price,overall sound

almost none...maybe remote...slow "fast search"

very good...detailed clear sound...for the money almost the best player..well and deep bass.open sound.offer hdcd.with dual 20 bit burr brown offers very high quality that can be found only at very pricey product.Bravo ROTEL!!!

Similar Products Used:

Rega Planet, Marantz, Adcom GCD-750, Pioneer Elite, Sony ES,Philips CD880, Philips CDR880, Technish SL770, Cambridge CD-6

Low profile unit; excellent value

Yes, tracking is a bit slow; tiny remote

I wanted to post a follow-up review after seeing the two very well worded reviews below. I've been happily listening to this Rotel via AQ Emeralds into a high-end system. Well, happily until I was privy to two significant toys that turned my Rotel into a transport: An Audio Alchemy DTI Pro 32 and an AA DDE 3.0 (with the latest available chip upgrades except for the remote volume control on the DDE) connected I2S.

Here's the A/B story (using same AQ interconnects): I now understand and agree with the comments concerning some image depth and haze problems in the Rotel system...but have renewed appreciation for its razor-sharp soundstage and detail available for $700. The Rotel/AA combination is less fatiguing, and the images it paints are more three dimensional. I was noticing new sounds on certain recordings that I hadn't heard (Kate Bush's Lionheart). I gave the systems the acid test of Joni Mitchell's Blue (the DCC version) and both, frankly, sounded great. The Rotel sound was, as Stereophile put it, more crystaline in the highs; but somehow, Joni's voice sounded smoother and more there "there" with the AA. These difference are subtle and only apparent with direct A to B comparisons. For the record, the AA DTI was in 20 bit mode to the DDE. According to its owner, it's the preferred setting.

The whole issue of D/A and enhancement resolution now makes we wish I had the bucks for a Wadia 830, or perhaps a dCS Delius/Purcell combination...but both are significantly more $$$. Until then, the Rotel 971 is a great buy for what it produces.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RCD-940BX, DBX DX5

Affordable, HDCD

Flimsy tray, lack of dither control

After reading the posts on this site I opted to buy the
971 over the 991. I am satisfied with its performance for the price paid. Never had an opportunity to audition the
991 (was interested to hear effect of "dither" control).
Ignorance is bliss!

system
RCD-971 cd player
RA-971 60 wpc int amp
MIT 330 interconnects
Straight Wire "Quartet" speakerwire
B&W DM302 speakers

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low-end sony

seems to be very accurate in reproducing what is recorded

none have shown up

This is my first CD player so it's impossible for me to compare it to any other. Still, I based my choice based on the reviews here in Audio Review and I think it was a pretty good choice. I auditioned the NAD C-540 and Cambridge D-500.
The Rotel seemed to be better built and had a cleaner sound.
The longer I listen to it, the more I feel that other reviews are blaming the machine for faults in the CD. The way I'm hearing things, the RCD-971 simply plays what's there. If the CD has been recorded poorly, that's what's you're going to hear. BTW, I bought this machine as a demonstrator and I had a trade-in so I got nearly $200 off the MSRP of $700. T'ain't complaining one bit! Thanx to Tony at Sound Images.

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NAD L-40

CD drawer makes a horrible noise sometimes, cd drawer is nothing to write home about, highs can be bright, soundstage is not as good as my entry level Marantz CD-48 believe it or not.

Firstly, as far as accuracy goes, this is by far the most accurate player i have owned. The bass from this machine is excellent, although it does not to have as wide a soundstage as my cheap Marantz CD-48. Go figure! Nevertheless, it is a great piece of gear. The output stage is excellent as Rotel does not use muting resistors in the output stage. Nice touch! I would have like the sound to be a little more holographic but the tonal accuracy makes up for it.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Pioneer, and Kenwood CD players

Value (down $600 at the local dealer), revealing and analytical.

Bit of a forward presence at the high end, lacks the bass of Rega and Arcam.

I don't own this player- I demo'd it. Far better than the sound and build of NAD players. I personally prefer something more exciting than the laid-back Arcams and Regas out there, and that summarizes what this player offers. Here's what I demo'd it with:

Rotel RA 972 integrated
Paradigm Mini Monitors
Paradigm Reference Studio 20's
B&W DM602 S2

CD's: Los Super Seven, Ryan Adams, Afro Cuban All-Stars, Stan Getz, Wilco/Billy Bragg, Hooverphonic, Erykah Baduh

As a side note, I thought the B&W's were extremely "in your face" and the bass was flabby. The Paradigm Mini Monitors are sweet, and in the end I might go for the Monitor 3's.

