Rotel RA-1592MkII Integrated Amplifier Review & Comments

wow, go Rotel!
 
Nice review @Ed Selley

For me, looks play a small part in buying decisions but it’s about performance mostly, then features. It must also work to my tastes with my gear. The Rotel undercuts some of the mainstream competition from Hegel, Naim etc, and is about the same as the Exposure 3510 integrated, albeit with analogue inputs only.
 
At this price I would think most vinyl fans, myself included, would be looking at a stand alone phono stage anyway.
 
At this price I would think most vinyl fans, myself included, would be looking at a stand alone phono stage anyway.
All I know about vinyl is it goes around on circles and gives music when you put the needle on the record, but I'd have thought at this level the phono stage would or should be better than excellent.

Would you buy an amp at this price and consider that a phono stage is also something of a requirement, separately? Just curious
 
All I know about vinyl is it goes around on circles and gives music when you put the needle on the record, but I'd have thought at this level the phono stage would or should be better than excellent.

Would you buy an amp at this price and consider that a phono stage is also something of a requirement, separately? Just curious
One can see it from both views. At this price I would hope if it had a phono stage it was of commensurate quality to match the rest of the amp, in this case appears not. Often in even more expensive amps the phono stage is maybe good but not outstanding. Spending a few hundred more can move one onto a different level thereby getting full benefit from the amp.
 
I have the RA1572MK2 amplifier. Amazing pice of kit. Drive, prath. You name it. It has it in spades.

What strikes is the way it conveys instruments, vocals. It’s never harsh. Plenty of bass also.

Power wise. It says it can deliver 120 watts in 8 ohm, then 200 watts in maximum 4 ohm.

So not RMS in 4 ohms. However it’s measured to have 143 watts in 8 ohm (RMS), then 220 ohm (maximum 4 ohm). 300 damping factor also.

This means the amplifier has totally control over the speakers. I’d wish I went for the RA1592MK2 instead, but I am over the moon with this amplifier.

Look wise, yes. But it has charm to it.
 
I wouldn’t generally expect any amp to have a great phono stage at its price point and would always look elsewhere.
I have the RA 1592 (the mark 1 version). I'm surprised to read the dismissive comment on the phono stage in the review, especially without any explanation as to what its shortcomings might be. I'm using an AT OC9XSH cart on a Technics SL1200G, feeding Harbeth M30 speakers. I also have a Lehmann SE II phono stage and to my (cloth?) ears, the onboard phono stage is entirely indistinguishable from the Lehmann. I would never be able to tell them apart in a blind test, which is the way it should be for an accurate phono stage.

By the way, the only reason I have the Lehmann is because I also use a Sweet Vinyl Sugarcube, which requires an offboard phono stage or a tape loop. It's a shame that Rotel did not include the latter.

One other slight annoyance with this amp is the small size of the display. From across the room, I cannot read anything on it. A pity they didn't upgrade it on this mark 2 version.

A major plus, which I don't even think is mentioned in this review (amazing, really), is that this amp has tone controls. My setup benefits from a little lift in the high frequencies, with my ageing ears, so that's a really welcome inclusion. Even better, like the balance control, you can make adjustments via the remote.

Also a shame that there is no bench test with measurements in this review (is that always the case here?). I know from other reviews of this and my older model, the amp is much more powerful than specified, being capable of more than 300W dynamic power at <1%THD into 8 ohms. So this is an excellent amp for inefficient speakers.
 
Hello,

I've recently got a Rotel 1592MKII and as stunning as it sounds I've been plagued by loud relay clicks. A quick Google found someone had this while using the on board DAC while content changed bit rate, I also had this. Unfortunately, I also found the loud relay clicks while listening via an Analogue input (hopefully removing the DAC out of the picture) nope, still present.

Anyone else experience similar? Its back in the box getting ready to go back to the supplier.
 
Hello,

I've recently got a Rotel 1592MKII and as stunning as it sounds I've been plagued by loud relay clicks. A quick Google found someone had this while using the on board DAC while content changed bit rate, I also had this. Unfortunately, I also found the loud relay clicks while listening via an Analogue input (hopefully removing the DAC out of the picture) nope, still present.

Anyone else experience similar? Its back in the box getting ready to go back to the supplier.
Do you still hear clicks when the sampling rate changes? From 44 kHz to 192 kHz. As an example.
 
When using the onboard DAC? Which music app do you use?
 
Hello,

So the clicks have stopped, when it was happening it was happening both on the on board DAC and the node via the Analogue input.

I believe the issue was with the Streamer rather than the amp. A restart sorted it. Massively poor timing as the streamer went through a moment at exactly the same time I switched out the Amp.

As the Amp was doing the relay clicks I'd assumed it had a problem.

