The other two A/B class amps I tried with my Dynaudio Emit10s were Arcam SA10 and Audiolab 6000. Arcam veiled all the frequencies and produced wooly bass. Audiolab produced incredibly detailed sound across the frequencies but had the thin sound of a transistor radio. I went with Rotel that produced sufficient detail and oomph -when I boosted bass and treble by +7 decibels. Rotels micro-detailing of the high frequencies started to reveal sibilance on poor recordings. So, I added a Schiit 4 band eq to correct the sound of some poor recordings in my collection. Rotel is great for beefy recordings and for producing sound from movies-no eq necessary in those realms.
@@gokhanersan8561 I wory because on older Rotel models like A11 tribute and A12 mk II, power on 4ohms is doubing and have around 100 wats. On this new one A11mk2 is only 62 wats. I can spent 300€ more for A12 but do I realy needed..And also I like simple oldschool look of this A11 mk2 without screen. That screen on Tribute looks verry cheap like old casio wirst watch with blue light 😅.
@@woodplay13 I didn’t listen to A12 or a11 mk2. So I can’t speak for those. However listened to Emit 10s with much more expensive Rotel 1592 mk2; and Hegel H190. Listening to pop and rock a11 tribute was sweeter and more satisfying.
@@gokhanersan8561 yeah a11 tribute have 90w at 4 ohms and this a11 mk2 62w at 4 ohms, I hope that this 30 wats won't make any diference. So you are happy with emit 10's?
@@woodplay13 At that price point Emit is the most detailed and “muscular” speaker I heard. If you can do with a little less muscle, but more air then go for Dali Opticon or Rubicon. I use Schiit 4-band eq to sweeten the darker Emit 10.
From the manual, To change the brightness of the Power LED and the two Speaker Selector LEDs on the front panel, press the MENU button to toggle to the LED DIMMER Setting. Then press the - or + buttons on the front panel to change the LEDs brightness. To change the brightness of the front display, press the MENU button to toggle to the DIMMER Setting. Then press the - or + buttons on the front panel to change the display brightness.
Helpful review. After I finish setting up my home theater next spring (hopefully), I am going to build a 2nd system using my iFi Zen, a Rega P6, and an integrated amp like the A11 and its matching CD player. So I'll watch for more reviews of other similarly priced integrated amps & CD players. Merry Xmas. p.s., just picked up ZZ Top's Goin' 50 boxed LP set and had a fun afternoon playing it my P10 & Gold Note LP-10/PSU. Sound was really enjoyable.
@@thevinylattack Was hard finding someone to do the work for the home theater. Guys are coming on tomorrow tomorrow to install wall plates for interconnects, speakers, subwoofer, etc., run the HDMI through the walls, wall mount the dipole surround/presence speakers, etc. Then I can finally buy the TV. Big project. No room for a turntable though, so the P10 is going to stay in the 2nd system.
These are nice but don't forget they use a 2014 TI PCM5252 monolithic DAC chip that costs US$10.00 each. Fantastic performance but most folk have no idea DACS are very inexpensive.@@thevinylattack
I just bought the A11 Tribute on sale at Crutchfield for $650. At that price I couldn’t pass it up. I can’t wait to get this thing out of the box and hooked up
Spot on review. I’ve had my A11 Tribute for six months and love it. I only have two complaints which were the same as yours. 1. the built in phono stage is pretty much garbage. The built in phono stage on my Music Hall Classic is better. The volume does have to be turned up higher that I would expect to get loud. The important part is the sound, and it’s excellent!
One of my earliest memories is a lil me being mesmerised by the VU meters of my father's Rotel. I don't know the model but likely something from the late 70's. It would later be my first setup when my dad "upgraded" to a Sony system. A far cry from modern Rotel but the brand will always bring back those memories.
Thank you for the great review. I hear you about bright LEDs. My Schiit Mani has the same problem with a bright LED light, which I solved with a black paint marker (my Mani is black in color - so I wasn't risking any discoloration to my device). If you decide to try this, and your device is silver in color, you may benefit from protecting the surrounding metal with tape. Keep up the great work.
@@thevinylattack I am just looking for a good red book CD player with balanced outputs. I only own 6 SACDs so I can’t justify a SACD player, besides we have our vinyl rigs! I listen to 90% vinyl. Thanks for the connection to Vinyl Storage Solutions. I need good gatefold sleeves.
