input

This is a very good sounding pre-amp for the price. It does what a pre should do, and that is to get out of the way and not let itself be noticed. The remote is a major plus at this price point. It work smoothly with no noises or quarks.
My system
Sony xa20es cd player
Rotel RC972 preamp
PS Audio 200cx power amp(not new but a very good amp!)
Paradigm monitor 7 speakers.
Sony JB920 minidisc deck

solid, well built unit, price !, transparency, rc,

Remote looks cheap

I just completed the lay-out of my separate listening room in our new apartment in Paris and it was time to do
something I wanted to do for a long time...replace my trusted Quad 33 pe-amp. In combination with the 303, it was my first foray into the world of 'high(er)-end'. I haven't used the 303 for years now, so finally letting the 33 go as well really closes a chapter in my life as an audio enthusiast. I have very fond memories of this Quad combination but the coloration of the 33 and its peculiar volume control which cuts the signal at low listening levels so that you hardly have a soundstage left really became unacceptable. I wanted to purchase the Adcom GFP-750, especially after Wes Philips' review in Stereophile. But somehow I never got round to buying it and it was at this forum that I made the decision not to go for the Adcom (price played a role as well- I also needed a DVD), but buy the Rotel instead.

The Rotel is an elegant piece of gear in my opinion. 'Understated design' comes to mind when descibing this unit. It's sleek, fairly heavy and with a very nice black finish that makes it look rather expensive. It's got these slightly rounded edges that Mercedes Benz uses to make their cars look solid. The volume control is heavy - best to use the rc only - and its increments very useful. You can override the treble and base controls which I like, because I want to stay as close to the source as possible. There is a Function selector to select your source and a Monitor to check Tape or Source. Above the Stand By botton and on the volume and function knobs one finds small red leds. Very stylish I think. The ones on the knobs go off when you enter stand by mode. At the back you'll find a useful array of connections - even for bi-amping!

I don't know who designed the remote, but I guess that the first pre-amp units were already rolling off the conveyor belts when someone probably realised they forgotten the rc, because it's a cheap looking piece of plastic :-) Not in sync with the quality of the pre-amp. It has 4 functions: stand by mode, source selection, volume control and mute.

I use a Harmon Kardon CD changer as a transport, playing through a Theta Chroma Dac and that goes into the Rotel via a Cambridge Audio 'Arctic' interconnect. To burn-in the Rotel I used Track 20 on Stereophile's Test CD 3, set the track repeat on the CD player and let the thing run for about 30 hours. That made a noticeable difference in the soundstage.

The pre-amp is very transparent - exactly what it should be. It should do volume, source selection and get out of the way. What a difference compared to the Quad! Don't you just love upgrading older equipment! Hardly a fair comparison though, given that there is almost 30 years between them. The soundstage is wide - not huge - and the detail is excellent. I don't always listen to high levels and to have a full soundstage with all the dynamics available at lower listening levels is a pleasure.

This pre-amp is a fantastic piece of gear. I like rock, jazz and classical music. My early tests with the gear were done
with Stereophile's Test CD's and with Mapleshade's "Live at Ethels" by Clifford Jordan. A very intimate and beautifully
recorded live performance of a great tenor sax player. get it if you can! The Rotel performs true to its function. It frees up the music and it gets out of the way. I gave it the best rating, but in fairness I have to say that I have not used any other high-end pre-amplification and never compared the Adcom for example. But I know my other gear very well, and the Rotel looks to be a great choice. For amplication I use a VRAA - Van Ravesteyn Audio Art. This is a custom amp built by a friend of mine in a very limited series. One of the high-end dealers that visited my home once was pleasantly surprised by this unit and he wasn't being polite!

Overall, the Rotel RC972 is Highly Recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Quad 33