"B. Smith" wrote
in message ...

I'm slowly trying to move my way up the high end food
chain, and would like some advice. I'm looking at a
Rotel RA-1062 and a Arcam A65plus integrated
amp. Both have features I need....MM board, pre outs
for sub, no display, tone control bypass, and modest
price. It would be paired up with a pair of Paradigm
Monitor 5 speakers, a Music Hall CD-25 cd player,
and a Denon DP-47F w/ bluepoint cartridge. My dream
(and yes, I know it's impossible) would be to get that
Creek / Sugden sound but at a price I can afford.
Would at least like to get the system to "lay back"
a tad more then the Denon receiver I have now.
Will you share your opinions on Rotel and Arcam
integrateds, please........thanks in advance.

I've recently replaced a Harman Kardon HK650 with a Rotel RA-1060.
The Harman was a replacement for an Arcam 8 amp. The Arcam was
faulty right out of the box (I assume that I was unlucky and {hope
that} most Arcams will actually work as designed). The Arcam was
returned to me in a non-working state TWICE after sending it in
for repairs. When I returned it for the 3rd time, I walked out of
the store with the Harman. The Harman had some problems of its
own: within a week, a LED failed. Within a month, the switch to
disable the tone controls had developed a loud 'bang' sound (in
the speakers) when enabled/disabled. Within 6 months, the tone
controls of the left channel failed (possibly because of that
tone-defeat switch).

As the Arcam never worked as designed, I can't comment on its
sound quality.
I can't complain about the sound of the Harman, but I hated the
remote control, which only worked for a distance of about 3 meters
(and it drained batteries incredibly fast). The control switches
on the amp itself have a very 'plasticy', cheap feel about them.
The Harman also ran very hot even when outputting at modest
volumes (at which the Rotel barely gets warm).
The Rotel sounds just like the Harman - I can't tell the two of
them apart. The 'feel' of the Rotel is much more solid and the
remote control works up to 12 meters (I can simply point it at a
reflecting surface and the signal will be picked up by the
sensor - something that didn't work on the Harman). The tone
control on the RA-1060 is a 'contour selector' - it can only
INCREASE bass, treble or both and not DECREASE them (which is what
I want to do most of the time...). I don't know if that's the
same on the 1062.

It would amaze me if the Rotel/Arcam sounded any different than
the Denon - if at all possible please try either amp in your
system to see if it results in the "laid back" sound that you are
after. If I had to pick one of these amps, I would pick the
Rotel, but that decision wouldn't have anything to do with sound
quality.

Regards,

Eric