Any Rotel love around here? Looking to power my Sonus Faber Olympica 3

@4425 

What's out of whack?

A buddy just bought a pair of Olympica 3’s. He has a Marantz 8802A pre and JC1 mono blocks powering them.

It’s a nice setup. You need to make sure the Rotel can handle a 4 ohm load (not sure) as the O3’s are 4 ohms. I’ve had a Rotel receiver before, but it was before they shipped everything to China for manufacturing.

I understand the desire to find a pre that can take a USB-A to play music off a thumb drive (dsd files as well as 192/24 files). Having Apple Airplay/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth type connectivity is very nice to have when you just want background music (though you can get nice hi-res files off the thumb drive).

I’m currently searching for a 2-channel preamp with all that (and home theater pass through). I think it’s a unicorn, and not the common variety unicorn...

You may want to look at the latest Hegel integrated amps. They have all the wiz-bang stuff we want (except I want just a preamp).

Don't mean to offend. I just never would have thought of mating Rotel with your fine speakers. Whether right or wrong I've always considered Rotel a good mid level company like others here. I won't inject myself into something that's none of my business again but one last time I will suggest that you take a look at the Krell Digital Vanguard on their website before you decide. Can be purchased with good discounts as well. Enough said and best wishes.

@4425 

I gotcha. 

You're probably right.  I just liked the Rotel RB1590 that's all. I also have a soft spot for Rotel from when I was new to the game 10 years ago when I was 24. 

I have a much better system than the O3/Rotel, so I am a little lenient with it. 

I'm sure Joey has made his decision and is probably not following this thread any longer. For others investigating Rotel:
I don't understand why some of the respondents hold Rotel in such low regard. Here are my experiences. I had at one time a NAD 7250PE (old, but well regarded), a Nakamichi Receiver 2 (old but very, very highly regarded. My first true love. Blew away all the Marantz and Carvers.) and a Rotel RX-1052 I picked up for $200.Yes, I know they are all receivers and as all audiophiles know, therefore inherently inferior. Can you smell my sarcasm?

By brand reputation in today's market the NAD should have won the comparison. Actually, in my opinion it came in a distant last and I sold it for more than the Rotel cost me. The speakers involved were Boston Acoustics T-830s, Genesis Physics Model 7s, PSB Imagine XBs and Canton Ergo 1002DCs. Quite a disparate grouping. The Nak may have won with the Genesis and PSBs; but the Rotel surprised me by winning by a considerable margin with the larger 3-ways. The listening area is fairly large; but the primary listening location is 10' from the speakers. I prefer a detailed presentation with very good staging. No artificially warm crap for me. (I don't know why I bought those PSBs!)

I've heard older Krells and I find the bass to be exaggerated. I understand the newer integrateds may not have this characteristic. On my wish list to upgrade the Rotel currently are a Prima Luna Prologue (could it drive the Cantons?) or a Belles Aria. I've heard both and they are divine. However, when I heard them it was with speakers costing several times more than the Cantons and with cables costing probably 100 times more. Who knows how they'll sound when/if I get them in my system. Maybe I'll listen to a newer Krell or Bryston if I get rich. But for $200 this Rotel rocks! And they are not rare.

TY -Joey
for the update. Keep us posted as you massage the Rotel into your system.

Rotel’s biggest weakness are their CD players, IMO. I’ve owned the RCD-1072 and found it a bit sterile sounding and very dry. Never cared for it and wanted to like it since it matched the RB-1080/RC-1082 I also owned.

Also, be aware that Rotel’s RCA jacks are a bit flimsy. If you’re the type who likes to experiment with different cables, you’ll probably need repair service at some point because the jacks will likely come loose. I’ve got Sony ES stuff from the early 90s and the back panel jacks are still like new. Can’t say the same for decade old Rotel pieces.

Just to complete the thread... I thought about it and the wife was really not digging the separate amp outside the media console look so we ended up with an integrated.

I took the Rotel RA1570 and the RA1592 home and I kept the 1592.

It has been a good match.

Relax and enjoy the music!  Best of luck.

Nice amplifier. I'd use the balanced inputs on that Rotel unless you have a very low output impedance preamp. Enjoy.

very nice choice Joey.  Your Sfs will sing with 200w/ch.  Congrats.

I held onto a RCD-1570 just in case. I'm not a fan of the slot loader but it works. Other than that, garbagio for the past 8 years.

@donjr

Don, I haven't heard the RCD-1570 but did own its predecessor, the highly regarded RCD-1072. Let's just say that it was the worst CD player I've ever owned. I bought it on a whim thinking it would have mated perfectly with my Rotel pre/pro combo at the time. Despite having good build quality and being quite attractive to look at, it never developed any mojo with its accompanying Rotel equipment. The cd player was very dry and uninvolving, with no dynamics or gusto whatsoever. A less expensive Sony (non-ES) player I was using previously had a much nicer and warmer sound than the Rotel. The 1072 just too overly-analytic.

Was your newer 1570 CD player similar to what I experienced?

After auditioning the MF A5 and the NAD Masters Series five channel amps, as well as a few others, I bought the Rotel 1590. I own the 1075 as well. To my ears, the 1590 was far cleaner and had much more range and realism than the NAD and the MF amp and was a huge step up from the 1075. It sounded as good as some Higher end amps in the store for less money.  The MF and NAD sounded muffled and soft to me in comparison.  They just did not excite me.  I may be ruined for all other amps if I hear something like a Pass Labs. But, until then, I have not listened to any kind of music on the 1590 that did not move me and make me smile real big.  I especially love the incredibly deep, fast bass it generates in my B&W 804s. I did not really understand the concept of speed in an amp until the 1590. It seems like nothing taxes it. The mid and highs are pure and not annoying.  At this point, I feel like the amp is no longer the limiting factor in sound quality, and I think that title now belongs to the speakers. It may be that the 1590 is a return to the sound of the “older” British Rotels. I have heard a few lower priced Rotel amps that were nowhere near as refined or moving.

I had a [ Rotel RB-1080 ] in 2003-4. It was great with more than sufficient power for my small Martin Logan speakers. Not sure if you can mono-block this with (2) RB-1080’s or not. That would be super IMO.

I am very interested to read more about this [ NAD 275bee ] ; it sounds marvelous for the money, especially used in great condition. ] Can this amp be set up to be Mono ? ] 

I’m trying to drive a pair of [ Focal Chorus 826V ] speakers with something affordable. Any suggestions on this with the above - [ either the Rotel RB-1080 or the NAD 275bee ] or other?

Thanks.