RCD-1072 vs NAD C542 CD players

[whmacs]

Hi Guys,
I'm looking to replace my yamaha 396 CD player connected to my RSP-1098 / RMB-1075 / RB-1070 with either a RCD-1072 or NAD C542. This week I brought home a C542 and connnected it via the analogue inputs. The sound left the Yamaha for dead. It was smooth, warm, and very musical with notes seeming to 'hang' in the air. The only thing I would of liked was a touch more detail, I guess this is a trade off with a warm sound. I'm trying to find an RCD-1072 that I can take home and demo without much luck so fair. Has anyone done a comparison between the NAD and Rotel players? How does the RCD-1072 compare in smoothness, warmth and detail to the NAD? Any thoughts would be geatly appreciated.

cheers,
Stephen

[aud19]

I could be mistaken but I believe your fellow Aussie, Aussie Geoff compared the Nad and Rotel players before buying... If it helps Nad gear tends to be warmer and Rotel tends to be more neutral and detailed...

Jason

[Bam!]

I could be mistaken but I believe your fellow Aussie, Aussie Geoff compared the Nad and Rotel players before buying... If it helps Nad gear tends to be warmer and Rotel tends to be more neutral and detailed...

Jason

:agree:

[whmacs]

Hi jason,
Yes, Aussie Geoff and myself have been speaking at length through PM about the two players. I thought that I'd throw it open to the group to see if anyone had any different take on the subject to what Geoff and myself have already discussed. As you also say, its seems to be warmness vs detail that separates these two players. I'm yet to hear the RCD-1072 as no local dealer has one, but I do have to go to Sydney this weekend so hopefully I can track one down there.

cheers,
Stephen

[will1066]

Please include Arcam in your auditions. CD players are their bread and butter. (Don't stone me now, people.) :

[Dmantis]

Without the 2 players side by side,you can't make a winner.

I will say this,I have heard both players and the Rotel 1070 and 1072 are amazing for the money.I have heard them on different systems with the same results.I was Impressed.Actually I plan on buying one myself.

The NAD was on NAD gear which already I don't care for the sound quality.So the player didn't he a fair chance for me to tell if it was a good or not so good sounding player.

Also....you can't go wrong with the Rotel.

Happy shopping and I hope you can do a vs battle on the same gear.

Dan

[Aussie Geoff]

Will,

Please include Arcam in your auditions. CD players are their bread and butter. (Don't stone me now, people.)

Good idea. They are great CD players. I did the comparison before buying(borrowed the dealers RCD-1072 and took it to a dealer with Arcams). Liked the sound. Found the CD93T excellent and equal or better than the RCD-1072, the CD82T - good but different and not as clear / transparent, and the CD73T not as good.

Bottom line for me was that in $AU there was no choice:
> Rotel RCD-1072 - $899
> Arcam CD73T - $1,298
> Arcam CD82T - $2,098
> Arcam CD93T - $2,998

Differences in currencies (Japan vs UK) and importers buying policies make the Arcams just unaffordable for Aussies in comparison to the USA or UK....

Geoff

[whmacs]

Hi,
Yes, the Arcam's are nice players, but as Geoff points out, just too expensive when compared against the NAD or Rotel. On a positive note, the RCD-1072 use to cost around $1200 earlier this year, but with the improving aussie dollar the cost is now $899. This compares much better with the NAD's $699 price.

cheers,
Stephen

[hamlyn]

The Abso!ute Sound gave the Rotel RCD-1072 a "Best Product of 2003" award among CD players.

[RisingPhoenix]

On my mostly Rotel setup, i back to backed the two cd players and the NAD came up with the goods for me, but that was my personal choice, the quality you describe of transparency and the notes "hanging in the air" wasnt there for me with the Rotel player, this may be the Warmth of the NAD player shining through, but my preference was the 542 and believe me, a NAD spinner in a rack full of Rotel does look out of place.... Note i also picked Rotel Amps (1080 and 1095) over the 7 Channel NAD Offering when i was listening and trying to make my decisions..

Food for Thought, hope i have helped..

[Bill Blank]

I'm looking at the possibility of replacing my Rega Planet 2000 with either the Rotel RCD-1072 or Arcam DiVA CD73.

I've owned two NAD CD players in the past and both had quality control issues. It seems their disc player were (are?) notorious for that. They were a C520 and a C521. Perhaps they've improved but they lost my confidence. I replaced them with a Cambridge Audio CD player in that system and it's performed flawlessly for over two years and mates well with the NAD integrated and B&W speakers.

I'm having trouble finding an Arcam dealer within 100 miles that has the CD73 in stock. I haven't made the trip to ask my Rotel dealer for a loaner yet.

Let us know how you make out.

Bill

[whmacs]

Hi Guys,
Well to bring closure to this, I found a dealer that had a RCD-1070 connected through a RC-1070 / RB-1080 and I had a really good listen to that. Once again, as many people have pointed out it, came down to a detail vs warmth decision. As much as I love my Rotel gear I ended up going with the NAD for two reasons; the first, I couldn't get the Rotel player to make notes 'hang' in the air and decay away like the NAD could (I really like this effect). RisingPhoenix in the previous post does a great job of describing how Rotel amplification and the NAD C542 work together so well. The warmth of the NAD + the detail of my Rotel gear really seems to do it for me at least. Secondly, I came across a second hand C542 which on price I couldn't let go by. On the quality issue, the general consensus is the NAD has sorted out their QA issues on the C54x range of players. Thanks for all the assistance guys. That said, the NAD sure looks ugly next to the rest of my Rotel gear...

cheers,
Stephen

[whmacs]

Hi All,
Well, after saying everything was said and done with the purchased of the NAD 542 (which I'm very happy with and still have it connected to my RSP-1098 ) I went into my local dealer (this is really starting to sound like a drug habit!) to buy a cable. As soon as I walked in the door one of the sales guys, John yells out across the store saying "Hey Stephen, a new Rotel RCD-1072 has just arrived and you have got to have a listen!" Up until now they only had a RCD-1070 that I compared against the NAD. Well to cut a long story short, 15 minutes later I was handing over my mastercard and wondering how I was going to explain this purchase to my wife...

The RCD-1072 is now sitting on my desk at work connected to my Perreaux headphone amp and Sennheiser HD-650 headphones. The detail level and clarity in this player is outstanding! Through the headphones you can close your eyes and be sitting in the front row of the concert. The NAD has maybe a touch more bass and warmth, while the RCD-1072 is very smooth, detailed without being bright, and just as musical as the NAD. It is a great match for a good pair of headphones as you can pick up details that would be sometimes missed on speakers. So in conclusion, if you like detail, have a listen to the RCD-1072, for warmth go for the NAD. Either way both players are very musical and you can't go wrong with either.

cheers,
Stephen

[Aussie Geoff]

Stephen,

Welcome back to the dark side....

Like me (and most reviewers) you found the RCD-1072 a significant step up from the 1070.

Now I just know that that NAD 542 (nice as it is) looks so out of place in your HT set-up next to all that Rotel equipment...

How long can you resist the urge to swap the RCD-1072 into your rack and put that NAD into Office Duties....

PS - re telling your wife there is always the strategy of "you got it for her because you know how the mismatch in appearance annoyed her" linked to "it didn't really cost more becuase I had to replace the one at the office"

Geoff