Rotel vs Yamaha

rockmeister

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The short story. I'm down to this choice for a matching, black, SACD player and integrated amp. Budget somewhere between 2 and 4 G's at a guess;
might add a tad more.
Lost by the wayside: Exposure (no SACD), Naim (I don't like Naim at this price point);
Rega (not at sure the Rega into Tannoy sound will be neutral and organic enough); Marantz (gave up over all the KI tuning is the best blah blah stuff); and sadly Luxman, my amp heaven.....? Price.
So
I'd much appreciate the Wam's wisdom before heading miles for auditions.
What's the relative tonality? Where would your hard earned go? And, what works into vintage tannoys?
Ta.
 
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Blacksabbath25

blacksabbath25
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HiFi Trade?
  1. No
The short story. I'm down to this choice for a matching, black, SACD player and integrated amp. Budget somewhere between 2 and 4 G's at a guess;
might add a tad more.
Lost by the wayside: Exposure (no SACD), Naim (I don't like Naim at this price point);
Rega (not at sure the Rega into Tannoy sound will be neutral and organic enough); Marantz (gave up over all the KI tuning is the best blah blah stuff); and sadly Luxman, my amp heaven.....? Price.
So
I'd much appreciate the Wam's wisdom before heading miles for auditions.
What's the relative tonality? Where would your hard earned go? And, what works into vintage tannoys?
Ta.
I would say Yamaha but i am a bit of a fanboy as i own the old flagship amplifier the Yamaha A-S3000 but depends on what speakers your running to get the use out of the amplifier and the best out of the speakers as a good match .
 
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rockmeister

Wammer
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John
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I would say Yamaha but i am a bit of a fanboy as i own the old flagship amplifier the Yamaha A-S3000 but depends on what speakers your running to get the use out of the amplifier and the best out of the speakers as a good match .
Old home built 12" MG Tannoys.
 

hiesteem

peacebro
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Denon dcd-A110 SACD Player. anniversary edition, just come out. Looks exciting and will have upgraded parts, full of features.
AV.com have it on sale at £2499
 
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uzzy

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Whichever you buy - buy a replacement laser assembly (or two) .. they invariably discontinue them and so longevity is questionable . With a couple of spares you can keep the unit running for as long as you want to and if you sell it at a later stage having a spare assembly or two makes the sale so much more attractive.

Lots of peed off people out there who bought Naims and Meridians and Wadias and many others for a lot of money, only to find ten years after when the laser needed replacing the machines were irrepairable (or take your chances on a chinese copy mechanism)
 
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DomT

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HiFi Trade?
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Are you looking new or secondhand? If secondhand you will be able to get something quite special if you are open to other brands.
 
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rockmeister

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Yes
about to sell a Luxman CD 5 with replacement laser mech, bought 5 years back to future proof the player.
 

Bazzer

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I've got one of the big new-ish Yamaha amps and would recommend that but Yamaha have discontinued their SACD players .

Edit : There are some Yamaha SACD players still for sale .
 
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Blacksabbath25

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You could probably get hold of a Yamaha A-S3000 secondhand but not sure how well Tannoys will go with Yamaha as I’ve never hard Tannoys with Yamaha .
But the Yamaha is a lot of amplifier for the money and it looks old school with great natural sound .
But maybe someone on here can say if the Yamaha would be suitable or some other amplifier brand .
 

Bazzer

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BTW . Rotel don't make SACD players so it's Yamaha , Denon or Marantz .
 
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hiesteem

peacebro
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, only to find ten years after when the laser needed replacing the machines were irrepairable (
Top loaders take part of the problem way. They are a superior isolation platform as well. The Rega's are well made and offer this and obviously UK.
 

DomT

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Have you heard the Marantz stuff or is it the marketing putting you off? I would have thought that Marantz would be a better fit for the Tannoys but it depends on the sort of sound that you like. Yamaha and Rotel will probably not be as refined as the Yamaha and Rotel stuff but if you like more rock ‘n’ roll then no problem! 😎

Again not a brand you have mentioned but a Quad power amp would work well with the Tannoys and certainly would have been a pairing with period Tannoys. The latest Artera power amp is great but I didn’t hear the preamp.
 

Blacksabbath25

blacksabbath25
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What I would say about the Yamaha CD/ SACD and I never bothered to buy the Yamaha CD3000 I kept my Yamaha CD2100 as I thought there wouldn’t be much in the extra cost .
For some reason the SACD side of mine is a bit temperamental in playing SACDs as it will freeze on the disc sometimes but only on the SACDs not on normal CDs .
Mine went to Yamaha and had the software updated but it still does this for some reason .
 

bobovox

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If you are open to other brands aside from those already excluded, Arcam SA30 & CDS50 might fit the bill - it does play SACDs.
 

uzzy

Grumpy Old Git
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David
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Top loaders take part of the problem way. They are a superior isolation platform as well. The Rega's are well made and offer this and obviously UK.
Top loading has nowt to do with solving the problem of lasers burning out within 10 years (if used as much as i do)
 
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Nopiano

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JohnyT

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A couple of years ago a client introduced me to his Yamaha AS-1100. I instantly fell in love with it. He was also using Tanoy speakers but I dont know which model. At the time the A-S1200 was due to be realesed so I put down a pre-order and it arrived a couple of months later.
I just love the way it looks and sounds. The VU meters alone are worth it 😉 I also bought a used CD-S1000 to match the overall look. Admittedly I don't play CDs as much as vinyl but it's worked faultlessly for both CD & SACD and sounds superb.
Two years on I do wish I had stepped up to at least the A-S2200. My new Nu-Vista Vinyl stage has a balanced output which I can't take advantage of. All of the A-S1200 inputs are unbalanced RCA. Maybe I'll treat myself to the A-S3200 one day.
 
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bigrod

Super Wammer .. Pussy 🐈 lover
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Mar 12, 2013
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HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Save all that money
Get a Sony SACD/DVD QS player off eBay ..
Cheap as chips and sound extremely good, probably get one for less than £100 .. I would try one at that price..
Who knows how long will CDs keep being manufactured.. spend more money on your amp …
I actually picked one up on a car boot
Few cosmetic marks on the top that a can of spray will sort out and no remote ..£20 but in its day it was high end ..
 

rockmeister

Wammer
Wammer
Jul 24, 2005
18,004
745
173
Scotland
AKA
John
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I have 500 CD's, and maybe 10 SACDs so SACD isn't the end of the world. If a good player was availabe without it I'd just sell the SACDS and use spotify or etc to hear that music.

This quest is less about HiFi perfection (I own already all i ever wanted and love it). It's about buying something adequately musical not to be dissappointed when i play stuff. It's not hard to achieve that for not much money.
It has to be NEW,
and reliable, and easy to use and reasonable looking.
One make, and it must work with the Tannoys. Key point 1. Tannoy matching.

Kit examples I was / still am considering. If I ever sold the Tannoys for example: Whafredale's new Lintons.
If Exposure made a matching CD, their 2510 amp would be lovely. I heard the Audiolab 6000A recently and tho it's a little clinical for Tannoys in a hard room (I mean a bright room) it's a VVG sound for £600 odd.
 
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