Those oddball instruments can be fun. I like how Bon Scot’s bagpipe works inside of Its A Long Way To The Top. It’s a bit strident, bordering on bright thru my system but it’s fun nonetheless
Concerning the Onzow Zero Dust issue you brought up earlier: I have been using mine for 3 years now so I examined my stylus under magnification and found no buildup of anything. Thought you'd like to know.
Interesting, I have a cartridge about the same age that I have been using onzow zerodust on. I am thinking about getting some type of device to magnify and inspect. What type of magnifier did you use?
Nice review specially with how it sounds with Music. Just a query, is there soundstage depth in your experience? Some reviews say the sound is more 2D.
Hey. I 've been in this hobby for a couple of years only, so some help would be welcome. I like the idea of having seperates. At the moment am using Rotel A11 tribute. I like the sound, but 1 would like to upgrade to something more powerful and possibly midrange focused. am looking for an integrated without a dac, but couldn't find it. At the moment 1 am using MA Gold 100 5g, Topping E50 dac, but 1 will change the dac also to something like Denafrips Ares 2, or Gesheli J2S. Any help would be apreciated. P.s. Apologies if my writing isn't so good, english is not my first language.
In the modern era, you won't find an integrated amp without a DAC. That said, you don't have to use the built-in DAC. You can use whatever outboard source you'd like.
I got my Rotel tribute about 6 month ago because my old Nad was scrap an i plugge my NHT speaker tower 2.1 the sound is amazing but my NHT are from 1991 if i want to buy new speaker watt you recommende my,,sorry my english is bad i am french from Montreal Québec,,
Does your remote control for this get stuck when changing volume up and down? The volume on mine will get stuck going in one direction when using the remote. wondering if others are getting this same thing happening?
Hi. Thank you for your good efforts. I have this amp paired with the Focal Aria 906 bookself speakers, and I am satisfied ! Thinkin of getting the Aria 926 standmounts .... Do you have any experiance with them ? Is this amp capable enough to drive them ?
Hi, greetings from Spain!!! I've heard the Rotel A11, does not have enough power sometimes, I have a tower speakers, PSB Image T6. Do you think the amplifier will work decently with this speakers? frequency response: 32-23,000 Hz (±3dB) sensitivity: 91 dB. impedance: 6 ohms. recommended power: 20-200 watts. Thanks a lot for your help.
Hi Chris I'm your new suscriber. I know this is not subject...But I'm little bit confused. I'm buying my first hi fi setup. Simple 2.0. I decided to buy new Rotel A11 mk2 AB amplifier 50w at 8ohms and 62w at 4ohms. Speakers Dynaudio Emit 10 and its writen in the specs 6ohms speaker IEC power handling 150w. I will put this relativly small bookshelf speakers in my bedroom with 16 square meters and I will listen from distance of 2.5meters. I will listen on moderate to low volumes, rock and metal I will cranck litle bit stronger but thats it. Is this amp enough for my speakers. I see on youtube reviewers put this rotel with much larger speakers and they said that is great sound. My seller told me that I need much more wats for this speaker to sound properly even 100w even with small volumes to give some juice to speaker. Now I'm totaly confused. If you can help me I was so happy to purchace this setup..now...thanks in advance!
@@thevinylattack thanks a lot for your answer. I was just wory because on older Rotel models like A11 tribute what you reviewed and A12 mk II, power on 4ohms is doubing and have around 100 wats. On this new one A11mk2 is only 62 wats. I can spent 300€ more for A12 but do I realy needed..And also I like simple oldschool look of this A11 mk2 without screen. That screen on Tribute looks verry cheap like old casio wirst watch with blue light 😅. One more thanks for your work !!!!
If you love folk…. Grab, John Renbourn - Sir John Alot Of Merrie Englandes Musik Thyng And Ye Grene Knyghte. Has to be the U.K. pressing. The US one sounds like crap… they added completely unnecessary reverb.
Not a bad and not a good amp. Just ok. Transformer hums electromechanically. It is audible. You should have noticed that. I really would not have bought these two, but most of these "reviews" convinced me to. Lesson learned: Never buy an amp just because of positive reviews.
We're they plugged into the same socket? Try separate wall plug of you still have it. Another reviewer had the same issue if the amp and connected turntable were powered by the same socket.
