Rotel A14 MkII Integrated Amplifier Review & Comments

I assume the review was written before official pricing was released? It is priced at £1,195 not £995 (which is the old model price). I wonder if that impacts the ratings?

It seems amps are getting more and more expensive. My Rotel RA-1062 had an RRP of £750 I think back in the mid 2000s (I managed to get an ex-display one for £550 so was an absolute bargain). Other than adding some digital bits I wonder if this would even be a match? The 10 series was replaced by the 15 series so in theory this amp is the top of the entry level range whereas mine was the bottom of what was then the top range (obviously they’ve added Michi since). When I demo’ed a Naim XS2 I didn’t feel that was any better and they were going for nearly £2,000 before they were replaced with the XS3 (a few places had ex-demo available for between £1300 and £1500).

My Rotel is getting long in the tooth and a few of the inputs are broken due to me being ham fisted with removing cables but I’m struggling to know what to replace it with. Not to mention how much that will cost me. Current thinking is either a SuperNait 3 or a Michi X3 but will have to do some saving up.
 
It seems amps are getting more and more expensive
Agreed and, imho, assuming your current amp has the chops for the speakers you need it to drive, shelling out for a new one is a load of money in search of, at best, a very small change in sound.
 
The M3si would be a better comparion price wise than the M2si and I'm guessing the M3si would convincingly be the better choice if you didn't need all the inputs. That being said I do like the A14Mkii and was set on getting this amp. Now I'll think I'll reconsider the M3si since I've always liked more power than less and the MF has a few more ponies under the hood.
 
Think I'm going with the A14MkII. In the U.S. if you can't buy it on Amazon then Crutchfield is the easiest to work with and has the best service and returns. I can only get MF gear from a few places and they aren't that easy to work with so not to keen on buying a 7-year old model that could be obsolete shortly. I'm already dealing with an integrated that is no longer being made and having a hard time selling it without having to give it away for half off.
 
Many things are sneaking up in price. Not only hifi.

Perhaps a readjustment... otherwise known as the plebs being cash mauled to make up for lost profits and the increases in costs since the Covid influence.

Still a very worthy amp. It’s a Rotel, which means a mighty and robust power supply: still something that is rarer than it should be.

There’ll be few speakers with even the ugliest impedance curves that can trouble the A14.

And it looks less utilitarian in silver.

Although it may be a little past time for Rotel to rejuvenate their industrial design team.

I’d still be happy having the silver one on display.

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Think I'm going with the A14MkII. In the U.S. if you can't buy it on Amazon then Crutchfield is the easiest to work with and has the best service and returns. I can only get MF gear from a few places and they aren't that easy to work with so not to keen on buying a 7-year old model that could be obsolete shortly. I'm already dealing with an integrated that is no longer being made and having a hard time selling it without having to give it away for half off.

I’d always be happy with a Rotel amp.

They can drive anything, sound first class and last forever.
 
Ps, and as for Ed’s other reservations, as he implies, they aren’t an issue.

A chunky remote? Better than the trend to none at all and being reliant on an app.

No DSD? Does anyone actually care?

And lean bass? Excellent. All to the good. Little spoils the rhythm and grip of music like flabby bass.

Rock on Rotel 👍
 
What's not mentioned in the review that I think is very important is that the sound signature of the A14MKii is vastly different from the A14. The MKii has the sound signature of the A11 Tribute inspired by Ken Ishiwata albeit with more sophistication and power.
 
Agreed and, imho, assuming your current amp has the chops for the speakers you need it to drive, shelling out for a new one is a load of money in search of, at best, a very small change in sound.
More than enough chops for my current speakers (B&W CM1) and probably still plenty enough for any future upgrade (keep looking lustfully at B&W 805Ds that a dealer has for sale ex-display and hoping they’ll still be there next year).

TBH I do most of my listening via headphones these days anyway so as long as what I have keeps working it is more than sufficient for when I do want to blast music out.
 
Would this Rotel be an upgrade to an Arcam A28? and more importantly would it suit Dali Opticons which are 4 ohm nominal.
 
@Ed Selley you have wrong info in Specs tab. 50W per channel (All channels driven, 8?)

Worth checking if they relate to A11
 

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