Rotel CD players - which to buy?

[KarinS]

In my opinion, watching YouTube video reviews of new audio components is only good for one thing, and that's being able to see the product in more detail. The reviews you mentioned are completely subjective and from people who don't seem to have a lot of experience with higher end (higher end than the DT-6000) CD players that carry very similar features that the DT-6000 does. I could suggest quite a few CD players that I think are superior to your 1572 and the DT-6000, but they're just my opinions and you seem to be set on a Rotel at a particular price point. The ESS Sabre line of DACs is heralded by a very large portion of the audio community and is used by some of the best companies in the industry in higher end applications. That's why Rotel uses one in their two highest end players (DT-6000 and Michi Q5). I happen to have two components in my system (preamp and streamer) that use ESS Sabre DACs and I've grown accustomed and partial to their sound in my system. The other components in a system will have a large impact on the sound, so the only way you'll know for sure is to try different CD players in your system.

I know, but I'm not in a position to compare my 1572 with other players, as I have no high end stereo stores that carry CD players (at all) near me. And I don't feel like ordering them and having them sent to my house for comparison. My reluctance comes from buying two highly rated CD players in the past, and getting burned (the Rega Apollo and the Luxman D-03). I like the 1572 better than any CD player I've ever owned, so I'm sticking with them at this point.

I learned back in 1975, when I was 19 years old, that you can spend a small fortune pursuing your ideal system, and you're always going to find something better once you think you've arrived. It's an endless pursuit, as many on the AudioKarma forum are aware of. I currently have an amp, pre-amp, and tuner that many audiophiles would sell their mother for, and one of the only three pairs of speakers I've listened to in my lifetime that blew me away (the other two were the 1988 B&W 801's before Bowers and Wilkins were bought out, and the 1988 Magneplanar Tympani IVA's, an electrostatic speaker). Coupled with that, I love the sound of my 1572. I need search no further. As the saying goes, it's not about getting what you want, but wanting what you have. So I'm good.

As for "you seem to be set on a Rotel at a particular price point", that's not true. There is a $$ point that I will not go past, but the DT-6000 is well within my range. My opthalmologist is an audiophile with bucks, and he told me that while he doesn't have the best system in California, he's fairly certain that he has the best one in Sonoma County (that I just moved from). He told me that he has the very top of the line Wilson speakers, which were over $80K a pair. I would never tell him this, but I've listened to Wilson's top speakers, and was unimpressed (and not just because they're ugly). So price isn't everything, and that goes for whiskey as well as speakers.

 

[Vlad Soare]

First pic is my CD-11 tribute, same transport that he shows in the video for the DT-6000. The second pic is my RCD-1572 MKII and that transport is spring loaded...
View attachment 3480688View attachment 3480689

I'm sure the differences are obvious to someone who's familiar with the internals of a CD player, but I'm not, so I have no idea what to look at.
Would you mind explaining for a novice like me what exactly I should see in the lower picture that's better than the other one? And what does it mean if the transport is spring-loaded or not? I take it it's better, but how and why?
Thank you.

 

[Vlad Soare]

My only real complaint with the 1572 id the CD drawer where the idiot designer forgot the side cutouts so you can actually grab the disk to remove. You have to use your pinky in the hole to lift a disk out. That designer should have been fired.

I'm really curious about that. I don't think I've ever seen a CD drawer without cutouts. Do you happen to have a picture?
I've been searching for pictures of the 1572 drawer but couldn't find any. All I could find were reviews of the 1572 MkII, like the one here, where it seems to have the cutouts. Maybe they changed it in the MkII?

 

[Oasis8]

Never mind, I was mistaken.

 

[jayvis]

I wouldn't trust the pics from the Rotel site, as the transports in your pictures are identical.
In my 1572 the transport, transformer, and small power board are different: the transport in mine is spring loaded (the black tray can be pushed down a bit more than 1/8", the transformer does not have a full cover it has a plate on the top, and there is no cover over the small power board. Who knows what they put in in the factory- maybe they just grab a part out of a bin and pop it in ???? I may have gotten the transport for the DT-6000.

The picture you have in post #36 is of an RCD-1572, not an RCD-1572 MKII. Did you buy yours new? Better check your receipt.

 

[N0rt0n]

I'm really curious about that. I don't think I've ever seen a CD drawer without cutouts. Do you happen to have a picture?
I've been searching for pictures of the 1572 drawer but couldn't find any. All I could find were reviews of the 1572 MkII, like the one here, where it seems to have the cutouts. Maybe they changed it in the MkII?

The link is the MKII and I think they had to hire a different designer for that.

 

[hopeless]

Don't overlook Arcam

 

[jayvis]

I know, but I'm not in a position to compare my 1572 with other players, as I have no high end stereo stores that carry CD players (at all) near me. And I don't feel like ordering them and having them sent to my house for comparison.

Then you'll never know for sure. Audio forums and reviews aren't the end-alls in component evaluation and comparisons, but if you think you know what you want, go for it. Rotel makes good products in its price category, but there are other CD players out there that I feel are equal or better performers for the money. If you end up buying a spare RCD-1572 MKII, set it up when you get it and make sure that there aren't any obvious issues with it. You'd hate to find out later and have no recourse with an expired return policy and/or warranty.

 

[krautmaster]

The picture you have in post #36 is of an RCD-1572, not an RCD-1572 MKII. Did you buy yours new? Better check your receipt.

