Quote Originally Posted by texlle View Post
Well, I'm not saying the Rotel is edgy. In fact it's softer than most Japanese brands, but they are known for having a thin upper mid-lower treble range- a characteristic that is noticeable with my RSX-1055, but not terrible since the B&W's already have a bloomy midrange. Not to mention, they are just adequate at low level listening- which is a no-go for me.
lol! That may be the experience with your RSX-1055 AVR but I can assure you that's not the experience with either of my Rotel amps. If anything I can say negative is that after listening to some Mark Levinton amps, I was looking around for something with the brute force and controlled grip of that $7000 amp, and did some research on the Stratos amp which I believe would have better force and control . Listen, If the Rotel was as bad as you have read, and my experience with them was as you say, I would have dumped them long ago. I also have a Adcom amp that is a little more detailed than the Rotel, but both are very good at their respective price points. You really cant believe everything you hear or read about a product....one very good reason is that synergy is a very important part in audio. No one piece of gear is 100% perfect.

The Jolida makes fantastically musical background- say under 40dB. I'm just concerned as to how much the tube pre will compensate for the power amp's inherent drawbacks (recessed mids, low level detail/dynamics) if I were to go this route . I would be moving from a very sweet, balanced setup. Trading sweetness and presence for authoritative punch. After all, I still really like the Jolida, but want to find a good balance of authority and presence. And until I find the right combination of separates, I'll take a more polite, lifelike sound over a more exciting- yet withdrawn musicality.
There are plenty of amps and tubed preamps out there man! You have Cambridge as well in one of your systems...what don't you like about them? They have a very well respected powerful amp on the market... ever give that a consideration? If you have doubts about what Rotel or any other gear will do then kindly move on. There are certainly ways of bringing out the negatives in gear with system matching... audiophiles build great systems that way....dark nature amp, pair with a bright preamp and cabling. Speakers to bright, tone it down with darker sounding gear. It does work. There is only one way to find out how a piece of gear will work really. And that is to plug it into your system and test the synergy with your gear. You can get Rotel amps or whatever at used prices and if you don't find it to your liking sell on audiogon or some other outlet. You can also buy new...most audio stores have a return policy that must be followed like Audio Advisor, they allow you to return up to 30 days which is enough time to tell if it works in your system. But once again, your ears are the best way of seeing if something works or not despite what
others say. I trust others but it still comes down to my judgment.
I have not found what you say about your Rotel AVR to be true of Rotel amps.

The Audience line is one of the easier speakers to drive. Though the sentivities are relately the same across the dynaudio board (typically 85-87),
There are a few of the Dynaudio lines that move into the 89-92db range.

the 42's are a remarkably easier drive than say Contour 1.1's.
Really? why do you say that?

I read that, by virtue of whatever highly technical design feature that escapes my recollection, the Audiences are more compatible with tube amplifiers than their new Excite series. I must say, I'd really rather not go to another speaker. Unless I can find a speaker with similar neutral tonal balance and natural presentation, smooth detail, I'd rather not move to just any speaker with a higher sensitivity to avoid losing that sense of body and fullness that you get with less sensitive speakers.
I can certainly understand your passion for Dyns....just a suggestion that's all. Lots of wonderful speakers out there that will serve your purpose. But if you do decide to keep the Audience at 86db's you will need a powerful amp...lots of juice. Just a question...which did you have first, the Dyns or the Jolida and how did you come to settle on that combination?

use MIT Terminator 4 speaker cables in both systems, and a hodgepodge of interconnects. MIT AVT1s, Wireworld Oasis, Cardas Crosslink.

The 4's, I find, are very creamy in the mids, extremely detailed mids and highs, with some of the most expansive soundstaging I've heard for budget cables, great imaging. The bass tends toward fat, but is still well controlled and quick with the Dyns. Not displeasing though.
Cool

Question- anyone have any experience with Aragon amps? I keep finding 2004 and 4004 models for under $400 and $600 locally.
Well I've seen over at Audioasylum that there is a company that takes in old ones and updates all the components inside them and resales them. Also just like all gear, some love them, others hate them....let your ears be your guide. Im sure if you went over to Audioasylum and asked about them, you would get about a dozen good responses.