Rotel RCD 991 CD Player (HELP!)

[op141]

Come on guys !!

Can no one answer my question below in this forum?

What is the internal differeces between the normal 991 and the 991 AE (audiophile edition)?

Has anyone one tried a side by side comparison?

Cheers

Tim
:roll:

[Aussie Geoff]

Tim,

Try this Hi Fi Choice Review

I have heard both and liked both a lot... For my ears though - I'd go with the newer RCD-1072 which sounds 99% as good - unless you are getting a really great price on the 991 AE (which had fabulous build quality)

Geoff

[op141]

Thanks Geoff.

I took ownership of a 991AE last night which I bought from a 2nd hand dealer for the price of £365.

Its mint and boxed.

Went through loads of CD's last night listening to it. Its sounds great. Dynamics were good,great soundstage, bass tight,low and mids/highs were liquid like. It had a darker sound to the Sony XB940 Sacd player it replaced which I liked. The music now is less fatigueing and is more musical. You forget about the hifi and listen to the music!

I applied dither setting 4 which suited my system best.

If anyone else has had this player please let me know your thoughts. By the way this AE version has apparently different op amps compared to the normal 991. Not sure of any other tweaks by Rotel other than the lower jitter reported in your link?

My system

Rotel RCD 991 AE
Audio Sythesis Passion passive Pre-amp
Rotel RB1090 Power amp
Acoustic Energy AE2 Speakers on AE2 stands
VDH First Ultimate interconnects
VDH Revelation BI-wire speaker cable.
VDH The Mainstream Power chords to CD and AMP
RDC Cones on CD,Pre,Power and rack stand.


Cheers

Tim :T

[Aussie Geoff]

Tim,

Rotel still informally rate this as their best ever CD player... It was close to a money no object deisgn for them when they did it. The construction quality is amazing. So sounds like you did well... Enjoy the sound...

Geoff

[eelco74]

Unless you can get the Rotel Michi RHCD-10 wich is even more rare...and twice as expensive.

The 991 has had several versions, first because Philips secided to stop producing the CDM-9Pro drive. So they had to build a new version with a different drive. The older version has a bigger front on the tray than then newer version.

I beleive they changed the DAC in the AE version and reduced the dither even more.

It is still a fabulous machine,,,

[op141]

Eelco 74,

Yes Ive heard of this rare Rotel RHCD-10 but never listen to one or even seen one come to think of it. Would love to have a listen to one and compare the two.

I spoke to Rotel UK yesterday and told them of my purchase of the 991AE. They told me I had a rare find and that all parts were still available for this machine They also told me it did have the Sony transport as found in many other brands because the old 990 Phillips transport ran out as you said. They also commented on the different op amps and dac tweaks in the 991AE.

They too told me the RHCD-10 was the one to get. Apparently it was hand built in Japan featurning many quality parts hence the high price.They said the sound was superior to that of the 991AE but the 991 and 991AE were based on Michi technolodgy handed down form the RHCD-10.

Does anyway have any links to reviews on the RHCD-10 or any pics?

Cheers

Tim

[eelco74]

I have some old reviews of them, probably all in dutch. The distributor used to collect all Rotel reviews in magazines and put them together in a little book. You could get them at Rotel dealers, wich was a nice service.

The 991 was around 1200 Euro's, the RHCD-10 was 2850 euro's, so quite a difference.They were a bit platinum/silver, with red wooden sidepanels

I would love to find a used RHMB-10 poweramp, but they are quite rare.,..
They were a bit platinum/silver, with red wooden sidepanels.

[Marlboroman]

There is no difference between the 991 and 991AE except that one has the AE printed on it. The AE was originally to designate the European version of the unit but internally there is no difference. This is what I have been told by Rotel tech support in the past.

SM

[Arnold van Oostrum]

Unless you can get the Rotel Michi RHCD-10 wich is even more rare...and twice as expensive.

The 991 has had several versions, first because Philips secided to stop producing the CDM-9Pro drive. So they had to build a new version with a different drive. The older version has a bigger front on the tray than then newer version.

I beleive they changed the DAC in the AE version and reduced the dither even more.

It is still a fabulous machine,,,

What you mean by the first version of the RCD991 with the Philips CDM-9Pro drive is actually the RCD990 player. The reason Rotel made the RCD991 is because of the new drive they had to use.

