RCD990 - the best Rotel CD player?

[Arnold van Oostrum]

In '97 Rotel made a superb CD player, the RCD990. For what I know it was limited available for a short time. So I was wondering...

How many are made? Is it really the best CD player Rotel has ever made? What was so special about this player?

Which of you guys/girls does own this player and do you still have it?
If you don't, why did you sell it?

If you could get a used one, would you buy it?

Are there any tests available?

[Azeke]

I've heard the RCD-991 is one of the best players Rotel has made, and periodically see them up for auction (around $500). I own the RCD-1070 CD player, but I would have enjoyed an A/B audio comparison against the RCD-991.

Hope this helps,

Azeke

[eelco74]

Arnold,

The 990 as far as I know had the Philips CDM-9Pro drive That was one of the best, also used in the RCD-975 and RCD-970.

However when Philips stopped producing it, the 990 was replaced by the 991. The dacs as far as I know are the same in the 990 and the 991. It just uses a differenent (cheaper) drive mechanism. Also the price was a bit lower of the unit.

I suspect only a few hundred are made, so they might be hard to find. Bit it is definately the best player ever build by Rotel.