Doh!
 
I see. But if you stream music trough the Bluos app/radio paradise app do you then hear an audible click from the amplifier it self if you change the music from cd quality to mqa files?

Mine does, always had. But I never use Radio Paradise. And it only happens then. So just curious since you have Node2i also. The shop told me this amplifiers could be sensitive with certain streamers.

I find this odd, since many don’t have any issues. Completing on getting the new Node streamer.
 
Has anyone compared this amplifier to the new NAD C399?
I had been wondering the same thing but went with the Rotel because of the additional power and the Class AB design. Two days of listening and I think I made the right choice!
 
I had been wondering the same thing but went with the Rotel because of the additional power and the Class AB design. Two days of listening and I think I made the right choice!
I used to have the older RA 1592 and didn't like how warm it got during use.
Class D runs very cool and is probably a lot cheaper to run also.
HDMI eARC is a big deal for me i wish more amplifiers had this option i hate using optical leads.
On paper the NAD C399 looks very interesting with the new Hypex nCore modules
I hope i can get a chance to listen to one soon as they seem to be currently out of stock everywhere.
 
I don’t want to bash Rotel, but RA1572MK2 has started to behave oddly. The sound cuts, then an audible click.

Using the onboard DAC. Happens trough coax. Real shame because the sound is excellent😞I’m done with Rotel.

Because this is my second RA1572MK2 amplifier. First one had display problems and transformer hum. Also the first one made an audible click trough Bluetooth. When new song started.

Back to made in Japan amplifiers. Sorry for editing my post.
 
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I don’t want to bash Rotel, but RA1572MK2 has started to behave oddly. The sound cuts, then an audible click.

Using the onboard DAC. Happens trough coax. Real shame because the sound is excellent😞I’m done with Rotel.

Because this is my second RA1572MK2 amplifier. First one had display problems and transformer hum. Also the first one made an audible click trough Bluetooth. When new song started.

Back to made in Japan amplifiers. Sorry for editing my post.
Thats disappointing to hear,
I owed an older RA-1592 for about 1 year that developed a fault shortly after i sold it.
Luckily it was still under warranty and I was able to help the new owner fix the problem.
My Rotel also used to behave strangely,
The volume would drop down to 0 without me even touching the remote i used to really worry about it going in the opposite direction when i wasn't in the room!
Seems like Rotel dont make very reliable amplifiers....
 
Thats disappointing to hear,
I owed an older RA-1592 for about 1 year that developed a fault shortly after i sold it.
Luckily it was still under warranty and I was able to help the new owner fix the problem.
My Rotel also used to behave strangely,
The volume would drop down to 0 without me even touching the remote i used to really worry about it going in the opposite direction when i wasn't in the room!
Seems like Rotel dont make very reliable amplifiers....
Is it brand new? Do you notice the Bluetooth behaves strangle? What model? Mine suddenly cuts the sound. I also notice the volume control suddenly can go from 15 to 13.

And it has audible clicking noise if the sampling rate changes. Do you notice this? I tolerated it before I noticed audible clicking noise trough coax! When the Bluetooth function begun to mess up also.I got annoyed with Rotel quirks.
 
Online many have issues with clicking noises. Never going to buy Rotel again. I wouldn’t be surprised the Michi series also messes up.

I was over the moon with this amplifier. Cracking sound. Build quality compared to Marantz, Denon, Yamaha is good, but not good enough.

I also noticed over time the Rotel amp got more noisy. Loud thump when I switch it on. Also the relay switches are noisy as hell compared to Marantz.
 
Is it brand new? Do you notice the Bluetooth behaves strangle? What model? Mine suddenly cuts the sound. I also notice the volume control suddenly can go from 15 to 13.

And it has audible clicking noise if the sampling rate changes. Do you notice this? I tolerated it before I noticed audible clicking noise trough coax! When the Bluetooth function begun to mess up also.I got annoyed with Rotel quirks.
I bought my Rotel from new,
seems like the new ones aren't much better .
I also had problems with a NAD c388 and was hoping that they managed to improve the reliability on the new NAD C399.
 
Hi all! Bought new RA-1592MKII back in July and using it at least an hour a day since.
I have never heard a single click or some other disturbance, so hopefully they fixed it. Mostly listen to the music by streaming via Bluesound Node. Also been trying Denon Heos Link.
Tried both RCA and optical interconnects.
 
Hi all! Bought new RA-1592MKII back in July and using it at least an hour a day since.
I have never heard a single click or some other disturbance, so hopefully they fixed it. Mostly listen to the music by streaming via Bluesound Node. Also been trying Denon Heos Link.
Tried both RCA and optical interconnects.
Apparently new firmware fixed it. It’s on my radar. Great amp.
 

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