Question too the general public, I was looking at buying the rotel 991, but were I live there is only one place that sells this cd player.. I have a question that they cant or are not willing too answer..
Can the dilter be defeated and also DOES THIS MODLE HAVE A DIMMER FOR THE DISPLAY..
The store will not tell me nor will rotel. This is some what inportant to me....

Thank you best regards...

Build, Sonics (Imaging, Soundstage, Speed and Accuracy), Dither and plain old "Let's get down to business look"

Remote! Works well but looks like it belongs to a mass markets player.

I have had this player in my system for about a year a year now. Sounded better out of the box than most units I have had that were well broken in. But that was just the start of what was to come for me. After 75 hours everything opened up and became easier for the player and most especially to my ears. As an experiment I loaned my 991AE (And the AE makes a big differenece, Just look at Piet's review) to a good buddy and he wanted to hear it on his Onkyo PS-50 bookshelf system which is a full seperates system that I think is pretty nice for a 50W bookshelf system, anyway the difference in the system player and the 991 was like night and day. Needless to say he has just ordered his new 991AE from my dealer and can't wait to get (Almost had to floor him to get mine back). All the other products that I have tried were good but none could keep up with the 991AE. As stated in some of the other reviews the RCD991AE actually outperforms transport/DAC combo's costing three and four times it's price. In my opinion and before you go out and but the latest greatest SACD or DVD-A put your money in this player and you will thank yourself everytime you sit back and listen to it. "No brags, Just fact"

Associated Equipment:

BAT VK200
BAT VK3i
Wilson Benesch Full Circle
BAT VKP5
Yamaha MDX793
B&W NAUTILUS 803's
RGPS1200S
Synergistic Research Master Couplers x 4, 1 Ref. Master from RGPS out to wall.
Synergistic Research Silver Inner-cons X 2 for Digital Sources.
Synergistic Research Phase I balanced X2, Pre to Pre and Pre to Power.
Speakers are addressed with Harmonic Pro9's.

I am an Enthusiast and some may think by my equipment that I border on Phile but that would require a certian amount of arrogance and that I am not. I have worked hard and feel extremely fortunate to have gotten what I consider an "A Grade System" to enjoy my musical collection on. I hope that everyone that loves music as much as I do gets a chance in their lifetime to have and enjoy a system of their dreams. Ears to you!

Similar Products Used:

NAD 500 Silver, Rega Planet 2000, MF AC3.

Very natural sound, excelent bass reproduction, clarity, livelike sound, look, build quality, prise paid, plays CD-R

Remout control, week tray, no variable output, no headphone
output

This is absolutly amazing machine, even thought I've replaced it ones(laser problem),it was skiping tracks.But
averall is the best value for money (for my opinion).
I've tested it together with highly acclymed Rega 2000 and
for the same amount of money Rotel RCD 991 outpurformed it
in every point. The nearest one in quality of sound was
Sony 5000 (with fency CD tray), but it was A$600 more and
it did not sound better. So I am very happy with the product.

Similar Products Used:

Rega Planet 2000, Denon 1550, various Marantz CD Players,
HK-740, few Sony top of the line players

Excellent sound quality--incredible detail, very flexible player

light build quality, wish it could be used as a dac for other units, Dither control not on remote, no dimmer

The resolution of detail in this player continues to amaze me. Everything is so clear. I am still undecided about the dither feature--I switch between not using it at all, and using setting 3. The Rotel ad states that the display can be dimmed, but I cannot find any way to do so, and no reference to this in the manual. The player is well built, but a little light, so if you have external sources of vibration you may want to further isolate this component. However, when it comes to sound, this unit is excellent. I previously was using a Denon DCM-560, with dual 20 bit dacs, and alpha processing, and while it was a little smoother, it did not have the detailed resolution of this unit, and thus my move to the Rotel. I have not had any problems with quality control at all. The remote is fairly easy to use, and can be used at oblique angles, from some distance. Compared with some of the new Sony SACD players, notably the 333, I prefered the Rotel in regular CD playback, and since I am not about to replace my whole library I feel this represents an excellent value.
With balanced outputs, coax, toslink, and unbalanced outputs there are lots of options with this unit, but I do wish it had a digital input so that I could take advantage of its excellent dacs for other sources. I never tire of listening to this unit, and doubt I shall be upgrading anytime soon--after years of searching, I feel I am finally truly happy with this palyer.

