OK...first impression.

Wow...what a difference.

I only quickly threw on (actually it was still in the dvd player) the terrific CD, We Get Requests by Oscar Peterson (Thank you very much for the suggestion Alan!), and was immediately taken by the clarity and openness that was lacking before. This is how I remember my Snell's sounding like! Bass has more punch, but the biggest difference is the openness and clarity. Nice. So glad I got this integrated. Score another hit for Rotel.

About nine years ago I bought the top of the line Onkyo Integra receiver. Nine years ago it cost about two grand. Weighed an absolute ton...and sounded sweeeeet. It made my Snells heavenly. Over the past couple years the Onkyo was replaced by Rotel separates, and the Snells were replaced by my current Axioms. The Snells got relegated to "bedroom" speakers, and I had an old JVC RX-660V receiver powering them. That was then switched out for a used Sony receiver I grabbed for $35. I didn't think much about it as my bedroom music listening was rare. I've recently begun listening to music more in the bedroom, and was struck at how muted my Snells sounded. Not at all as good as I remembered them. I chalked it up to my ears adjusting to how great my Axioms sound.

Well, the fates shone upon me, and Roger asked me to hook him up with some better sound for his computer gaming. I figured the first step would be to find an inexpensive 5.1 reciever, then some speakers. I scoured ebay for cheap recievers and couldn't find anything I was interested in. Then I was struck with a brilliant idea. Why not kill two birds with one stone? Move the Sony reciever on to Roger's computer, and get an integrated amp for the bedroom?

Now I'm smiling, and he's half way to a smoking gaming experience!