OOh oooh so many questions!

[Peter Scowcroft]

Hi,
new to this forum and very excited. mostly been hanging around pinkfish which is the alternative naim forum. I don't have any naim, and love rotel so i think this is my new home!

Question 1.

My current preamp is a Rc-970bx and is on its last legs. When I activate the tone controls, channels fade in and out, massive distortion etc etc.
:sh:

I am looking for a new pre to partner my powers.

I currently have a RB-991 and a 993 biamped to run my nice friendly Acoustic Energy 309's.

Which preamp would you reccomend to match?

I believe the RC-990 and 995 are designed to match.

Does anyone know if there is much of a difference between the two pre's?

The 995 has XLRs which I don't use so that wouldn't matter.

I am purely interested in the quality.

There is a 990 on sale near here, shuld i get that or wait untill a 995 turns up?

Does anyone know what the 2nd hand values of theese units are?

Peter

[Marlboroman]

I would go with the RC-1070, which is still designed to match.

[Peter Scowcroft]

I meant matched via sound not asthetics, though the 1070 does look good.

I have been told that the 995 sounds much better with my amp than than the 1070.

Do you know if there is much difference in the sound between the units 990/995/1070 the 1090 is way out of my price range. in fact I am not sure the 1070 would be in it too; im off to check prices

[Taito]

You should be fine with any decent preamp. It does not have to be new. It does not have to be rotel. As long as it is good quality, with high input impedance, low output impedance, low distortion and sounds good to you, any replacement preamp should fill the shoes of your almost-deceased RC-970. An RC-990 (in good condition) should be at least as good as the 970. Why not get it and see. If you don't like it, resell at very little loss.

Good luck, Ben

[Peter Scowcroft]

I was hoping the 990 would be ALOT better than the 970. it was released at the same time as the 970 at more than twice the price.

I assume that the 970 pre was designed to partner the 970 amp, and the 990 being the same.

I originally had RB-970's which I thought were GREAT until I upgraded to the RB-991.
Biggest hifi jump EVER, my wife even noticed. she didn't spot the diff when I swopped from playing mp3s out of my PC through a £10 sound card to getting a £500 cdp.

I was hoping for a similar change when upgrading the 970 preamp to the 990 preamp.

If there is not much of a difference then I won't bother.

Yuo do have a good point, buy it second hand and resell. thats how I demo most of my gear!

What kind of prices should theese things go at?

[sprout]

To give an idea of price and chance of finding one, might help someone who may know, where you are based in the world

This eaby auction in Germany made €389 (euros)7551631815 for an RC-995

I cannot find it now but a RC-995 and RB-990 went for over $1000 (US) recently.

sprout

[sprout]

and there is an RC-990BX on ebay now in Germany 7555765108

:T

[Peter Scowcroft]

I live in the UK and am more than able to swop the sockets over on the back. So any unit that works on 240v and 50hz is good. I am looking at that amp in germany, unfortunately being skrewed over in an interview I can't afford it.

Two interviewers one normal one a sadistic b££$h. the guy said he liked me, he couldn't find any faults and the interview was very strong. the woman througout the whole interview was very rude. She refused to answer many of my questions, when she did it was a one word answer or "I don't know".

So I am skint, maybee a 995 will come up next month when i have the pennies.

For the units designed to work in the usa, is there power supply of a completely different design or is there a little switch for diferent voltages?

[sprout]

UK :T

Well I will be buying an RMB-1077 as soon as I have auditioned one.

I will have pieces to sell from:

All are mint and owned from new, non smoking pet free home.
the 10 series is as new boxed and virtually unused :E (Black & Silver) due to move.

RC-990BX (the one you mention)
RB-990BX

RMB-1075
RB-1080 x 2
RB-1070 x 1

There are others, but much depends on what I think of the 1077.
I have 10 series preamp, CD player and 1098 (but that is going no where)
Also still have my beloved 991AE and 965BX :W

So, good luck with the job hunting, and I am in no rush, so who knows :B

Cheers

sprout

[Peter Scowcroft]

Sounds interesting, how many pennies were you looking for?
The second hand value of theese units varies SO much. Best price I saw was a 995 for $175, wish Ihad seen that first!

[sprout]

Sounds interesting, how many pennies were you looking for?
The second hand value of theese units varies SO much. Best price I saw was a 995 for $175, wish Ihad seen that first!

Probably best to wait 'till you are in a position to offer :W

But watch the German auction for a guide to the RC-990BX, my guess is it will be around £200.

All my equipment is MINT.

The last 995 I saw go in the states went for over $500.

Cheers
sprout

[Peter Scowcroft]

The $175 was a good, deal. unfortunately i was 4 years to late to get it =-)

As soon as i get re-employed i will give you a bell. You don't need any more staff, I work for hifi gear =-)

[Peter Scowcroft]

The german pre went for 151 euros what is that in proper pennies?

[sprout]

The german pre went for 151 euros what is that in proper pennies?

mmmm!! it has not even ended yet :E

Still has a day to go

[Peter Scowcroft]

Goood point. Thats what happens when a guy tries to multitask. its like peeing AND aiming at the same time, for me it is fricking impossible!

Sprout could it be safe to assume that you will accept the final price of the eBay sale as an acceptable 2nd hand price of your shiney preamp? and taking into account you would not have the eBay fees and hastle you could do p&p aswell? (prolly be about £8)

Where abouts do you live, I would appreciate the chance to demo the unit, not to mention hear somone elses Rotel setup.

Peter