Rotel RCD 1072 - Anyone tried it yet?

[Aussie Geoff]

Hi,

Have any members of Club Rotel tried the RCD 1072. If it's better than the 1070 it will be very good. On the otherhand the one review I could find (Hi Fi Choice - http://www.hifichoice.co.uk/review_read.asp?ID=2751) was not so good with 3 stars compared to the 5 stars they gave the 1070. But I don't put faith in a single review.

What do people think? And what have they compared it to?

Regards

Geoff Costello

[mutley]

hi,

i have one.

It's better than the 1070, so i bought it.

compared with the 1070 and my Pioneer 757.

don't expect it to be much different than the 1070. It's almost the same machine.




Fear causes hesitation and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true!

[eelco74]

hi,

I have read the review as well. It seems that Rotel has stuck with a certain type of DAC, to keep HDCD compatibility. So it perhaps a little bit better than the old one.
But competition has moved on, so compared to rivals like NAD and Arcam. So the 1072 is no longer as good as the 1070 was in comparison.

That was the reason why it did not receive the 5 star rating. Don't remeber if it was the What Hifi review I read it in or Stereo or What Hifi.

Anyway it is still a nice player, to complement your Rotel gear.

[jrd]

I've had mine for about 3 months now; it's the first Rotel piece I've owned. I should say at the outset that I'm just a beginner, and the rest of my equipment is not great. B&W 601S3 on Atacama Nexus stands with Tributaries biwire, Sony DA1ES receiver, and Sony NS715P DVD player, connected to the receiver via 1M digital optical in. I hooked up the Rotel via 1M Audioquest Coral interconnects, prepared for a complete revelation, and heard almost no difference. After letting it play on repeat for a few days, I worked through a decent portion of my CD collection. The sound was definitely smoother, warmer, and less electronic, and I can notice a definite improvement in bass response, but I don't know how much difference might be because of the digital optical cable. Perhaps the most telling thing I can say is while I enjoy the player, I still wonder if the small difference I hear is worth the $550 difference between the cheap Sony and the Rotel.

[Joe M]

Aussie Goeff,

I own the 1072 and think it's a great player. I previously owned a Marantz400OSE Changer, and the Rotel is a definite improvement. I directly compared the 1072 to an Arcam 72T (which has since been replaced by the 73T, which has gotten rave reviews) and thought the Rotel sounded better in my system. To my ears the Arcam was a bit bright sounding. While Hi-Fi Choice only gave it 3 out of 5 stars, The Absolute Sound has a different opinion. Here's an excerpt from there lastest issue:

Rotel's new $699 dedicated CD player may at first seem an anachronism in an era when multi-purpose DVD/CD players are becoming the norm, but just wait until you hear it. Reviewer Alan Taffel reports that the RCD-1072 "has the lowest noise level of CD player I've heard at any price," adding that "the Rotel's low noise level bestows equal benefits on tonality and transient response." In short, Rotel's new gem is not only a great CD player for the money; it's a great player, period (and it is also the winner of TAS' coveted 2003 Overall Product of the Year Award).

[Aussie Geoff]

Thanks,

Here's a link to the review http://www.theabsolutesound.com/news...l_rcd1072.html

I'm trying one at home this weekend

Geoff Costello

[mutley]

that cd player (from the review) is different from 1072, the screen is on the right....




Fear causes hesitation and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true!

[Aussie Geoff]

Mutley,

Good pick-up. The Absolute Sound have "cheated" and taken a picture of the older RCD 1070 off the Rotel Web site (this was all that was their until very recently ....

Geoff Costello

[Aussie Geoff]

Hi,

Just thought I would "close the loop" with the outcome of my RCD-1072 explorations.

I took one home for a weekend to try and it never went back...

It was good "out of the box" but it took a couple of hours to “settle in” and then suddenly became amazingly better.

A/B comparisons with my existing CD player (A older Sony ES series) just blew it away. Detail, clarity, soundstage, everything. The existing player (which sounded good on its own) became, in comparison bloated and overly rich. My Stereo soundstage has height now....

Incredibly that applies to the digital signal run into the 1098 Pre-Pro. I guess ones and zeros aren’t just ones and zeros....

I am still working on the analogue comparison but don’t have 2 good enough cables to make it fair. Analogue sounds way better on the new CD player though than the old with (as you would expect) the difference being even more marked.

For people's interest I also did a comparison (same CD, amp and speakers) in another hi-fi shop with:

• NAD 652 - which was very good - but the Rotel was better with a cleaner more revealing sound.
• Arcam 72T - Which was getting close to the 1072 but still not there (at 40% more in $aussie)

Geoff Costello

[steveB]

Geoff

What did you end up paying for the RCD1072?
I am interested in either RCD 1070/1072 or the ARCAM. I have seen
that the ARCAM CD73 is $200 less than the CD72 that it replaces
I suspect its got yo do with our strengthening $

ps I was quoted $950AUD for the RCD 1070

Cheers

SteveB

[Aussie Geoff]

Steve,

Your price of $AUD 950 is a good one - the RCD-1072 retails for $AUD 1199 so thats $249 off, you are starting to get close to dealer cost.

You should do the comparison with the Arcam 73. I liked the Rotel - but the sound was quite different between the two. I guess the RCD-1072 is the best CD player Rotel knows how to make right now. Whereas the Arcam 73 is a mid range player with the Arcam CD82 and CD92 as well as the Arcam FMJ Cd33 all above it. For me the FMJ CD33 is clearly better than the Rotel, the Arcam CD92 its equal or perhaps marginally better.... But sound is very personal.

