What would you choose: Rotel RCD-1070 or Music Hall MMF CD25?
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LordOfTRings
Be Cool with the Blues
Rotel RCD-1070. ...Because it's an excellent performing CD player, and it is reliable.
- Well built and balanced (musical & natural & smooth).
But that's me.
* Roughly $250 (used market).
______________
BUT! The MMF CD25 is another excellent CD player (roughly $350 on the used market), and at 17 pounds it is also very well built.
And the CD transport is a very good one (Philips). I believe that the CD25 uses the same DAC (B-B PCM-1732) as in the Rotel, but two of them.
*** Best is to listen to both of them in your own system; I think it's a tough call afterall.
- Unfortunately I did not have the chance to compare these two excellent players together in my own system.
Man, that's a tough question you just asked!
- Well built and balanced (musical & natural & smooth).
But that's me.
* Roughly $250 (used market).
______________
BUT! The MMF CD25 is another excellent CD player (roughly $350 on the used market), and at 17 pounds it is also very well built.
And the CD transport is a very good one (Philips). I believe that the CD25 uses the same DAC (B-B PCM-1732) as in the Rotel, but two of them.
*** Best is to listen to both of them in your own system; I think it's a tough call afterall.
- Unfortunately I did not have the chance to compare these two excellent players together in my own system.
Man, that's a tough question you just asked!
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Brett a
~◦●○o0o○●◦~
I had a Rotel RCD-1070 from when it was new in 2002 (wedding gift) until a year or two ago when I replaced it with an RCD-991AE.
It's hard to know what would be helpful to to tell you b/c it so depends on where you're coming from and where you're going.
It was the first CD player I ever got that was better than the average $30 yard sale player. And it was like crack or whatever. You can't unhear that sh*t. I had no idea all that smooth resolution was on those little silver discs! But that experience is very much relative to what I had heard up to that point.
The Rotel delivered clear, full-scale images across a cohesive soundstage. It didn't seem to have any bad habits; no etch or glare and good bass extension. I used it with a few different integrated amps over the years and with different speakers too and it always resolved well enough to evaluate any changes downstream.
All this to say, I really liked that Rotel. I kept it a long, long time. In fact, it was the last thing I upgraded. Everything around that Rotel got better and better and it held its own right up to the point where I took a casual listen to the RCD 991.
Once I heard the RCD-991AE in my system, it was an easy decision to sell the RCD-1070 and buy the 991 even though it was about 4 years older. The 991 has all the strengths of the 1070 but has a better ability to open up the soundstage and also fill out the images of individual instruments.
I sold the 1070 to an appreciative friend for $225 and bought the 991 for $325 used from my local shop.
All this to say. I've enjoyed Rotel CD players and would recommend one. The 1070 is a very, very good player IMO. It was at $600+ new, and it's only a better deal at current used prices. And if you can afford a bit more for an RCD-991, that's worth the extra stretch. But if not, there's no reason I can think of why you should feel anything but excited to have a 1070.
(BTW, I did have to change the load belt for the door of the 1070 after about 8 years. The belt was available from Rotel and came with a clear, color PDF set of instructions. (It's uploaded here in digital docs I believe)
It's hard to know what would be helpful to to tell you b/c it so depends on where you're coming from and where you're going.
It was the first CD player I ever got that was better than the average $30 yard sale player. And it was like crack or whatever. You can't unhear that sh*t. I had no idea all that smooth resolution was on those little silver discs! But that experience is very much relative to what I had heard up to that point.
The Rotel delivered clear, full-scale images across a cohesive soundstage. It didn't seem to have any bad habits; no etch or glare and good bass extension. I used it with a few different integrated amps over the years and with different speakers too and it always resolved well enough to evaluate any changes downstream.
All this to say, I really liked that Rotel. I kept it a long, long time. In fact, it was the last thing I upgraded. Everything around that Rotel got better and better and it held its own right up to the point where I took a casual listen to the RCD 991.
Once I heard the RCD-991AE in my system, it was an easy decision to sell the RCD-1070 and buy the 991 even though it was about 4 years older. The 991 has all the strengths of the 1070 but has a better ability to open up the soundstage and also fill out the images of individual instruments.
I sold the 1070 to an appreciative friend for $225 and bought the 991 for $325 used from my local shop.
All this to say. I've enjoyed Rotel CD players and would recommend one. The 1070 is a very, very good player IMO. It was at $600+ new, and it's only a better deal at current used prices. And if you can afford a bit more for an RCD-991, that's worth the extra stretch. But if not, there's no reason I can think of why you should feel anything but excited to have a 1070.
(BTW, I did have to change the load belt for the door of the 1070 after about 8 years. The belt was available from Rotel and came with a clear, color PDF set of instructions. (It's uploaded here in digital docs I believe)
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js bach
Active Member
LordOfTRings
Be Cool with the Blues
That's good. ...Read the pro reviews, some are quite interesting. ...Also what various people are saying at various audio forums.
But like I said before; they are both very good.
And I also agree with the above poster (Brett) regarding the Rotel RCD-991 (me too I own that one).
$250 for the Music Hall CD25 is I believe an excellent deal (audiophile CD player; Class B from Stereophile). ...Read some more, in comparison to the Rotel RCD-991 and all that jazz.
* Many reviews are available on the cd25, and quite something.
(There is also the cd25.2; version 2 I figure, with the Philips VAM 1202/19 transport and a Burr-Brown PCM-1738 24/192 DAC - reviewed by Sam Tellig at Stereophile.}
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LordOfTRings
Be Cool with the Blues
Some reading ...
I also own the RCD-971 (along with the RCD-991); both I love (991 more).
_____________________
Some interesting reading:
* http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/musichall/cd25.html
* http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/musichall/cd25.2.html
* http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_11_2/music-hall-mmf-cd25-cd-player-4-2004.html
* http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/musichall_cd252.htm
* http://www.highfidelityreview.com/music-hall-cd25-2-cd-player.html
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** http://www.audioasylum.com/reviews/Cd-Player-Recorder/Rotel/RCD-991/general/29931.html
Happy Reading!
I also own the RCD-971 (along with the RCD-991); both I love (991 more).
_____________________
Some interesting reading:
* http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/musichall/cd25.html
* http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/musichall/cd25.2.html
* http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_11_2/music-hall-mmf-cd25-cd-player-4-2004.html
* http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/musichall_cd252.htm
* http://www.highfidelityreview.com/music-hall-cd25-2-cd-player.html
______
** http://www.audioasylum.com/reviews/Cd-Player-Recorder/Rotel/RCD-991/general/29931.html
Happy Reading!
