Great, smoooth, detailed, lively sound
Good build quality
Good value for the money
Intuitive front panel controls
Balanced Outputs
Classy appearance

None (Unless compared to a much more expensive player)

This CD player is SWEET. Highly detailed but not edgey. Great bass extension. Vocals are full and round. Excels on all types of music. You can listen for hours and still want to go back for more. And when you put in an HDCD, it's heaven!

In addition to the great sound, the build quality is solid. The player has every type of output you could want (single-ended, balanced, digital coax, and digital optical). The front panel has just the controls you need. And they're laid out so intelligently that you operate this player in the dark if you want to. The appearance is classic Rotel: brushed black aluminum faceplate with just the necessary functionality.

You could pay a lot more for all this if you want to. This player compares very well with the Krell KAV 250 which costs twice as much. Or you could buy the Arcam FMJ and pay $700 dollars more.

Or you could buy the Rotel, get a great deal, and have some money left over to buy beer.

Associated equipment:
Audio Research LS16
Audio Research 100.2
NHT 2.5is

Neutral, nice tone, vibrant, musicality smile factor), at times

soundstaging not very deep or wide, not much air around instruments- dry sounding

I use an audiolab 8000LX, with B&W P4's and replaced my Marantz 63SE and MF X-ACT dac. I was at first disappointed. This player needs a really good burn in time and I mean at least 5-6 days of continuous play/random/repeat all modes. Even after this there wasn't the massive improvement I was expecting over my original combo.
The sound was, however, more refined and instruments/voices etc sounded more natural and listening to the Stereophonics- performance & cooktails (NB. I can't write the accurate title because it contains a word for the male genitalier and audioreview forbid me post my review unless removed I AM SERIOUS!)sounded slightly thrashy and uncomfortable to listen to on my marantz/MF seemed much more listenable and cleaner sounding. The drums on most tracks were much better, but the soundtage was neither deeper nor wider.
I wouldn't recommend this player if you listen to alot of accoustic material as there isn't much presence on albums like Neil Young MTV unplugged and Eric Clapton Unplugged compared to my marantz.
I must admit the audiolab is not the best amp to be used with this cd player, they have similar sounds and don't complement each other that well. Warmer, fuller sounding amps like musical fidelity or audio analogue (the latter esp. for accoustic) would probably sound better.
It is very good with electronic or dance music, the Matrix soundtrack for one sounds great esp. track 4.
I did think that it sounded better than the Arcam on the whole- not as bright or forward. Although I slightly preferred the arcam on accoustic recordings.
A good open cable also helps like the Van Den Hul D102 III- £70. This Rotel may not impress all on first audition and I have yet to hear the full potential of this player and need to upgrade the amps to something decent. I would recommend the P4's for this cd player they are quite capable of performing very well, but need power. ie. an upgrade to MF X-200 monoblocs would be worthwhile for me.
AND... you MUST hear this player for yourselves with your equipment, don't take the reviewers word for it, you may not like it.

Similar Products Used:

Arcam Alpha 9

I got a chance to listen to the RCD991 for a couple of hours at a local audio shop and I compared it against the RCD971. I own a 975 which is slightly below the 971. What I immediately noticed, was the presentation of instruments was completely better. So much so, that it sounded like a different better recording. I was using CD's with instrumental tracks, Dire Straits (hdcd), and a Mofi CD.
Cymbal decay, MF and HF vocals were NOT grainy in comparison, detail was probably 40-50% better than the 971. LF tighter and deeper. Swithing between the two for hours, I noticed very big difference from soundstage, detail, smoothness, and instruments were more natural. Definately a pleasure to listen to for hours. No ear fatigue. The player is an excellent balanced unit but at twice the price of the 971 it does bring down the score.

Equipment used:

Rotel 991 rca
Rotal 971 rca
Rotel 995 pre
Rotel 991 amp Balanced XLR
B&W 802 s3 12g bi-wired.

