Rotel Ra-12 + Kef R100 . Good pair?

They'll work great together. 

And whether the headphone output is good enough really depends on the headphones you're using...

In terms of sound quality, the headphone output is as good as the speaker outputs on majority of amps, unless they have separate headphone circuits.  Now, if you're using low impedance headphones, you might have problems with damping factor between the output impedance and the headphone impedance which might make them sound a bit "loose", especially in the bass, but nothing major or very noticeable unless you have experience with some very expensive headphone amps.  Now, if you have high impedance headphones, 250, 300 or 600 ohms, you will have no problems and they will sound great. In general majority of integrated amps and receivers sound great with high impedance headphones and have PLENTY of power for any headphones, so you don't need a separate headphone amp.

Thanks guys.

The most used will be my Grado 325i (i love them) have a low impedance, but they sound incredible with my previous amplifier.

Hi richardg

Have you already got a system? If so, what main components and cabling does the system consist of please? Your impression/thoughts of your current system are?

What genre of music do you generally listen to?

The size of your room?

Is the room lightly or heavily furnished?

Room positioning of speakers - distance to rear/side walls, anything in between the speakers such as a cabinet, chimney breast etc.?

Will you stand, shelf or wall mount the speakers?

Listening distance?

Your general listening level?

Your budget?

What kind of presentation are you looking the system to reproduce?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Hi rick, excuse me, you´re right. I, didn´t provide enough information.

I use to listen a wide range of music, from electronic (Biosphere, future sound of London, Boards of canada), trip hop, downtempo, to classical, jazz or rock...

The system will be placed on a big open hall, over a big desktop, in front of a big window. The sources are an iMac (optical output) and a turntable.

Most of the time i´ll be seated on the desk but i´d like to hear it if i´d not.

My budget is over 2000$ and i´m looking a sharp and balanced sound with attack and definition.

Thanks again.

That extra info doesn't change my answer.

I too listen to a lot of downtempo and trip hop, but I've not yet found any music genres that the KEF's don't reproduce we'll. You'll love stuff like Biosphere and Boards Of Canada on them

Hi richardg

Thanks for your reply.

I feel that you should also look at a NuForce Icon HDP (DAC, headphone amp, pre amp) and Genelec 8040A speakers. The Icon HDP hasn't got an inbuilt phono stage so for your turntable (unless it outputs a high level signal) you'll have to use an external phono stage (such as Rega's Fono A2D or Fono) with the Icon's RCA input. Out of interest what turntable do you use please?

Btw, I just want to be clear that I have no dealings with NuForce or Genelec.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Hi again.

Thanks for your advice, Rick!

I´ve chosen the Rotel because think it is a great all-in-one solution: great phono output, optical output, usb with i-devices copatibility...

Your solution is great (maybe better), but i need the new set to pass the wife test

My old set is a Beolab 6000 so, you know what I mean... 

The turntable is a Pro-ject carbon

Do you think the rotel+kef will deliver the sound experience i´m looking for?

I googled a lot but wasn´t able to find any decent review of the new rotel amps 

As the Rotel 12 series is new there's not a lot of info outwith the promo blurb. My experience of Rotel RA12 is mostly positive and my only niggle is that track info if played from a usb stick is'nt always correct. There is a mini usb input on the back panel marked upgrade so wee niggles can be ironed out hopefully anyway.

Hi richardg

Your welcome.

I haven't heard the RA-12 yet although I'll be getting a hold of one as i am partly intrigued to see where the performance of the RA-12 sits in relation to some of my reference amplification such as Rotel's RA-1062 and the truly great Pioneer A-400.

If you've made your mind up on the RA-12 then I'll suggest that you also consider pairing the RA-12 with ATC's SCM7 monitors or if your budget allows SCM11 monitors. Fwiw, in my experience Rotel amplification generally pairs well with ATC monitors. SCM7 and SCM11 monitors are unlikely to win designer awards and nor will they offer boom, bloom, gloom or bling factor. Instead the ATC's solid engineering impress with their low distortion, flat and honest presentation. Real beauty lies within.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

If you manage to get a hold of the RA-12, I will also be interested to hear your thoughts.  I'm hoping to replace my RC-03 & RB-03 with it, if it's a decent upgrade of course.  I am also interested in the internal DAC. 

Hi smbmetal

Sure. I'll try and compare the RA-12's DAC and pre amplifcation stages to the Cambridge DacMagic Plus, NuForce Icon HDP, Audiolab's M-DAC and possibly Rega's DAC and Chord Electronics Chordette Gem APTX & Qute HD.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Hi Rick,

I hope that had the time to listen to the Rotel RA-12. How is the amp performing? What about the DAC? Would you recommend it?

I have a pair of the Monitor audio RX6 speakers at this moment. Now they're running on the Onky TX 308 receiver. For movies it's doable, but for music it is not good enough. Would you recommend a high end multi channel receiver or seperate receiver and a stereo amp in that case?

Hi richard,

It would be interesting to hear you expiriance with RA-12.

Thanks!