Rotel 1072: Deserving of product of the year?

http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/review_read.asp?ID=2751
Read this over couple times the compare to;
http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/review_print.asp?ID=2093

My understanding is the new Rotel is an improvement on an established benchmark.Rotel mentions 60 parts changes and better testing ability further improving performance level mentioned in TAS review.Doesn't jive with HiFiChoice 1072 stuff?I know we are talking different places,players,people and points of view.But with wording like;Lift,bounce,real crack to percussion,energy to voice.They on one hand allude to Foward,bright?"brings the music to you rather than inviting you".Then rolled off?"All the ingredients but lack of imagination"or"Top orchestra with a dull conductor" Are they saying too clean? The close suggests preproduction samples proved superior. Are they saying they did a preproduction review on early unit? Why wouldn't the review offer more details then? I just found for me the TAS nailed it more.Unit is lively and extended,late at night our rural powergrid is clean and the sound emerges from blackness,instruments appears like fireworks blooming in a pitch black sky.1072 out of box was somewhat flat,foward,lean but after 40-60 hours(I don't stopwatch a break-in)about 2 dozen cd's played it just got really good in all areas. I have not run many HDCD's through it,but Ref Recordings Big Band Basie was ok.Playing James Taylor's"October Road"(not hdcd) gave me one of those, glad I got off the fence and bought this, just great.All the Patricia Barber discs starting with "Distortion of Love" sound atmospheric,I say that becuase HiFiC's review mentioned Lucinda Williams sounded foward,and spaciousness normally provoked by reverb(overdamped listening room?)For me the walls drop away when the recording has it. My set-up of Soliloquy 6.5's in 20x12(slight angled ceiling)errs to pushing image foward a tad.So far I would say for definite it is clean,quiet,musical,micro-dynamics real good,the big stuff may be held back some(stock cord still)I am getting great low-end but the Sol 6.5's show what the 1072's got down below,control is good but not overdamped.

My list of nits;
stock feet crud plastic(yank'em and use roller blocks~mine are diy but well made)BTW I only had it on stock feet 1st few hours.

No display dim or off~display in bright in darkened room.

Remote is very lightweight/cheap~works great though.

summing it up at $699 retail(actual $560plus tax regular audio store)you have to put this one on a audition list.

those 2 seperate views played on me while I was buying it,waiting for it to arrive at dealer(12 days)and through roughly 3 weeks of various playback.Now I am in the TAS camp on this player.Musical CDP.Get the Black.Player of the year?

I thought that the silver looked pretty good, but I wonder why you say to "get the black"?

If you can look at both try to.If not,see if they have another Rotel~dvd or such player in black on display. Pictures of Silver finish caught my eye at first,in person I felt, black was nicer.

I like to run my gear electrically stock for a time.Just to make sure all is well.But I will fashion me a 13 gauge zero crystal copper varistrand/teflon dielectric power cord.It has improved my other gear in dynamics.Check back time to time I'll post a result here.Maybe that last 3-6 feet of power cable before CDP acts like a small buffer? Not sure but the few power cable upgrades I have auditioned, yeilded sonic benefits.

RCD1072another view

More gas on the campfire, Real download of RCD 1072 in a system

good read enjoy

I was able to open the sound stage up and beyond the plane of loudspeakers by backing off on room/wall treatments there for the previous player.Like you said musical objects emerged from inky blackness. That still applies but the events are larger with more scale and dynamics.The Rotel is always louder than it seems at start with good jump.Main center image still begins just foward or at same plane as the Soliloquy 6.5 in smallish 20x12(bad thing?)backing has increased depth. Lack of noise allow this due to less room/boundary excitation? I moved some of the area rugs on tile back from boundaries a bit and stage image depth(Soliloquy6.5)very nice now. Fear of harsh sound from livlier room was unwarranted in my case. Late nite listening when it is spooky quiet here is an absolute thrill thats when that noise floor has details emerging from that blackness in 3 dimensional detail. I am still adjusting to that, by which I mean sounds never heard before from my discs can be musical or distracting such as cellphones ringing deep in the mix sounding like someone way beyond wall behind speakers.Summing up the Rotel has delighted "me" punching way beyond the price.I feel the Arcam 73 is another bargain out there in this price arena.I auditioned both liked both(showroom)>Hdcd and low repair history gave edge to Rotel for "me".Pet peeves no display dimmer,how could Rotel miss that one.Likes good long warm-up.