Gary PearceReleased just in time for Santa’s sack is Rotel’s new RCX1500, a multi-disciplined component featuring a CD player/Dac/music streamer/tuner and 2 x 100wpc amplifier in one stylish case.
Terrifically versatile, the RCX1500 is the answer to those sick and tired of cable clutter and the ensuing complexity. I’ve had a few weeks of fun with the wee beastie and while the review I’m penning is in progress, I thought I’d capture it for perpetuity using Witchdoctors Blair Witch inspired ‘shaky cam’.
The RCX1500 is an honest and very effective first stab at a media centre by Rotel, and as testament to the straight-up nature of the company my queries regarding functionally were answered personally by Mike Bartlett at Rotel Global. I’ll have excerpts from my email chat with Mike on the forthcoming review.
Bang for buck is what the RCX1500 offers, and this it delivers by the truckload with a very good audio performance and an excellent feature set.
More to come soon folks…
I notice you have ABBA on your server Gary
Mamma Mia, did you have to mention it???
This from a man who has the audacity to moan about my pirate shanty
could someone help
I cannot eject the cd from cd player and got a message ISO on display
Adrian please email the importer on [email protected]
I’ll get a hold of the importer myself and alert them to your plight, if you can email me on [email protected].
Gary
Hi Gary,
Thank you very much for this review. I’m a total hifi newbie despite being a massive fan of music.
I’ve just started looking into purchasing a decent piece of kit and have been looking into NAD products, seeming as they seemed to be decent value for money. I liked the look of it but it lacked a few features (network connectivity, DAB2 support) A few weeks ago however, I was warmly recommenced to look at Rotel products and I must admit this piece of kit looks just like what I’m after. Being an IT engineer, I have a large music collection setup with a media server so this is ideal.
My question is can this be hooked up to a DVD/Blue ray player via the optical input? (I’m pretty sure it is but as I said, I’m a complete virgin when it comes to HiFi and want to be sure before I fork out my money)
Another question concerns hooking it up with a record player. I’m guessing I can hook one up to the aux2 input at the back but I’d need a pre amp box is this correct? Any recommendations of a decent record player you’d use with it?
Looking forward to listening to my collection on a good system and I think I’ve found my future purchase! 🙂
Chris, yes you can plug in an optical or coaxial cable from a DVD/Blu-Ray player – just remember it isn’t a Home Theatre receiver so won’t decode DTS/Dolby Digital or the newer BD high-res audio formats.
As far as hooking up a turntable, yes you can – you’ll need an outboard phono stage (Pro-Ject Phonobox MK2 for instance – inexpensive and good sounding). As for the turntable, I’d suggest something like a Pro-Ject Debut 3 or a Rega RP1 for starters. In the case of both phono stage and turntable the sky is the limit in terms of budget, but those are 2 good ‘uns to start off with.
Enjoy!
Thanks for your tips Gary, much appreciated!