Associated equipment:
Denon TU-260 tuner
Nakamichi RX-202 Cassette Deck
Sony MDS-JB930 MD deck
Denon PMA-2000R Integrated Amp
Vienna Acoustic Bach louspeakers
Monster Cable M950i interconnects
Monster Cable M1.2s Speaker Cable

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Toshiba, Sony, Yamaha, Adcom

sound: transparent, neutral but detailed, very good bass

build quality - build quality - build quality ????????
BIG QUESTION!!!

Very good CD Player - sonically that is.
I won't go into lengthy discussions repeating those trite audiophile metaphors, stock phrases and epithets - "airy vs congested", "forward vs laid-back" etc etc.
I'll just say - it sounds JUST RIGHT, i.e. how a good CD machine should sound. I totally agree with and share all those good opinions expressed here by previous reviewers as well as those the '991 received in the audiophile press (both UK and US).
Sound-wise the player is spot-on - to my ears it sounds exactly as it was described, no complaints in the sonic department whatsoever.

Associated equipment:
Rotel RA980BX integrated amp
Dynaudio Contour 1.1 speakers, QED cables & interconnects

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BUILD QUALITY = ???
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What I want to comment though is its questionable build quality. I don't mean the perceived build quality which one might derive from the "made in China" sticker on the back of all Rotel products. Contrary to the perceived, Rotel has a good track in build quality and reliability.

Not with this particular model as I have experienced.
Perhaps I am an unlucky poor sod here, but nevertheless, even on that site I read a few complaints from other people which are very similar to the ones that I have.

The first player as I bought it, had to be returned to a dealer in about a month. I bought a demo "no box" sample with full warranty for half a price and was very proud of myself at that time. Until I realised that a player is just plain defective - after hours of work (and even less than hours with CD-Rs) it would start skipping over tracks and go into endless track hunting. This behaviour was deteriorating over time until the player ceased working completely. I brought it back for warranty replacement.

What I got in return was a brand-new out-of-the-box example (as I demanded from the dealer I'd only get my money back or a brand new replacement player).
This time I was even happier than when I just bought the first one - look, guys, at the end of the day I was lucky to snap up a brand new '991 for half the price!

So, after that time I was a happy camper for about a year until couple of days ago. I had no more problems with skipping CDs (even of very dubious quality!) or anything like that, was just enjoying the music (hence my positive comments on the '991's sound).
What happened you ask?
I don't know - the player suddenly stopped working in the middle of playing back a track and wouldn't switch back on when I tried to use a power-on switch. It looks like either power-on switch is dead or a fuse went bust. Unfortunately, it does not have an external fuse so if you want to check one you have to remove screws which I didn't want to do, 'cause the player is still under warranty.
So, I'm on my next trip to their warranty repair shop.
Mind you - this was a second example of the player that I had in my ownership!

Summary.
What do you think should I feel as an owner of the '991?
I've got mixed feelings, really. I don't have to tell you that visiting a repair shop on a regular basis somewhat distracts from enjoying the music, to say the least.
Simply speaking: "bugger it!" (as we say in Oz)
At the same time, I spent a lot of time auditioning and selecting a player for my tastes and Rotel was pick of the bunch. The price I paid for it was in the territory of more inferior (IMHO!) sounding players from lower "hifi league", e.g. Rega 2000, Marantz 6000ose(ki) or Sony 940 to name a few .