The other two A/B class amps I tried with my Dynaudio Emit10s were Arcam SA10 and Audiolab 6000. Arcam veiled all the frequencies and produced wooly bass. Audiolab produced incredibly detailed sound across the frequencies but had the thin sound of a transistor radio. I went with Rotel that produced sufficient detail and oomph -when I boosted bass and treble by +7 decibels. Rotels micro-detailing of the high frequencies started to reveal sibilance on poor recordings. So, I added a Schiit 4 band eq to correct the sound of some poor recordings in my collection. Rotel is great for beefy recordings and for producing sound from movies-no eq necessary in those realms.
@@gokhanersan8561 I wory because on older Rotel models like A11 tribute and A12 mk II, power on 4ohms is doubing and have around 100 wats. On this new one A11mk2 is only 62 wats. I can spent 300€ more for A12 but do I realy needed..And also I like simple oldschool look of this A11 mk2 without screen. That screen on Tribute looks verry cheap like old casio wirst watch with blue light 😅.
@@gokhanersan8561 I'm also planing to buy dynaudio Emit 10
@@woodplay13 I didn’t listen to A12 or a11 mk2. So I can’t speak for those. However listened to Emit 10s with much more expensive Rotel 1592 mk2; and Hegel H190. Listening to pop and rock a11 tribute was sweeter and more satisfying.
@@gokhanersan8561 yeah a11 tribute have 90w at 4 ohms and this a11 mk2 62w at 4 ohms, I hope that this 30 wats won't make any diference. So you are happy with emit 10's?
@@woodplay13 At that price point Emit is the most detailed and “muscular” speaker I heard. If you can do with a little less muscle, but more air then go for Dali Opticon or Rubicon. I use Schiit 4-band eq to sweeten the darker Emit 10.
From the manual,
To change the brightness of the Power LED and the two Speaker Selector
LEDs on the front panel, press the MENU button to toggle to the LED
DIMMER Setting. Then press the - or + buttons on the front panel to change
the LEDs brightness.
To change the brightness of the front display, press the MENU button
to toggle to the DIMMER Setting. Then press the - or + buttons on the front
panel to change the display brightness.
Helpful review. After I finish setting up my home theater next spring (hopefully), I am going to build a 2nd system using my iFi Zen, a Rega P6, and an integrated amp like the A11 and its matching CD player. So I'll watch for more reviews of other similarly priced integrated amps & CD players. Merry Xmas.
p.s., just picked up ZZ Top's Goin' 50 boxed LP set and had a fun afternoon playing it my P10 & Gold Note LP-10/PSU. Sound was really enjoyable.
That's quite a to-do list, I hope it goes well for you.
@@thevinylattack Was hard finding someone to do the work for the home theater. Guys are coming on tomorrow tomorrow to install wall plates for interconnects, speakers, subwoofer, etc., run the HDMI through the walls, wall mount the dipole surround/presence speakers, etc. Then I can finally buy the TV. Big project. No room for a turntable though, so the P10 is going to stay in the 2nd system.
Great review as always Chris, also love picking up some of the tunes and bands you share in these reviews.
Glad you like them. I think sometimes we overlook the reason we're doing reviews. Music.
These are nice but don't forget they use a 2014 TI PCM5252 monolithic DAC chip that costs US$10.00 each. Fantastic performance but most folk have no idea DACS are very inexpensive.@@thevinylattack
Attaaaaaaaack!
Hey there Chris, Merry Christmas!
To you as well.
Love blackthorn- saw them many times at cowley back in the day and still enjoy listening to nil na la. Dennis has one of the best voices ever
I cut my teeth at the bar long before I was legal. Shhhhhhhhhh.
I just bought the A11 Tribute on sale at Crutchfield for $650. At that price I couldn’t pass it up. I can’t wait to get this thing out of the box and hooked up
At that price, I would've bought one too just to have it. Nice one.
Spot on review. I’ve had my A11 Tribute for six months and love it. I only have two complaints which were the same as yours. 1. the built in phono stage is pretty much garbage. The built in phono stage on my Music Hall Classic is better. The volume does have to be turned up higher that I would expect to get loud.
The important part is the sound, and it’s excellent!
I'm glad you're liking it. I definitely did.
I highly doubt that the phono stage in your turntable is better than the one in the Rotel 😆
this is an excellent presentation thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Watching this Video on my TV connected to my A11 Tribute is the only real way to watch this :D
That sounds like pretty good synergy to me.
