rotel rb980bx power amp mixed with older pre design

[Guest denmarkdrivers]

Hi just wanted to share a story, I had some credit left from my audio shop on defective pair of speakers i returned ( bw 220i bw doesnt make parts for them anymore) The 220s are a pair i owned before i bought the 630i, the model wich was replaced by the current 603's wich i have not heard yet.

I finally decied to spend my credit on a newer power amp , rotel PB-980bx

It was in the used section they said it sold for 600 new and it has a slight scract on corner of face plate , they wanted 275 bucks for it so i bought it with the credit i had left over not exspecting it to make much of a change in my system, boy was i wrong.

The hk twin powered 730 reciever i was using has removeable pre to amp jacks so i was able to use it as a tuner and pre amp and have the rotel as my power amp, but i wasent really exspecting it to outperform the amp section in the hk, but it did by a long shot.

It even made the BW 630is purr with effortless bliss and great range, i was previously unhappy with the 630s on a certain level but changing the amp changed the way i feel about thoose pair of speakers, the 630's used to seem kinda harsh with the hk as the power and pre, lots of range but harsh at moderate to loud levels, but with the rotel it seems to have slightly more range and even more important to me it was smooth effortless clear as a bell strong but not squared off as high and low volume levels.

Guess im a little surpized because i tried to many newer combinations and older recivers to beat the HK twin powered reciver and for my price range i coudlent seem to do it.

I guess it still retained some of the 730s qualities because im using it as a pre amp but it really sounds totally differnt.

It also made the dynaco A25s sound better, it seems now i really like the B&w's a bit more as they no longer sound harsh to me .

Allthough i still like the A25s on some levels ( old rock ).

The b&ws deginately have more range.

With the right pre amp the the PB-980BX rotel power amp is a winner for what i paid for it. ( opinion)

Just thought i would share that story

Have a great one craig

[Guest russwollman]

I had the same thing happen a few times.

I had a succession of turntables. The Garrard SL95B (with afrormosia wood in the tonearm!) was much better than whatever was before. Then a Dual 1229 put the Garrard to shame. The Dual didn't produce rumble; the Garrard was like a garbage truck. Later, I had a simple Sony direct-drive gizmo, made entirely of plastic, not ordinary plastic though, but something for which Sony made tantalizing claims. Technically, it seemed ideal. But when I bought a Rega Planar 2, I found out the Sony was almost a fraud. That Rega was lovely in every respect: glass platter, stunning simplicity, and so faithful to what was on the LPs that I couldn't believe it. Rega's philosophy was measuring a TT's performance with instruments was not meaningful. It made a huge amount of sense.

Some days I want to have a Rega again just to savor its elegant simplicity. But CDs have got to be one of the most elegant developments in audio, though they lack the romantic, hypnotic magic of the turntable.

[Guest denmarkdrivers]

i have a dual 1229Q .......... lucky resale find............ I think it needs a new wheel because you have to set pitch above normal to get normal speed ...... This turntable blows any turntable i've even owned including my dual 506...... i love it and share your love for the 1229Q.... it just sounds so smooth and effortless