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Rotel 1072 & Arcam 73 comparison

I compared these two CDPs at a dealership for myself.

Electronics: Audio Research Pre SP 16, McCormack DNA125
Speaker : Quad 21L
(So amplification is quite nice.
Speaker is impressive one for its price)

In general these are good CD player. However, interestingly enough, they are quite different in number of ways.

In short, Rotel can be described as 'A concert Grand Piano played by a rising star pianist.' Arcam is like 'Upright piano played by a maestro pianist.' The strong points of Rotel are rich in information and more air around the sound generators. Arcam's good at balance. Switing from Arcam to Rotel make me say, 'impressive, a deeper sound stage, full body sound'. Switiching from Rotel to Arcam makes everything smaller, but as you hear more you see/hear things are still there and you are adjusting yourself to
the music from Arcam in a nice way.

Well, I like Rotel better. Rotel 1072 is also well balanced for presending many kinds of music. It is just a bit difficult to prefectly balance everything since it chooses to present full of information and musicallity as well. Rotel is closer to analog sound than Arcam. Rotel is more puchier when it chooses to do that. In my opinion, Arcam uses a very good DAC, but not all the parts in its electronics do good jobs. I think that is where the shortcomings are.

Will I buy Rotel ? Not now, I'll search more. As of today,
NAD5xx, Musical Fidelity X-Rayv3, Arcam 73, Cambridge Azur 540/640, are no longer on my list. I am not going to buy Sony this time, because I own one. My short list includes: Music Hall CD25, Rotel 1072, Rega, Ah!, and, well, Sony etc.
Any recommendation ?

Thanks for reading.
augustine
zenaissance
39 posts
 
Vertewax, what was wrong with the CDP-10, Moon Eclipse? I don't seem to understand the logic here even though I admire your decision. One thing for sure- you mentioned finding something that would still keep you "happy with the sound"- well after having the Moon and Classe in your system you will never and I repeat never be happy the same way with either a Rotel or Arcam. I have owned previous to my Classe and Orpheus digital equipment, an Arcam CD72T, Rotel 971 and Rotel 1070. Arcam and Rotels are great if you want "bang for the buck" but coming down from what you have owned seems rather illogical. I can understand if you want a simpler system but to me saving that little extra $$$ (not much if you consider the fact that a used CDP-10 can be had for about $1,400- not much more than a new Arcam 73 and there is simply no comparison between the two units) is not worth it.
The source is always changing and to me other from speakers has the greatest influence on the sound of your system. It is the source that needs to be upgraded often while a good amp and speakers can bide for a little while longer.

Good luck in your quest!
vertewax
18 posts
 
Thanks for the response Zenaissance. I completely agree with you about the amp and speakers remaining if done well... and they have. I've had the same amp (although I upgraded it) and same speakers through all of this downshifting. I tell ya, I was not super impressed with the Classe overall. It did lots of things well and was really well built, but it didn't excite me. I found myself listening less and less to my system.

My hold-over-player (the Sony) is more energetic. It is probably doing things wrong, but it is more exciting than the Classe. If anything, the Eclipse was really a top notch player. Anyone who heard it was blown away by it's detail, resolution, ability to find missing sound and music, full-range, imaging, etc. That could have been a player to retire on!

Well, the Arcam is due here in a week or so, so we'll see how it goes. Who knows, I may endup climbing up the ladder again to find something that pleases me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the Arcam.
hongkongpearl's avatar
hongkongpearl
15 posts
 
How about Cambridge Audio D500SE?? Its so cheap to buy now!!
zenaissance
39 posts
 
Vertewax, your choice to try out the Arcam is good- other than the less-than-impressive aesthetics (cheaper/plasticky feel to the buttons etc), the sound I find is generally better than the Rotel. Rotels have a brighter and cleaner sound but is not as full and rich as the Arcams. Besides, the Arcam units are upgradeable as well, but alas coming down from the Moon is something that would be hard for me to take if I was in your shoes. The Classe is a great player for me and works well but the last degree in the lack of excitement (although it cures listener fatigue)is the reason why I went with an external DAC. The CDP-10 makes a great transport and the sound is transformed. IMHO, pace and rhythm is more essential to a recording than transparency. A good toe-tapping session is certainly rewarding itself. So the Classe is still a keeper as a transport.

I think eventually you are going to move up (it is part of this crazy hobby of ours). Sometimes our listening habits change and so do our ears (as one gets older, different music becomes appealing and changes happen all the time). Forget about the Cambridge unit suggested by Hongkongpearl (no offense to his suggestion) but the Arcam is in another class.

Hope it works out for you and let us know of your listening impressions.

vertewax
18 posts
 
So I received the Arcam today and have played about 5 cd's on it. Right now listening to the Kings of Convenience, "Quiet is the New Loud". Had U2's new on one today... some jazz, electronica and indie rock (Wilco, Elefant)... so you could say I'm spreading it around a bit. I'm sure the player might need quite a few hours to break in, but I heard it break in across the first few albums: from cold box to sitting above the warm Rogue gear.

I am VERY impressed with the sound. It's spacious, airy, very even across the frequencies, good bass extension, good definition, good delineation of space. Most notable characteristic is that it is very quiet... very quiet between notes. It's a calm player. The pace is good... not rip-roarin, but not sluggish either. Good texture. What else? I like it. I'm happy.

It's very attractive too. It's more subtle than the photos make it seem in black. It's a small unit... not tall, not too deep. The lettering is subtle, the buttons are nice. I'm not a huge fan of the display... the green color, but you can dim it and it's better. The remote is plastic but logical. You can view remaining time on track, on cd... that feature wasn't avail on wither the Sim or Classe, and I appreciate it here.

I saw the Rotel in a store and it was no better built than the Arcam.

So in a nutshell, it's a really good player for the $ on first impression... no buyers remorse AT ALL!
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