Upgrade from Rotel 985 to Chord SPM 1900.

[mlinhares]

I currently have a Rotel RB-985MKII power amplifier + Tag AV32.
I was offered a ex-demo Chord SPM 1900 for about € 4.700.
Should I trade? Is this amp so good as they say? Has anyone tried it?
I'm very happy now with Tag + Rotel + B&W sound, but is the sound going to improve proporcionaly to the Chord price?
Thank's.
- Miguel Linhares

[Lowrider]

Can you try it in your system and let us know... :confused:

[RC]

I have only heard good things about the Chord amps (never listened to one myself), but that sure is a lot of Euros to part with. That being said, I recently listened to a TAG AV32R with a Rotel RMB-1075 amp (which I think is basically a 985 with a facelift unless I'm mistaken), and my impression was that the sound was a little 'watery', a bit washed out. No strong criticism, but in comparison to something else I put in front of my ears the Rotel didn't convey the same musicality and the instruments and vocals were more compressed.

I have no doubts that the Chord amp will sound a lot better than the Rotel amp, but the question that only you can answer is, does it justify the price difference (assuming you sell the Rotel)? I'd go and put my ears in front of the Chord. If I had had more money to spend, this amp would have been on my list of items to demo. HTH. :cool:

[Nic Rhodes]

Tag and Rotel is a good combination. Personally if you want to improve this look to Tag, Bryston or Parasound. Personally I prefer the more accurate Tag but I can see why people might like the others. Personal preferences.

Re Chord. Can't say I have been over impressed, huge technical claims that aren't altogether delivered IMHO, though there are fans here. Try them and you will see what I mean.

Look elsewhere IMHO. Better sound, less money.