Well, I picked up a Rotal RMB 1095 for a song. Considering where I live getting a heavy external amp costs a fortunte in shipping. So I was luckly to find a used one locally. It is a little rough around the edges but works great.

Anyway I was using a new Denon 4520 with great results in my main room and various zones. I love the free amp assign function so added the external amp to l/c/r/sbl/sbr then used the amps freed up to power 2 pairs of algonquins outside and my speakercraft Aim7 Five in-ceiling speakers in my kitchen.

Well I was impressed with the Rotel amp. Was it night and day? No but better. The 4520 is a great amp. However I can "feel" the music much more. There is just much more punch. I run 7.1 and had to double check that I was still listening in stereo and not multi channel stereo with the way the sound filled the room.

Fortunately I have 2 separate 20 amp services in my main listening area so the 4520 and amp are on separate breakers. I planned this in case I got that huge 7 channel 7900 Outlaw amp.

If I was buying a new amp at retail prices Rotel would likely not be my first choice. I've sat on the fence about many amps over the years and came within a whisker of buying the Emo XPR5 last holiday season. While I am currious on how it would sound I am happy with what I got for the price I got. I have loved my panny xr-55 class D receiver since the day I got it so I am very currious on Axiom's ADA. Again for the price of a couple of rounds of golf I will stick with this Rotel.

Brand of the amp aside the verdict is that there is a definate improvement. If you can find a decent amp at a good price point I recommend pulling the trigger.


Temp.setup - 2.1 - Denon 1713 AVR, Denon 1713 BRD, Paradigm Cinema 200, and Monitor Audio 360 Sub