RA-1062 vs RC/RB-1070 pair

[dartmouth12]

Looking at getting a new amp for my ~1975 Acoustic Research AR-2ax's. Have an existing Rotel RX-802 with a dead pre-amp section - was only 50wpc and tended to pop the tweeters in the AR-2ax's so upgrading. Looking at RA-1062 which appears to have cleaned up in the awards over the past couple of years, versus the RC-1070/RB-1070 pair. Anyone tell me whether or not the extra AU$500 is worthwhile?
Given I don't (not allowed to) crank up the volume so much any more I should be able to preserve my replaced tweeters with the 1062. Would certainly be safe from clipping with the 1070's but what about sound quality is there that much difference? FYI I'm running this with a ROTEL RCD-965BX CD player - also got an old Sony PS-1 Turntable but that's hardly worth mentioning.
cheers

[Boombox]

I would recommend RC/RB set-up. I own RB power amp and it is brilliant. Believe the 1062 is good as well, but here its about R3000 (US$400) difference so I opted with the stronger (..dedicated..) amp.

[ironchef]

I have heard the RC1070/RB1070 combination, and I own the RA1062. The biggest difference I noticed is that the separates image somewhat better, and bring out fuller sound. Midrange is noticeabley more pure. The 1062 is a powerful little guy, but does sometimes struggle with complex music at beyond-modest volumes.

The signature Rotel sound is the same, you just get a bit more of it with the separates. I am trying to figure out if I need to upgrade to the separates myself (although I would go with the 1080), or change brands altogether, as the Musical fidelity A5 sounded pretty amazing, and entirely different from the Rotels.

It must be mentioned that I was able to do A-B testing with these and a variety of other amps/disc players with B&W 804s, so I'm not sure that these differences will be as striking with your speakers, as I'm unfamiliar with them.

[dartmouth12]

Musical Fidelity A5

I know someone here who's been through all this grief - listening to amps, Roksan Kandy, Rotel and others before ending up buying the A5. He happened to get a listen to it by chance as someone else here was purchasing one and the sound was obviously worth the extra dough. It's 1500 UK pounds compared to the Rotel 1070 combo's 850 so the sound would want to be fairly special!
Maybe I'll organise a sound off versus the Rotel's and see if I think the extra musicality is there. Bit scared I may want one though!

[ironchef]

Okay, I am through with this struggle as well.
I liked the sound of the A5 enough to do an extensive comparison with the Rotel separates (RB1080), as well as the MF A3.5.

The sonic signature of the MF gear will strike you right away. It really is very neutral, and transparent, compared to the Rotel's 'forward' sound. I was concerned that it would be too polite, and lack grip, but this was not the case. This does not easily come down to a 'this product is obviously better' type of evaluation, more like finding the right fit on a new leather jacket or something.

Not so with the CD players. The 1072 was completely shown up by the A3.5. The Rotel just didn't have the sparkle, musicality, or imaging ability of the MF. I hadn't really noticed the upper-mid and treble hardness and digital glare until I heard the music without it. The Rotel is also half the price of the MF, and I still believe it to be at least as good as anything at it's pp...
The bottom line is that the MF setup just more natural sounding to me, so I bought the A3.5 pair. The A5 is excelent as well, but not worth the extra $$$ to me.

Thanks to everyone on the Rotel forum for all the insights and advice over the past year, it's been fun!