Rotel RB 985

I was in the market for a decent 5 channel main amp that would also do well on playing stereo music (my main application). Since I have neither the inclination nor the room to deploy separate systems for stereo music and 5.1 movie sound reproduction, and at the same time I did not want to sacrifice any of the enjoyment that I got from my stereo NAD Monitor Series 2600 main amp, I decided to give the Rotel a go, as it was offered NIB for a very good price.

The Rotel is... well, different. Not worse than the NAD, not better, just "different". The differences are that the Rotel is a bit "cleaner" and even more analytic than the NAD. Midrange is very sweet, to the point where you think you can actually feel the instruments, but the NAD appears to be more capable to let you hear the space in between the instruments. The soundstage of the NAD is a bit wider in stereo music listening, but the Rotel counters that by having a somewhat more pleasing copper gloss, and a somewhat more consistent imaging.

The NAD seems to have a bit more headroom, and can be driven at slightly higher levels before it starts sounding a bit harsh, but then again to make the RB985 sound harsh in our listening environment, I have to drive it at unrealistically high levels (as in "you're not just scaring the neighbours, but also yourself").

Please note the use of the words "somewhat" and "a bit" in the text above. The differences are subtle. It is audible that the Rotel is a more recent design (it is VERY fast), but it is also audible that the older NAD has a power supply that is slightly better up to the job. But both amps will provide you with a good deal of stereo music listening enjoyment. You'll be hard pressed to find substantially better stereo performance at this price point. If you are only looking for stereo music reproduction, you will probably succeed, but if you also want to play multichannel, finding something that performs better at stereo music is going to be a serious challenge.

So... how does the Rotel RB985 perform on surround movies?

The answer is simple: staggeringly well. This amp, when hooked up to a decent 5.1 preamp and a decent set of speakers, will blow any receiver (and any commercial theater) out of the water. You will need to spend VERY serious money to do better than this.

My setup:

Yamaha DSP-492 surround preamp

Sony DVP-700 DVD/SACD player

NAD Monitor Series 5000 CD player

Infinity Alpha 50 front speakers

Wharfedale Diamond rear speakers

REL Strata II subwoofer, fed off the speaker terminals, and configured to cut off at 32 Hz.