The RCD990 has been drawn from the RHCD-10. Both have the CDM-9Pro drive and the front of these players are identical. Also the electric scheme's show great similarity. But The RHCD-10 uses Burr Brown PCM63P K-grade DAC's where the RCD-990 (and RCD991) use normal grade PCM63P. A big difference between the RHCD-10 and the RCD990 is the used digital filter. Both are 8x sampling, but in the RHCD-10 a NPC SM5843AP (25bit) digital filter is used, where the RCD990 (and RCD991) uses the PMD100 HDCD filter, which is 27bit.

The RCD990 was limited because of the ending of the CDM-9pro drive. The RCD990 was sold out within a months time. So Rotel decided to make the RCD991, which has it's roots with the RCD990. The CD drive in the RCD991 is different. Some other alterations were made, which made it possible for Rotel to lower the pricetag. The powersection of the RCD990 is better (with bigger caps). In the upgraded RCD991AE the opamps in the analogue filter were upgraded the better Burr Brown opamps. The RHCD-10, RCD990 and the first RCD991 used all Philips opamps (NE5532/NE5534).

In my personal opinion the best Rotel is the RHCD-10, followed closely by the RCD990. Then comes the upgraded RCD991AE followed by the RCD991.

[op141]

Arnold,

Thanks for the tech advice. Rotel GB confirmed that the Michi RHCD-10 was the one to go for it I could obtain one, but just like the 990 they are hard to find and the price of the Michi I guess is well high, (if you can find one).

Arnold, How does the 991AE respond to a little tuning? ie clocking and clock PSU upgrades. I was thinking of getting the Trichord Clock 4 and 'never connected power supply'. Also what about an op-amp change from the burr Brown ones I have aready to differnet ones? Any advice would be welcome.

Eeelco,

Thanks for looking for the Michi and 991AE reviews. I can always put them through a online translation program

Cheers guys

Tim
:T

[Tha Freak]

I have one (RCD-991) And I like it quite a lot!!...

How to know if it's the Audiophile Edition or the regular ??

Also, the LED for HDCD doesn't light when I put a HDCD encoded disk ??

How to know if it's defective or that the LED is simply burned ??

[Arnold van Oostrum]

Arnold, How does the 991AE respond to a little tuning? ie clocking and clock PSU upgrades. I was thinking of getting the Trichord Clock 4 and 'never connected power supply'. Also what about an op-amp change from the burr Brown ones I have aready to differnet ones? Any advice would be welcome.

I personally have no experience with the RCD991AE. I know it has been tuned, where the existing opamps are replaced by the Burr Brown OPA627 (single) and AD OP270 (dual). And the clock has been replaced by the Tentlabs XO2 clock and in the powersection diodes are replace by better Schottky ones. The result was described as an enormous plus.

[op141]

Arnorld

Thanks for the info. I wil be definatley modifying this player in the near future. So I will let you and others know of my results in this forum.For sure any clocking is better than the OE clock. I think it will make a "good" player even better. Weather or not it will have a "high end" sound is another debate.

Are there any other guys out there who have modded a 991. I would love to hear your comments.

Freak
You know if its the AE edition as will read AE Audio Edition on the top right hand corner of the player. There is definatley internal differences as descibed above by Arnold. Rotel UK actually sold both the 991 and 991AE at the same time when the original 991 was coming to an end in sales. The 991AE was slightly higher in price due to the tweaks provided by Rotel on the AE version. As for you HDCD light, you should be able to tell by "listening" if this decoding is working. If its not dont worry, as all parts are in stock at Rotel. Its only the 990 and Mitch RHCD-10 they have problems in getting parts for.

[op141]

Found these pics in on Jap web site. No red wooden panelling on these babies!. Any one have any better pics?

http://kokuhp.fc2web.com/audio/1st-audio-kiki.htm

[eelco74]

Yes they do have the red panels, but they are not visible, since the pictures are black and white :-)

here is the picture of the tuner I found :



and the pre-amp

[op141]

Thanks for the pics eelco 74. Would be nice to see a clear Michi CD player too. Im still on the look out for one now. If the price is right of course.

Not sure if to mod my existing AE player or to wait until a Michi appears on the second hand market.

Anyone else modded a 991?