rotel or not rotel

If you plan on keeping the Cambridge CDP I'd say avoid Rotel. It'll boil down to what speakers you have, but going with a safe choice look at one of the higher end Marantzes, like the 8003; Creek, Roksan Kandy, Audio Analogue Crescendo or perhaps Cambridge 840V2. 

The speakers are arcaydis dm1 s and the cd players gone. I would like the creek or the Roksan but the budget won't push that far.what do you think is the problem with the Rotel 

There's no problem with Rotel. They make some fantastic equipement, but can be a little feisty in the treble. If you're planning to mix 'n' match they work very well with Arcam or components that have a smooth or warm edge.

so do you think the rotel maybe a little bright.i have been looking at the yamaha s 500 and the s700 .but the reviews also sais a little on the bright side

Maybe a little bright for some, and if I had a Rotel I wouldn't have the MAs. I tested a RA-06 before buying the Leema and it sounded really fast in the bottom end and detailed but they just didn't gel together. This is why most of us urge you to test before parting with your hard-earned...

We had been looking at the Rotel RA10 and the RA12, we purchased the Marantz PM6004 in the end, but it couldn't run our four 4ohm Dalis. So we took it back and purchased a Yamaha AS500, we don't think it sounds bright at all, lots of detail and it sounds natural (could be our speakers though) It is no where near as bright as the Pioneer A400, that sounds horrible with our Dali 505s, so harsh and bright.

did you try the yamaha as 700 it seems to get a bad press compared to the 500 .but its warm middle sound maybe up my street

If you want a sweeter sounding amp the NADs have that rep. Also Arcam used to not sure about there current amps.

I used to use a Rotel RA-01 with my CA Azur 640C and Dali Lektor 2's and the sound was a little bright. Not sure how the DM1's sound but if they're on the forward side the Rotel may not be a good match. Maybe the Marantz PM6004 would fair better.

I swapped the Rotel and CA Cd player for the Roksan Kandy K2 combo and now the sound through the Lektor 2's is amazing. The Roksan K2 amp maybe over your budget but it's unfussy with speaker matching and well worth the money.

What are replacing the 640C with?  

i have a onkyo cd 7070.its the best cd player i have owned.not as bright as the  640c

No, we didn't try the Yamaha AS700, because it didn't get the same level test results, so we settled for the Yamaha AS500. On our system it produces a detailed sound and has that Yamaha natural warmth about it, that we've grown to love from the Yamaha amps having owned a couple of their amps. However, that could just be our speakers playing a part though, Dali 505 as mentioned.

If you are prepared to go down the 2nd hand route, then you do get used Creek Evo 2's going from time to time on Ebay. There was one that didn't sell this weekend gone, starting price £400  which is just over half the price of a new amp. Well worth your consideration, especially if it is re-listed at a cheaper price.

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