Good value, Smooth detailed sound, Big soundstage, dither control, plays HDCD discs

I compared the Rotel RCD-991 to the Rotel RCD-971 and the Krell KAV 300 in my dealers sound room. The 991 was smoother sounding, more detailed and dynamic than the 971. The 971 to my ears was a little edgy in the top end. The Krell was clean and had good extension at the top end but the Rotel, at about 40 % of the price of the Krell, just sounded smoother and more effortless.
My dealer was kind enough to let me borrow a 991 from his store to take home and try in my system (Rotel 995 preamp, 981 power amp, B&W P5 speakers ) for a weekend. the first thing I noticed was the huge soundstage. On one of the Chesky demonstration discs David Chesky beats a tom-tom and moves to the extreme left and right. I was floored when the sound seemed to be coming from about 2 feet to the left of the LEFT speaker and 2 feet to the right of the RIGHT speaker. When listening to discs I knew so well, I found the soundstage had more depth also. The echo decay of the music gave a better sense of space. Next I went for some discs in my collection that I never played much because they seemed to be recorded a little on the "hard" side - Hey - that edge was gone!
The dither control is interesting - You have 7 dither settings - 1 through 7 and a 0 setting for NO dither - the 1 through 7 settings add progressively MORE dither to the music - The effect is very subtle as you increase the dither - The higher settings seem to give a smoother more "tube-like" sound - lower settings a little crisper sound - I feel what you have here is a very subtle sort of "tone control". I have mine set at 4 presently - sort of a compromise, I guess. I will experiment some more with the control on different types of music in the future.
A lot of people knock Rotel products because although they are designed in England - they are built in China - The build quality of my unit seems excellent - You get a lot of "bang for your buck" with Rotel. I paid $1100 for the unit which lists for $1300 and my dealer ( Goodwins Audio in Shrewsbury, MA ) is a nice guy. I feel that in the $1000 or so price category you would be hard pressed to find a better sounding CD player.

Bob L.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RCD-971, Nakamichi MB1s, Krell KAV 300

Silence, Blackness and absolute control.

No realy weaknesses only a matter of taste in style.

I Think that´s all there is to tell. "Phonostage killer"
Don´t look at the price, but listen...........

Similar Products Used:

What can i tell it "killed my Michi RHCD10 RHCD modified"
The very expensive "Wada" didn´t open in a A/B test.

Build quality. Warm, rich sound. Detailed imaging.

None

A superb player that offers a quality of sound that easily matches machines costing twice as much. It should be complemented with high quality components to do it justice. After fooling around with the Dither for some time, I believe that the setting of 4 is the best choice. I welcome other users' feedback on this.

If you are in the market for a superb quality CD player that represents excellent value for money, you will be hard pressed to do better than this.

Highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RCD 971, Arcam, Cyrus

No Nonsens. the electrical layout and build. Analog behavior

A long burn in time.

This is my last buying and i´am sure that there will be no replacement for a long time. The sound is very much "right" and very free. The Dither function is very good. I have put it on no:4 as many others. I started with the 971´That also was a pleasent surprice, but the 991´go so much further. I can only give this cd player my best recomendens. But remember that it takes at least 300 hours to burn in. Before that the perspektiv seames a litle narrow, but it will come. The best CD player that i ever had.

Similar Products Used:

Sony 7ES, Rotel rcd 971. Copland 288

Price AU$1400 !

Overall a good CD player.

One reviewer found the RCD 991 “Susceptibility to humidity”, I am also from Australia, and I had the same problem! I got the unit exchanged, and I had the same problem again! So I took a look inside to see what it was. It’s the lubricant! The heat makes the lubricant go WEEE! Wipe it clean, away from the lenses, and it will never happen again. In other areas the internal build is top class.

I use it with Musical Fidelity X-A1 amplifier, Jamo Concert 8 speakers, Kimber Kable KCAG interconnects, Kimber Kable 8TC speaker cable, in a room 4m x 6m.

A good CD player.

Similar Products Used:

NONE.

Resolution(esp.when HDCD) ; soundstage ; presentation ,& imaging ; in particular .

NONE : The Sherman Tank looks like a Sherman Tank for a particular reason

Really not much else to say that hasn't already.
Superb build quality ; Bal. & RCA connects!!!! Dither control , Incredibly Bad remote : All combine to make the 991 the last CD player I'll own for a long ,long,time.
Not to mention the soundstage , 3-D imagining , lack of even , medium tonal influence that may influence the recording , etc. etc.
No'uff Said .......

Similar Products Used:

Very familiar with other Rotels , Sony , Meridian , Classe,etc.

Dither control

There is not much else to say but is an excellent player, very impress at first listen. Did I compare with others ?.
No, I did not, I have no time and the reason that I get this player is because the sound it reproduces in addition to Dither control.

Not all recordings are the same, therefore to me, dither control plays an excellent role in this respect since I listen to variety of music from classical, classic rock, smooth/jazz and vocals.

Regarding appearance, I kinda like the look of it, simple and easy to the eyes, not like Meridian, Sony or Pioneer Elite. I have no comment on the remote, it could be better.

RCD-991 is a keeper at least for the next five years.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Elite pd59, 971