Michi by Rotel M8

MONOBLOCK AMPLIFIER

- MICHAEL FREMER

In an April 2020 press release, the McIntosh Group announced that its subsidiary brand Sumiko, which was co-founded by the late Dave Fletcher and distributes Sonus Faber and Pro-Ject among other high-performance brands, had secured distribution rights for Rotel Electronics in the US and Latin America. That press release prompted memories of a Rotel RP-3000 direct drive turntable I once owned, fitted with a Lustre GST arm. On that ’table, Rotel put a massive AC direct-drive motor—not quartz-locked—fitted with a lightweight, not-particularly-well-damped platter mounted to a rudimentary wood plinth and sold it for a very affordable price. It was an atypical Japanese product that could be heavily modified and improved, which many buyers did.

I filed away the Rotel news until recently when a press release announced the American rollout of the stylish, powerful Michi M8 monoblock amplifier. With the M8, Rotel resurrects the “upscale” Michi subbrand first introduced in the 1990s. According to Rotel, the design directive was to push the tech envelope with no budget or time restrictions.

Once I got the go-ahead from Editor Jim Austin, SumikoBdispatched a pair of what I expected to be modestly sized, modestly heavy amplifiers. As happens with online dating (not that I’ve used it, but I’ve heard stories), the amps that showed up at my door were considerably larger and heavier than expected.

The music bounced like a quarter does on a well-made bed with hospital corners.