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Demo'd NAD, Marantz, Arcam, Rega.

Separation

Ergonomics

Used with Audiolab 8000a amp Royd Minstrels Speakers and QED cables.

The first thing that suprised me when listening to familiar pieces was that 'hey there are 2 soloists there, standing in different places' where I'd only heard one before. The harsh gritty fatiguing treble had gone, but the sound is not muffled or wooly. Pauses and silences feel like the sound has gone into a black hole of silence. Although there was no obvious hiss or noise from the Technics.

The remote is small & neat and does everything you'd expect, only always in a different way to any other CD player you've ever used!

More important are the odd clunks it makes when starting play sometimes. The CD tray has a hair trigger on it and trys to close when a CD has only just been put inside threatening to at least scratch the CD.

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8 Year old Technics CD player

Smooth with extended lows...

lacks low level resolution...bass too much of a good thing?

OK Folks let me first start by saying I am an audiophile who has been heavily biased against Sony products pretending to be "high End" just because they have the "ES" label. I've owned several of their mass market mid-fi products wich appeared to suffer from quality problems (reciever volume control failure, not once but twice on the same unit). Since becoming a serious audiophile about 7 years ago I have avoided Sony like the plague! I was recently in the market for a replacement CD player for under $1,000 and everyone kept writing about these Sony ES players as being really good (Stereophile rates the top ES player CDP-XA7ES as class A, and the 20's little brother the CDP_XA1ES as class "D" in recommended components). Based on this and reviews like the "Soundstage" review of the XA20ES, I decided to obtain one for audition largely to prove what a joke this must all be!

Associated Equipment: All listening was conducted on the Acurus DIA-100 direct imput amplifier. Speakers are Vandersteen 2ce's. Power conditioning by Adcom. All interconnects were Kimber "PBJ", and speaker wire is Kimber 8TC (low frequencies) and 4TC (for upper frequencies). The Vandersteens are bi-wired. I obtained well broken-in versions of the Sony CDP-AX20ES, Rotel RCD-971 (HDCD equipped), and the Rega Planet. Also initially auditioned was the Arcam Alpha 7, though I eliminated it form my list at the dealers store and did not try it in my home system.

First the planet... After all of the hype surrounding the Rega, I truely expected it to be the better player of the three. Boy was I in for a disappointment. Although the planet was vastly superior to my former NAD 502 and Rotel 855 players, compared to the newer Rotel RCD-971 and the Sony CDP-XA20es the Planet was in over it's head. What I mean by this is it's soundstage was fairly wide, but there was little depth, and the Planet's highs were untidy on classical and acoustic jazz. It did tend to "smooth over" bad (harsh) recordings to the extent it helped the sound, but on great recordings compared to the other two players it fell short. Reversing the polarity did help somewhat, but all in all it remained too lifeless, and lean in the upper bass and lower mids compared to the other players.

Enter the Rotel 971...the Rotel RCD-971 clearly had a much more three deminsional soundstage than the Planet with better (read more and more extended) bass, and a better sense of air surrounding the instruments. If anything the Rotel has too much of a good thing. (I am an acoustic/electric bassist so if you're assuming I just dont like bass in general, you're wrong). The Rotel offers what at first is a VERY SUDUCTIVE sound. Fairly dynamic, with a rich if not somewhat dark sound. It has good sounstage depth and excellent width. There is a touch a grain in the lower highs, but come on this is only a $700 player. (I am basing my comparison of the Rotel to my friends Theta DAC, which is hardly fair). All in all a relaxed, punchy, non offending sound. On rock and jazz it speaks very well, especially on those recording which are shy in the bass department or have that famous CD "glaze" found on many (all?) of the early CD releases. But feed the Rotel a well recorded bass guitar and things can become overwhelming. Fender Jazz basses loose that great biting "purr" and sound much more like Fender precisions, fat and dull in attack. Bass drum is exciting at first for the visceral impact, (read thud) but suddenly you realize the low frequencies are dominating the mids and its as if "half of the violins went home". I guess the best way to explain it is that the 971 sounds too beefed up in the lows, and looses low level resolution in the process. As instruments fade from loud to very soft they "get swallowed up" before they should into the digital blackness. Cymbals don't sound like they do in the real world, they are just too polite. (I understand why many people would be attracted to this type of sound, but realistic it isn't folks). Using HDCD encoded discs improves things quite a bit, especially on soundstage depth, but ask yourself what percentage of your CD are HDCD's? Even with the HDCD discs, the Rotel is not in the same league with the dare i say it?...SONY!

