I bought it brand new for around $60 from K&L Sound in Watertown, Massachusetts, with money saved from my after-school job building shelves, sweeping floors, and punching holes in sheet metal panels that would become the very first ARP synthesizers. (The late Alan R. Pearlman was my next door neighbor and a lovely, kind, brilliant guy.)
With a pair of old Electrovoice speakers inherited from my employer and a Garrard turntable harvested from an abandoned console, that little Rotel served me through college and beyond. It was compact, simple, and unadorned, with screw-terminal speaker outputs and, if I remember right, four inputs, including both “Mag” and “Xtal” phono jacks—so much tech! I wish I could remember what became of it, but I like to think that somewhere it's still playing music.
Back then, Rotel was an all but unknown, mostly O.E.M. Japanese audio electronics manufacturer, relegated to the lower shelves beneath the flashier Kenwood and Sansui models. Fast-forward a few decades—okay, more than a few—to the Rotel of today, a globally established serious-audio brand, audiophile-approved for its performance-first corporate philosophy and resistance to the regular model-year changes and features-driven marketing that are as prevalent today in audio as in many other consumer products.
Denne historien er fra October - November 2021-utgaven av Sound & Vision.
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Denne historien er fra October - November 2021-utgaven av Sound & Vision.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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The Big Clean
Chances are you probably do not think about the state of your electronic devices too often. Oh, you might think about all the upgrades you would like to make; where you would put those new tower speakers, or how a second or third subwoofer would really tame those bass modes in your room, or how much more cinematic a larger screen would be. Sure, you think about that part of your system. But how often do you think about the well-being of your system?
Planar-Magnetic Attraction
THE DIPTYQUE DP 115 speakers are a new model 2-way, ribbon, and planar magnetic driver dipole \"isodynamic\" speaker system designed and built in France.
Full-Featured 4K
THE QN95D is one of two televisions we went hands-on with on a recent trip to Samsung's New Jersey QA Lab, the other being the S95D quantum-dot OLED.
Party Animal
FOR ANY party, the Soundcore Boom 2 Plus Outdoor Bass Bluetooth Speaker is an essential invite.
It's the End of the World. How About Popcorn and a Movie?
Attention all preppers! Today's column is right up your alley-or, more precisely-your tunnel to your underground bunker.
Bridging the Analog-Digital Gap on a Recliner
When I shopped for a motorized recliner, I rejected models with their own Internet Protocol address and built-in speakers. No need. I had already placed a smart speaker on an étagère beside the space where I had planned to put the chair. I'd have a smartphone in my hand and the room would be bathed in Wi-Fi.
BACK TO THE GARDEN
AN AQUARIAN EXPOSITION in WHITE LAKE, N.Y.
Big Sound, Small Price
DOLBY ATMOS, once a costly premium, is enjoying a surge of popularity across a range of new audio gear.
Classic Sound with Streaming Smarts
THE TWENTIETH century had its Roaring Twenties; welcome to the twenty-first's Streaming Twenties.
Stand and Deliver
IT DOESN'T seem all that long ago that SVS first entered the audio scene.