So, I'll give the '991 a second chance, I think.
I'll get it fixed and keep it until (God save!) or if it fails again. If that happens (fingers crossed not!) I'll do two things - I'll get rid of it as soon as I can and I'll give it 1 star here just to put it in the pillory.
But for now - as I said - I give it one more chance.
This means - 5 stars, solely on the basis of its sonic qualities, (conditionally) considering its quality quibbles were an isolated (two times in a row?!) problem.

Similar Products Used:

marantz 6000, various Denons, Sony 930,940, MF X3(?), Cyrus Q3.24(not sure if it's accurate)

Sound and design

uh...

Can't really add much to the positive reviews below. This is one of the finest cd players I have ever used. The detail is incredible. HDCD--cant really tell much of a difference--but all CDs sound absolutely terrific.

Similar Products Used:

NAD, Classe, Adcom, lower Rotels, and others

Professional appearance; apparent build quality; heft and weight

Although certainly competent, the sound does not just bowl me over.

I had used and liked very much a Magnavox/Phillips CDB 650 since 1987; its sound was smooth, crisp and clear. I purchased the Rotel 991 based on superb reviews in Stereophile, HiFi Choice, etc., expecting to hear a vast improvement in sound. But after almost a year of break-in, I cannot say that the Rotel 991 sounds any better at all than my old Magnavox/Phillips CDB 650. The CDB 650 appears to have more strength in low frequencies as well as a crisper high end. There is nothing really wrong with the Rotel, it just does not sound any better. Maybe I had a really good example of the CDB 650 and only a mediocre example of the 991. Associated equipment includes a reconstituted Apt Holman preamp, Audio Electronics SE-1 Signature KR2A3 tube power amp, and ProAc Response One SC speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Magnavox/Phillips CDB 650 purchased in 1987.

I compared the Rotel RCD-991 against some very good players. To start with, I had owned the Ultech UCD-100 (I had two go bad) and the Rotel has all the qualities of the Ultech but is smoother and more musical sounding. It also throws a better soundstage. It basically has all the characteristics of the Ultech but more of everything. More detail, more transparency..ect. I compared the Rotel to the Arcam Alpha 9, the EAD Ultradisk 2000, the Linn Mimik, Denon DCD-1650, Denon DVD-5000, Sonic Frontiers Anthem CD-1. I personally never heard the RCD-990, the 991's predecessor but I've heard the 991 is better. The rest of my system is a Melos SHA Gold Reference preamp, Bryston 7B-ST monoblocks, Hales Revelation 3 speakers, Yamaha TX-950 tuner, Harmonic Technology cables throughout.

About two monthes ago I picked up an RCD-991. After looking at a lot of high end equipment, the only cd player that sounded substantially better than the RCD-991 was the EAD Ultradisc 2000 for about twice the money. The RCD was closer to what I am willing to pay for a single component. The RCD-991 has the additional advantages of balanced outputs and of user selectable dither. The unit is still breaking in, the output is getting a little more "liquid", sounding smoother and less harsh. The adjustable dither is interesting but I'm reserving judgement on that. There is nothing fancy about the appearance, a plain black box, Rotel seems to have put the money in function rather than cosmetics. The HDCD function works well, HDCD discs such as the re-release of Joni Mitchells "Blue" is outstanding considering how old the original masters are. It sounds noticably better than an old release of the same CD. The Rotel gets about 95% of the sound of the EAD at about half the price. I have recently auditioned Wadias and other very expensive players. The Rotel pretty much equalled the best and only the EAD surpassed it. The Adcom was close at about the same price but I preferred the Rotel. I believe in cost effectiveness in a stereo system or component. Unfortunately, price alone is not an indicator of performance. I've listened to a lot of expensive stuff that doesn't perform much better than an old Pioneer receiver out in the work shop. With the Rotel, I believe I got more than what I paid for sound wise. I'd give it 4.5 stars due to its plain jane appearance, but the rating system says only whole numbers and a 4 star rating does not do it justice so....five stars.

superb single play CD player, excellent soundstage, detail, detail, and sweet sound