I called Audio Advice this morning as I was curious about possibly having the old non MKII model. I spoke to a few guys who passed me around until I got Robert who orders the equipment they sell. He told me that his records show my player has been sitting in their stockroom since February 22, 2022, it was in their first shipment of the new MK II models so it is from Rotels first production run. He also told me that they sell very few of the silver ones and there are still two more just like mine on their shelves. They have only sold 8 of the ten he ordered in the last three years, but they have a hard time keeping the black version in stock. Apparently they sell literally ten times as many black models as silver ones. I guess I'm one of the few who prefers silver over black.

He offered to exchange mine for a black one when they get them in stock or take a $200 refund. He doesn't want to order any more silver ones as he has to order a minimum of 10 and it would take a too long to sell them all and there is a very good chance Rotel will have another new model soon (possibly next year) so he would have to "fire sale" any of the older models and hope to break even.

I took the $200. I don't really care that it has been sitting for three years, I have some equipment that has been used very infrequently for the last 15 years that still work fine. The important part is the full warranty still applies and the player sounds GREAT.

 

[N0rt0n]

The picture you have in post #36 is of an RCD-1572, not an RCD-1572 MKII. Did you buy yours new? Better check your receipt.

That seems to imply that the first run of the MKII had the same drawer as the non MKII and then later runs have the cutout to grab the disk like in post #37

 

[krautmaster]

That seems to imply that the first run of the MKII had the same drawer as the non MKII and then later runs have the cutout to grab the disk like in post #37

Maybe they were just using up whatever mechanical parts they had left over (???) but not a big difference between them anyway, I think the important change was the better DAC.

 

[N0rt0n]

Maybe they were just using up whatever mechanical parts they had left over (???) but not a big difference between them anyway, I think the important change was the better DAC.

It's not that the drawer and mechanism is so different, it's that the earlier model is lacking the cutouts to pick up the disk. I have to use my pinky and not press too hard. It's a poor design and my scathing review on the Audio Advisor site was taken down in a week because the MKII units came in. Still sounds great through my Luxman

 

[KarinS]

I called Audio Advice this morning as I was curious about possibly having the old non MKII model. I spoke to a few guys who passed me around until I got Robert who orders the equipment they sell. He told me that his records show my player has been sitting in their stockroom since February 22, 2022, it was in their first shipment of the new MK II models so it is from Rotels first production run. He also told me that they sell very few of the silver ones and there are still two more just like mine on their shelves. They have only sold 8 of the ten he ordered in the last three years, but they have a hard time keeping the black version in stock. Apparently they sell literally ten times as many black models as silver ones. I guess I'm one of the few who prefers silver over black.

He offered to exchange mine for a black one when they get them in stock or take a $200 refund. He doesn't want to order any more silver ones as he has to order a minimum of 10 and it would take a too long to sell them all and there is a very good chance Rotel will have another new model soon (possibly next year) so he would have to "fire sale" any of the older models and hope to break even.

I took the $200. I don't really care that it has been sitting for three years, I have some equipment that has been used very infrequently for the last 15 years that still work fine. The important part is the full warranty still applies and the player sounds GREAT.

The important thing is the sound. If you love it, then stay with it. I was 19 when I bought my first really nice stereo system, which included a Sansui 881 receiver and Infinity Column speakers. I was living at home at the time for a short period, and my mother loved the speakers because they matched her Danish modern furniture. But for me, although they sounded great on the high and mid-range, they had no base. I rock out, so they weren't working for me. So I traded them in for Cerwin Vega 211R's (I can't believe I still remember all of the model numbers), which also looked beautiful. But as people familiar with Cerwin Vega's know, they are all base. Then a salesman that took pity on me took me to the side, and told me that my best bet was to buy 4 Larger Advents, stack them, and wire them in series, which I did. I was in heaven. Although my mother admitted that they sounded much better than the two 'pretty' speakers I bought before, she hated them because they were ugly and didn't match her furniture. I kept those speakers for a quarter of a century, and would still have them if I'd known they could be refurbished. Loved 'em.

 

[KarinS]

Then you'll never know for sure. Audio forums and reviews aren't the end-alls in component evaluation and comparisons, but if you think you know what you want, go for it. Rotel makes good products in its price category, but there are other CD players out there that I feel are equal or better performers for the money. If you end up buying a spare RCD-1572 MKII, set it up when you get it and make sure that there aren't any obvious issues with it. You'd hate to find out later and have no recourse with an expired return policy and/or warranty.

Of course. Trust, but verify.

 

[KarinS]

I called Audio Advice this morning as I was curious about possibly having the old non MKII model. I spoke to a few guys who passed me around until I got Robert who orders the equipment they sell. He told me that his records show my player has been sitting in their stockroom since February 22, 2022, it was in their first shipment of the new MK II models so it is from Rotels first production run. He also told me that they sell very few of the silver ones and there are still two more just like mine on their shelves. They have only sold 8 of the ten he ordered in the last three years, but they have a hard time keeping the black version in stock. Apparently they sell literally ten times as many black models as silver ones. I guess I'm one of the few who prefers silver over black.

He offered to exchange mine for a black one when they get them in stock or take a $200 refund. He doesn't want to order any more silver ones as he has to order a minimum of 10 and it would take a too long to sell them all and there is a very good chance Rotel will have another new model soon (possibly next year) so he would have to "fire sale" any of the older models and hope to break even.

I took the $200. I don't really care that it has been sitting for three years, I have some equipment that has been used very infrequently for the last 15 years that still work fine. The important part is the full warranty still applies and the player sounds GREAT.

Guess what? After I got off of AudioKarma Wednesday night, I checked my e-mail and found a notice that my Rotel player had been shipped out. I just got it delivered to my door about an hour ago. Cool. Now I get to hook it up and check it out. I think I'll put on some Buddy Guy tonight.