• 09-25-2004, 06:52 PM
    chancm70
    rotel RA 01 for me a newbie ? need help pls
    hi
    i am thinking of getting a Rotel RA 01 intergrated amp to run a Sonus Faber concert series wall model.
    i intend to get that speakers as i can get it cheap.
    what do you think about the intergrated amp? will other brand be better for the price?
    thanks
  • 09-25-2004, 08:28 PM
    RGA
    Is there a reason you need the wall-mount model. My understanding is they don't have a lot of bass. The Rotel is very nice - probably as good as you'll find for the money.

    There is more to buying just because you get a deal. It still has to be a great speaker for you. Lot's of deal speakers out there.
  • 09-27-2004, 11:01 PM
    topspeed
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chancm70
    hi
    i am thinking of getting a Rotel RA 01 intergrated amp to run a Sonus Faber concert series wall model.
    i intend to get that speakers as i can get it cheap.
    what do you think about the intergrated amp? will other brand be better for the price?
    thanks
    The Rotel is an excellent integrated. It's natural competitors are the NAD C320bee and Cambridge Audio Azur 540a. Most every SF I've heard are pretty laid back so you'll want an integrated that doesn't exaggerate this trait. Try out as many as you can and pick whichever creates the best synergy to your ears.
  • 09-28-2004, 05:34 AM
    psonic
    I would listen to the Rotel and other models carefully. The smaller Rotel integrateds are not as great, IMO, they are kind of one demensional and lack in bass. The model you mention I think is 40wpc, I owned the prior model 931 (I think), it had 35wpc and my NAD 304 35wpc kicked it's ass in musicality and bass and soundstage. The Rotel put forth all the microdynamics and the rest seemed recessed. Point is give a good long listen to those, if the RA01 is as thin as the model I had, It's not very good...You may also want to add Creek and Arcam to your list, they are said to be some good small integrateds.

    Right now I'm driving Dynaudio 60's with a very clean 120wpc Rotel RB980BX http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....ran&1100145463 & Rotel RSP-960 (praised a few yrs ago for it's stereo sound) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW and getting far better sound than the small integrateds, you may want to look at something like this. You can find this combo for ~ 300-400 and it will kick a <$1000 new integrated right onto it's ass.