The XA20ES...At first the CDP-XA20ES sounds a little thin in it's balance after hearing the Rotel, but very quickly there is the awareness the highs are simply more extended and with a level of refinement (read no harshness or grain) that I never dreamed possible in this price range! The soundstage is expansive and defined in depth and width. The acoustics of the recorded space are outlined in an unbelievable fashion. Low level detail is not to be believed! I was hearing detail on recordings I have owned for years for the first time. Suddenly recordings became "coherent" and the image blurring I expect in this price range did not occur. My audiiophile associate who owns much more expensive Theta gear was floored by what we were hearing. "Low level resolution is unbelieable". Nothing slides into the "digital blackness" on this baby. And the dynamic range (soft to loud) was WAY BETTER than the Rega and much better than the Rotel. Please don't miss understand, if I had not played them side by side on identical interconnects and matched very closely on signal I wouldn't have believed it. I was so blown away after a couple of days with the machine I called my audiophile friend over. He is still in shock. This player much more closely mimics products in the $1800-$2500 range than $700! Deep but "fast" (read defined in attack with sense of the musical note like on a real instrument) bass. Not the usualy "muddy but full" sound found in most players at this price point.

A word of caution... This player does very little to hid the flaws of a poor playback system. It is in no way euphonic. If your system leans toward a lean sound, this is probably not the best choice. I think the Rotel's added weight/richness would be a better match. If you like pipe organ recordings that "shake the room's foundation", be aware the XA20Es is SLIGHTLY rolled off in the very lowest registers. (It still plays Victor Wooten's 5 string bass solo on "Flight of the cosmic hippo" by Bela Fleck and the Flectone's very solidly. But compared to the Theta system lacks the lowest register "slam" some folks are addicted to). However if your system is capable of good lower frequecy reproduction, and has the ability to reproduce a 3 dimensional soundstage you will be blown away by this product! At $700 it is a steal, and considering the discounts found on the product with the right system it's a no brainer. Please see the Soundstage! review of the product for a more detailed anaysis. Remeber this player shares most of the components with the CDP-AX7ES which is rated as class "A" and "without equal" in CD payers. As a former Sony detracter, they deserve a "10" for this product at this price point. If only they would put this build quality and performance in their mass market gear, think how cheaply this level of sound could be offered...

Similar Products Used:

Rega Planet, Arcam Alpha 7, Sony CDP-XA20ES...

Just got this player more than a month ago. As with all comments, there is no way I could criticize the sonic performance. A very clear decision that you've got to spend the extra money if you compare it with the little brother RCD-951.

Overall a superb player. The tray is not mean as a cup holder. The track selection on the remote plays the track as well. Rotel must have reprogrammed the logic. Tray operation is smooth but the tray still feels filmsy, probably only meant to take the weight of 1 or 2 CDs.

Sonically resembles the Arcam Alpha 8SE but I could get more details out of this player. Very natural and smooth sounding with no hint of digital harshness with both HDCDs and non-HDCDs. Could listen to it for hours without getting tired unlike many players in the price range.

Price, components, Positioning, HDCD compatability

Transport operation, remote, lack of optical output

I was Lcuky and managed to get this product for only 280 pounds and not 4000 like it is listed at, and i have to say that i am very impressed as it was bought on the strength of this page and the fact that it would match the rest of my system (RB - 981 power and RC - 972 pre).

I do not know what it is but it is the same with my pre amp they both have crap remotes, it's not that hard to make a nice one and they really are not that nice. as for the lack of optical output this is not reallly a problem for me but it might be for some

As for the sonics i am truly amased, positioning, power, and speed are all there in abundance but never does it get to carried away. listing for long periods of time is a real jow and never tiring, and when an HDCD is used the results are even better with such a low amount of ditortion it's unreal.

Deffinetly recommended even at the normal price.

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arcam alpah 8se