New Rotel CI poweramps....

[Mikael]

Hi Patrick and everyone else
can you tell me what kind of amps the new CI ampd Rotel showed at ISE Amsterdam. They looked great in the new square front?

Best Mikael

[Mikael]

Patrick
could you tell us something please

[Patrick Butler]

Hello Mikael,

What you saw were the new RKB distribution amplifiers.
RKB-850
RKB-D850
RKB-8100
RKB-D8100

All are 8 channels and come in two different power configurations- 50 watts or 100 watts per channel. Hypex based modules are used in all models. There are also two different input configurations. The standard versions (RKB-850, RKB-8100) have conventional analog inputs, while the "D" version adds a Toslink input per channel. The D version is a great way to take advantage of music streaming devices while enjoying the superior sound and decoding (PCM only) of a Rotel amplifier. Products start shipping in mid-March in North America.

Best,

Patrick

Patrick
could you tell us something please

[Mikael]

Hi
is it the n-core moduls from hypex?
And does it mean a totel change from icepower to hypex in the 1500 series.

And more importently have do they sound compared to the icepower amps?

best Mikael

[Patrick Butler]

Hi Mikael,

I believe the amp is based on Hypex's UCD180lp module. While I have not directly compared the RKB-D8100 to any of Rotel's Icepower based amplifiers (since they are for very different applications) I was immediately impressed by what I heard in the RKB-D8100. My personal feeling listening to many Icepower amplifiers in the past is that they are great below 300Hz, but become increasingly noisy as frequency increases. This is leads to a mechanical and grainy sound that many people have commented on. Keep in mind that there are many generations of Icepower amplifiers, and they have gotten much better in fidelity over the years. In other words, take these generalizations as just that- generalizations.

Best,

Patrick

Hi
is it the n-core moduls from hypex?
And does it mean a totel change from icepower to hypex in the 1500 series.

And more importently have do they sound compared to the icepower amps?

best Mikael