One of my earliest memories is a lil me being mesmerised by the VU meters of my father's Rotel. I don't know the model but likely something from the late 70's. It would later be my first setup when my dad "upgraded" to a Sony system. A far cry from modern Rotel but the brand will always bring back those memories.
VU meters are something I miss in modern hifi. There are some still out there of course, but not enough.
Thank you for the great review. I hear you about bright LEDs. My Schiit Mani has the same problem with a bright LED light, which I solved with a black paint marker (my Mani is black in color - so I wasn't risking any discoloration to my device). If you decide to try this, and your device is silver in color, you may benefit from protecting the surrounding metal with tape. Keep up the great work.
I solved the problem buy getting a different phono pre-amp, but I do know what you mean. That led is stupid bright.
@@thevinylattack It can be dimmed in the settings separately from the display.
You are doing a great job! Finding a great CD player is on my list.
Eventually I'll pick up an SACD player, but that's down the line.
@@thevinylattack I am just looking for a good red book CD player with balanced outputs. I only own 6 SACDs so I can’t justify a SACD player, besides we have our vinyl rigs! I listen to 90% vinyl. Thanks for the connection to Vinyl Storage Solutions. I need good gatefold sleeves.
Try NAD c568. It sounds excellent with my Rotel a11.
@@thevinylattack Oppo's 203 is pretty good for SACD's, CD's, etc. considering its original sales price. Not sure what its selling for used now.
@@LS-ti6jo About $1,500 and up depending on the condition.
Ce Rotel A11 fait le travail sans imposer sa signature sonore
Those oddball instruments can be fun. I like how Bon Scot’s bagpipe works inside of Its A Long Way To The Top. It’s a bit strident, bordering on bright thru my system but it’s fun nonetheless
I've been a fan of those types of musical combinations for a long time myself.
One of my favorite groups- Morphine….!
They were so good.
Green Tinted Sixties Mind on Rotel a11. Yes !
I don't think that song gets enough love.
challenge: someone put this against the fosi thing in a sound test :) it's a "want this/can that" kinda situation
Great review! Note. Moot point. Not mute point. Unless you are being ‘punny’…
Concerning the Onzow Zero Dust issue you brought up earlier: I have been using mine for 3 years now so I examined my stylus under magnification and found no buildup of anything. Thought you'd like to know.
Interesting, I have a cartridge about the same age that I have been using onzow zerodust on. I am thinking about getting some type of device to magnify and inspect. What type of magnifier did you use?
Rotel just released the A11 MKII. Im especially curious how it sounds to Ishiwata's A11 Tribute. Any plans to make a comparison video?
If they send one over for review, certainly.
Sounds like the Audiolab 6000A edges out the A11 Tribute. Also, the few complaints you had about the Rotel are not issues with the Audiolab.
I wouldn't know, I've not heard the Audiolab.
Nice review specially with how it sounds with Music. Just a query, is there soundstage depth in your experience? Some reviews say the sound is more 2D.
As I recall, there wasn't noticeable lack of depth. It's been a while though.
@@thevinylattack Hi, thanks for the comment. Kind of hard when you don't have opportunity to test equipment before purchase.
Hey. I 've been in this hobby for a couple of years only, so some help would be welcome. I like the idea of having seperates. At the moment am using Rotel A11 tribute. I like the sound, but 1 would like to upgrade to something more powerful and possibly midrange focused. am looking for an integrated without a dac, but couldn't find it. At the moment 1 am using MA Gold 100 5g, Topping E50 dac, but 1 will change the dac also to something like Denafrips Ares 2, or Gesheli J2S. Any help would be apreciated. P.s. Apologies if my writing isn't so good, english is not my first language.
In the modern era, you won't find an integrated amp without a DAC. That said, you don't have to use the built-in DAC. You can use whatever outboard source you'd like.
@@thevinylattack
Thanks for the info!
I got my Rotel tribute about 6 month ago because my old Nad was scrap an i plugge my NHT speaker tower 2.1 the sound is amazing but my NHT are from 1991 if i want to buy new speaker watt you recommende my,,sorry my english is bad i am french from Montreal Québec,,
It really depends on your budget. There are a lot of good options out there. The best idea would be to go to a local hifi store and do some listening.
