I bought it brand new for around $60 from K&L Sound in Watertown, Massachusetts, with money saved from my after-school job building shelves, sweeping floors, and punching holes in sheet metal panels that would become the very first ARP synthesizers. (The late Alan R. Pearlman was my next door neighbor and a lovely, kind, brilliant guy.)
With a pair of old Electrovoice speakers inherited from my employer and a Garrard turntable harvested from an abandoned console, that little Rotel served me through college and beyond. It was compact, simple, and unadorned, with screw-terminal speaker outputs and, if I remember right, four inputs, including both “Mag” and “Xtal” phono jacks—so much tech! I wish I could remember what became of it, but I like to think that somewhere it's still playing music.
Back then, Rotel was an all but unknown, mostly O.E.M. Japanese audio electronics manufacturer, relegated to the lower shelves beneath the flashier Kenwood and Sansui models. Fast-forward a few decades—okay, more than a few—to the Rotel of today, a globally established serious-audio brand, audiophile-approved for its performance-first corporate philosophy and resistance to the regular model-year changes and features-driven marketing that are as prevalent today in audio as in many other consumer products.
This story is from the October - November 2021 edition of Sound & Vision.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October - November 2021 edition of Sound & Vision.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Pinnacle Picture Performance
IT IS a small miracle that you can buy a TV as good as the 77-inch Samsung S90C Quantum Dot OLED for $2500.
AV Masterpiece
THE AV PROCESSOR is the less well-known sibling of the AV receiver. The main difference being that processors don't have built-in amplification.
Sit and Listen Streaming
FOR ANYONE who has been waiting for streaming music to be a high-quality sit-and-listen experience, the SVS Prime Wireless Pro SoundBase streaming integrated amp fits the bill.
Worth the Splurge?
AS A RULE I'm not particularly susceptible to the \"audio-jewelry\" school of component design; I'm a value/performance guy.
Focus on Gaming
OPTOMA BOASTS of being both the top 4K UHD projector brand globally and the number one Digital Light Processing (DLP) brand in the United States for 2022, citing the PMA Research Worldwide Projector Census, making the company no stranger to the world of projected light.
Sonic Surprise
OVER THE YEARS I've reviewed hundreds of audio and video products covering all the usual bases. But not up to now a soundbar.
Deep Concentration
IN THE realm of high-fidelity audio, the Bowers & Wilkins DB3D subwoofer offers a fusion of compact design and powerful performance.
When Less is More
MY EXPERIENCE with Bowers & Wilkins dates back over thirty years to my high school days, when I first admired the 801 Matrix in Stereophile magazine.
SHARP, BRIGHT, & BUDGET-FRIENDLY
IN JUST a few short years the home projector landscape has undergone a radical revolution in terms of price and selection.
They are Coming.I Can't Hold Them Back Any Longer.
This is my last communication. Outer walls breached. Door is splintering. Hinges giving way. Out of ammo. Just one grenade left. I'll take as many as I can with me. God have mercy on my soul.