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Rotel Monster Receiver RX 1603 Sold The biggest and the best Receiver from Rotel 1976~1981 and the best piece of equipment from Rotel for the whole decade. At 180 watts per channel and a list price
of $1100 USD http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.htm Jazz, Opera, Rock. I began with my old test favourite Diana Krall ‘Live in Paris ’. It’s always best to start with music you know as it makes comparisons easier. ‘Live in Paris ’ has just about everything I need to evaluate a system. Vocals, Acoustic Piano, Bass, Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion, a Live Audience, the ‘Orchestra Symphonic European’ for string and wind accompaniment on a few tracks. Live and Acoustic is the sound and that’s just what the Rotel delivered. I have been listening to this album for years now but the Rotel delivered up at least one surprise I was not expecting. On top of the wonderful atmosphere of the live venue I picked up an occasional echo in Diana’s vocal and some humming (Diana) at the keyboard that I had never heard before. That was something new and unexpected. With all the listening tests the vocal lines were clean & full. Diction was precise with even Roger Daltrey of The Who revealing that his words really are fully formed. The demands made on the system from Wagnerian Tenor & Soprano parts were effortlessly delivered. Orchestras and bands sat well within a wide and deep sound stage. The whole of the orchestra in ‘Parsifal’ was clear and well defined. Brass, strings, and the sonic richness for which Wagner is renowned filled the room. No distortion or blurring of the sound, each instrument as clear as if you where there in a very good seat. Passage work in the Biber Sonatas and the solos from Krall’s band mates are all faithfully rendered with a spatial quality that is rare indeed. Although always grounded; the RX 1603 does not prevent the music from at times floating through the sound space with the ethereal quality that is one of the hallmarks of Wagner and so often the joy of great Early Music performance. Cassandra Wilson’s rich deep voice and penchant for full bass accompaniment provided an additional test for how well the RX 1603 handles bass. Full and yet always controlled; rich and melodic, It was (and is) a joy to pick out the bass line and just follow it. Drums worked well too. From Jazz Brush Work to Classical Timpani the sound was always precise rich and clean. Cymbals and Hi-Hats can sometimes blow out a little but this was never the case here; clean & crisp. Brush work can blur and I have seen some surprised and happy faces on those new to ‘Vintage Audio’ when they can recognise and hear the detail and phrasing in a drummers brush work. The Rotel delivers. Joe Jackson delivered too. Or should I say the Rotel delivered vinyl and Jackson ’s jazz stunningly well. Joe Jackson’s Jumping Jive is probably the best condition LP I have and it is a cool jazz album. I selected the ‘High’ input setting on the Rotel and found the volume drop off from CD to Vinyl to be quite small. The sound quality was superb to say the least with the same full bass, clean clear highs and well positioned instruments and vocal. I did however apply some judicious use of the tone controls while listening to my small LP selection. It’s probably worth taking a bit of a detour here to discuss tone control especially in light of some contemporary amp designers choosing to deliver ‘Flat Response’ ‘Reference’ equipment with no Bass or Treble control. The design philosophy behind such equipment usually goes along the lines of delivering exactly what was recorded. Sounds great and it is a great idea. The only problem is that you don’t have the same equipment that the recording was mastered on. You don’t have the same room dynamics, (I might just make some enemies here) and you are hopefully not as deaf as a post! Well not all sound engineers are as deaf as a post but then… Bass and Treble controls allow you (the unqualified humble listener) to make adjustments to the sound to compensate for environmental differences (room acoustics) and equipment differences and to even compensate for poor recording quality (to some extent) or even to minimise the scratch and pop on those dirty old LP’s. Used with care tone controls allow you to correct and compensate for the above mentioned variables so you CAN hear the recording as close as possible to how it was recorded. (I will be writing more about this kind of thing in my newsletters in the future so if you are interested please email me to join our mailing list). The Rotel RX 1603 has a pretty impressive array of tone controls that allow you to select Bass and Treble at set frequencies, and to cut crackle and pop at set frequencies. This gives you control of your listening in a useful and positive manner. While on the subject of tone controls; the Loudness setting boosts low frequency, not for more 'rocking' or 'doofing' in music but to compensate for the drop in the ears hearing sensitivity when listening at low volumes. That’s LOW not HIGH volume. And because we all know how useful a switch it can be I also use it from time to time to compensate for my second systems speakers not too impressive bass capability. Enough already, lets sum up. Phono 1 (MM) 2(MC)
(high/low switch), Aux (used for CD), Tape 1&2, AM, FM
auto, FM controls, Muting, Hi Blend, Multipath, De-Emphasis
25
microfarads. 180 watts per channel into 8 ohms. Tape Monitor 1&2, Tape Copy, 1-2, 2-1. Balance, Volume (stepped), Mute -15db, Mic pot & Input. Headphone Jacks A&B. Speakers A B C push button selectable. The Listening List Jazz Opera, Art Song Additional Equipment More Pictures and a Review, A little info on Rotel Tuners sadly not the RX 1603 itself Price $2500Sold AUD contact us by email
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