By any chance do you have the tone controls in the Rotel set such that they are boosting the bass significantly? If so you would in effect be dramatically reducing the power capability of your amplifier, as the boosted bass notes would require much more amplifier power than a given perceived overall volume level would otherwise require.
If you have been doing that, try the system with "tone bypass" activated in the Rotel.
Also, just to be sure something simple isn’t being overlooked, are you certain that + and - have been connected properly between the amp and the speakers? If + and - are interchanged on one speaker (but not both), bass would be weakened, and imaging, tonality, and distortion performance would be severely compromised.
Also, having to turn up the volume control to relatively high settings within its range is something that is very commonly encountered, especially with phono sources, and is not in itself a problem. It’s only a problem if distortion or excessive noise occurs at desired listening levels.
Finally, I would be dubious that the speakers in question could handle say 200 or 300 watts without generating significant distortion themselves. An amplifier power recommendation of 15 to 400 watts does not by any means necessarily indicate that all of even most of those 400 watts can or should be utilized by the particular speaker.
Good luck. Regards,
-- Al
If you have been doing that, try the system with "tone bypass" activated in the Rotel.
Also, just to be sure something simple isn’t being overlooked, are you certain that + and - have been connected properly between the amp and the speakers? If + and - are interchanged on one speaker (but not both), bass would be weakened, and imaging, tonality, and distortion performance would be severely compromised.
Also, having to turn up the volume control to relatively high settings within its range is something that is very commonly encountered, especially with phono sources, and is not in itself a problem. It’s only a problem if distortion or excessive noise occurs at desired listening levels.
Finally, I would be dubious that the speakers in question could handle say 200 or 300 watts without generating significant distortion themselves. An amplifier power recommendation of 15 to 400 watts does not by any means necessarily indicate that all of even most of those 400 watts can or should be utilized by the particular speaker.
Good luck. Regards,
-- Al