If you do the comparison (which I recommend) Make sure the RCD-1072 has been run-in for at least an hour since new - it is much better after this...

Geoff Costello

[mazuly]

Hi Geoff,

That is almost the same experience I had when I compared RCD-1072 to my RDV-1080 at home. 1072 was a lot better. Also I experienced the same phenomenon with respect to using the digital connection to 1098. I have told this to my electrical engineering friends in which they just laughed at me saying I am imagining things and bits are bits. Apparently it is not (I just can’t make my friends agree no matter how hard I tried ) and it has to do with the amount of jitter fed by other players to 1098 and since 1098 does not re-clock the signal, the signal with lower jitter sounds better. You can read John Dawson's reply on this thread for more information.

Got a question for you though, you mentioned that you listened to Arcam CD72 and found it good but different. What was the difference in sound characteristics and why you choose 1072 over Arcam. Was Arcam not as good in highs, lows and/or soundstage? Was Arcam too bright, or too laid back? I am just curious since I am going to buy a CD player sometime soon, and am interested in Rotel as well as Arcam. I just can’t listen to CDs with my DVD player after I heard the RCD-1072. That is one nice player you bought.

Thanks for you help,
Maziar

[steveB]

I never go RRP pricing of audio products in Australia.
I got my RB 1080 for $1600 when the rrp was $1999 ,
My B&W stuff I got 25% off rrp , ...it just depends on the dealer.

Thanks I will lookinto the ARCAM as well , I like the fact that the DAC's are upgradeable

Cheers

SteveB

[Aussie Geoff]

Mazuly,

Re your question on the Arcam 72. Sound is a very personal thing and the Arcam 72 is a good player. However for me (from memory) the Arcam 72 was less clear than the Rotel 1072 with not as much "silence" between different sounds. Also it was less revealing of fine detail such as minor inflections and voice changes in vocals (which the 1072 is astonishlngly good at). The 72 made things sound very nice and almost "golden" and I would have been happy to own it, but (for me) was less analytical. The 92 (which is $3000 Aussie) "did it for me" - still different in sound - but very good and (from a very quick listen) the equal of of the 1072 but with different tonal characteristics.

Hope this helps. But you should listen to them both on the same amp and speakers etc. (do what I did - borrow one to take home and "drop in" at another dealers on the way!)

Geoff Costello

[mazuly]

Thanks for your input. I actually had an in-home audition of the 1072 and I am sure I will do the same with the Arcam. Hopefully I can do that with both players at the same time.

Thanks again,
Maziar

[Blue-Eyes]

No doubt music is personal

I own the flagship cd player of Rotel: rcd991ae. These player is much better then the 1070 or 1072. In a compare with some Arcam's my 991 lose the battle........ It was the cd92. Nice player!

I don't get the reaction of someone that the cd92 was maybe a slight better than the 1072. How could it, the 991 was a bit worse than the cd92!

I think music is a personal taste! It better is




------------------------------------------------------
Never drive faster than your Angel can fly!

[sprout]

Do you know how the 991AE would compare to the Arcam 170.3 transport and Black Box5?

Thanks

sprout

No doubt music is personal

I own the flagship cd player of Rotel: rcd991ae. These player is much better then the 1070 or 1072. In a compare with some Arcam's my 991 lose the battle........ It was the cd92. Nice player!

I don't get the reaction of someone that the cd92 was maybe a slight better than the 1072. How could it, the 991 was a bit worse than the cd92!

I think music is a personal taste! It better is




------------------------------------------------------
Never drive faster than your Angel can fly!

[PewterTA]

I've had mine for about 3 months now; it's the first Rotel piece I've owned. I should say at the outset that I'm just a beginner, and the rest of my equipment is not great. B&W 601S3 on Atacama Nexus stands with Tributaries biwire, Sony DA1ES receiver, and Sony NS715P DVD player, connected to the receiver via 1M digital optical in. I hooked up the Rotel via 1M Audioquest Coral interconnects, prepared for a complete revelation, and heard almost no difference. After letting it play on repeat for a few days, I worked through a decent portion of my CD collection. The sound was definitely smoother, warmer, and less electronic, and I can notice a definite improvement in bass response, but I don't know how much difference might be because of the digital optical cable. Perhaps the most telling thing I can say is while I enjoy the player, I still wonder if the small difference I hear is worth the $550 difference between the cheap Sony and the Rotel.

JRD, are you saying you hooked up the Rotel to your receiver through the Optical output... If you did.... that's your problem!!!!

You need to hook up the analog output and then set your receiver to some type of "bypass" mode where it doesn't change the signal, just sends it to the amp portion of your receiver...

If you are using the optical the problem as to why you are hearing no difference is you aren't using the DACs in the 1072, but are STILL using the DACs in your Sony receiver. Big no no... Get some analog cables and hook the Rotel up that way... guaranteed you'll notice a huge difference then! ;x(

I'm a real big fan of Rotel and really did like the 1072, but couldn't afford the price tag on it, I found the Cambridge Audio Azur 640c for less and went with that as it sounded identical to the Rotel. Might want to check that out if you can't put the money out for the RCD-1072.

[jrd]

PewterTA,

No, I have the 1072 hooked up (analog out) with a couple fairly decent AudioQuest interconnects. It's my DVD player that's connected via the optical link. Upon reading my old post, I feel really bad about maybe swaying some folks and not giving the player its due--it really smoothed out and the sound improved significantly after about 100 hours. Not sure if it was the player or my ears breaking in, but I wouldn't trade it away for anything. I haven't had any opportunity to compare it to much else except some average quality units. BTW, I'm from the 'burgh too... Could really go for a sandwich from Primanti Bros about now...