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Rotel RX 1603

Giang Le

Giang Le

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Hi everyone, I just want to ask if a asking price of $800 is fair for a Good Working Rotel RX 1603? I want to know how much it's worth, since I have never seen on on the bay in good working condition. I am debating as to buy this or the Concept 16.5. Their both ultra rare and legendary receivers.
 
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I sold one on the bay for 995. Was super clean, new lights and cleaned controls, a little over a year ago
 
I bought one off the bay about 4 years ago that was in good working order, according to the seller. It didn't work...I had to have ebay settle the dispute and get my money refunded. It was too bad, I really liked the receiver. I have a couple of Rotel pieces that I've gotten on-line that have had issues. I just have bad luck with this brand.:dunno:
 
Difficult choice. The Rotel briefly held the most powerful receiver in the world title and really is a delight to own. It looks and feels like a piece of lab equipment which to me separates the Rotel from the pack. The 16.5 is one of the very few dual transformer receivers made and it is the only one that was well made (sorry Winntec R-1120 fans). The 16.5 sound is the closest to separates of all the monster receivers I've owned and heard and that is just about all of them. I have only two monster receivers left and they are the Rotel and 16.5.
 
My tracking spreadsheet shows an average selling price of $627 over 14 examples with a high of $1025 and a low of $341, so $800 for an RX-1603 in good working condition is most likely a reasonable asking price these days for a vintage TOTL receiver. If can you get the Concept 16.5 for similar money, you may like it better and they usually go for more $$ than the Rotels. I had a Rotel RX-803 that was very nice, but could not compete with my Concept 11.0.
 
The muscularity of the 16.5 is indeed nice. However, I had to let mine go due to it's inherent mediocre phono stage, and it's tuner is not as top notch as other monster receivers of the era, both aspects of the preamplifier side that I use frequently. There's more factors to consider than just the power amplifier build quality side of an all-in-one receiver package deal. Power is not everything in the end.
 
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