Older Rotel amp

[Don Harris]

Hi all -
I have an older 2ch amp 100wpc Rotel RB-870BX. Would I benefit sound wise if I went to a newer 100wpc amp? I guess what I'm saying, do amps loos their oomph?

Thanks,
Don

 

[mike c]

I don't think so.

if you want an upgrade, jump to a 200wpc amp / 380wpc or their new 500wpc class D amp

 

[3x10^8]

As long as you change the oil every 3000 miles, you should be fine.

 

[zildjian]

Your "old" Rotel shoud be fine. For amps to begin to age, I think they generally have to have long long periods of inactivity (the capacitors will begin to equilize), and of course, the amps have to be pretty old themselves for the caps to not recover from just repowering up. I have only experienced this with some of my vintage gear, and recap'ing them isn't very expensive. Some of my gear from the 70's that I don't use anymore I leave turned on for a few hours every once in a while to help keep the caps up. I could be crazy for doing this (if so, I'll add it to the list), but it seems logical. My Parasound amp from 1989 or 90 still sounds fine too. If you were going to get a new amp, you don't need to do it just to get a newer amp. Like mike c said, if you were to upgrade, do it if you need more power.
Brad

 

[BC Dave]

lots of oomph

Hi,

Ironically I picked up your model of amplifier on Sunday to power a passive VMPS subwoofer. It is being run in bridged mono and the bass is extremely deep and full. This amplifier is perfect for my needs. I purchased a Behringer A500 at a music store on Saturday and took it home, all excited, only to find that all it would produce is a loud 60-cycle hum when connected to the sub-out of my Denon receiver. This is the second Behringer piece that has behaved this way. So, out with the Behringer and in with the Rotel. Dead quiet, runs quite cool and has bags of power. It's got my vote!