@@thevinylattack merci
Nice Amp, but 6 months ago went with the Arcam SA10 because of it's built in DAC, if going Rotel, would prob step up to the A12.
Just buy a separate DAC. You have better and many more options.
ive been thinking about getting a SA10 recently with the price drop. you still enjoying yours? thanks
Mr McMullen was my Spanish teacher.
That's awesome.
Only thing that puts me off this is amp is it isn't rated for 4 ohms, that always throws up a flag for me.
Does your remote control for this get stuck when changing volume up and down? The volume on mine will get stuck going in one direction when using the remote. wondering if others are getting this same thing happening?
This was a review unit so it's definitely had some use and I never experienced any problems. I'd contact Rotel directly and see what they say.
Hi. Thank you for your good efforts. I have this amp paired with the Focal Aria 906 bookself speakers, and I am satisfied ! Thinkin of getting the Aria 926 standmounts .... Do you have any experiance with them ? Is this amp capable enough to drive them ?
It's toward the lower end of the recommended wattage to push the standmounts, but with their higher sensitivity I think you'd be just fine.
@@thevinylattack Thanks.
Great little amp, but i'm glad i own the A10 Analog....the true analog amp.
Hi, greetings from Spain!!!
I've heard the Rotel A11, does not have enough power sometimes, I have a tower speakers, PSB Image T6. Do you think the amplifier will work decently with this speakers?
frequency response: 32-23,000 Hz (±3dB)
sensitivity: 91 dB.
impedance: 6 ohms.
recommended power: 20-200 watts.
Thanks a lot for your help.
I don't think you'd have any trouble at all.
Hi Chris I'm your new suscriber. I know this is not subject...But I'm little bit confused. I'm buying my first hi fi setup. Simple 2.0. I decided to buy new Rotel A11 mk2 AB amplifier 50w at 8ohms and 62w at 4ohms. Speakers Dynaudio Emit 10 and its writen in the specs 6ohms speaker IEC power handling 150w. I will put this relativly small bookshelf speakers in my bedroom with 16 square meters and I will listen from distance of 2.5meters. I will listen on moderate to low volumes, rock and metal I will cranck litle bit stronger but thats it. Is this amp enough for my speakers. I see on youtube reviewers put this rotel with much larger speakers and they said that is great sound. My seller told me that I need much more wats for this speaker to sound properly even 100w even with small volumes to give some juice to speaker. Now I'm totaly confused. If you can help me I was so happy to purchace this setup..now...thanks in advance!
The Rotel won't have any problems pushing the Dynaudio speakers.
@@thevinylattack thanks a lot for your answer. I was just wory because on older Rotel models like A11 tribute what you reviewed and A12 mk II, power on 4ohms is doubing and have around 100 wats. On this new one A11mk2 is only 62 wats. I can spent 300€ more for A12 but do I realy needed..And also I like simple oldschool look of this A11 mk2 without screen. That screen on Tribute looks verry cheap like old casio wirst watch with blue light 😅. One more thanks for your work !!!!
You still need a preamp?
Not with this, it's an integrated amp. It does have a pre-amp out if you'd like to power it separately though.
If you love folk….
Grab, John Renbourn - Sir John Alot Of Merrie Englandes Musik Thyng And Ye Grene Knyghte. Has to be the U.K. pressing. The US one sounds like crap… they added completely unnecessary reverb.
Unless you already have it.
Could you compare the sound quality with Marantz pm6007?
As I don't have the Marantz, I really couldn't say.
You said the phono stage could be improved on. Would a Cambridge Audio Azur 540P pre amp be a good candidate?
I haven't heard it, so I can't say for certain.
@@thevinylattack ok scrub the Azur, how about the Tisbury Domino?
@@joetotale6354 There's a host of quality pre-amps I haven't heard. I'm afraid I can't list all of them.
@@thevinylattack The Tisbury can be had for £180 2nd hand in the U.K. and has garnered superb reviews.
Not a bad and not a good amp. Just ok. Transformer hums electromechanically. It is audible. You should have noticed that. I really would not have bought these two, but most of these "reviews" convinced me to. Lesson learned: Never buy an amp just because of positive reviews.
There was no hum in the model I reviewed, or I would have noticed. You might talk to your dealer about a replacement.
We're they plugged into the same socket? Try separate wall plug of you still have it. Another reviewer had the same issue if the amp and connected turntable were powered by the same socket.