Rotel RA-1572MKII and RCD-1572MKII Music System Review

While there are many ways to enjoy two-channel listening, none are as tactile and interactive as spinning physical media. You can go for the full-fiddly experience and play vinyl records or enjoy the convenience of good old Redbook CDs. Rotel makes that easy and enjoyable with this reasonably-priced system.

Today, I’ll be reviewing Rotel’s latest Integrated Amplifier and CD Player, the RA-1572MKII and RCD-1572MKII, as a music system. And to set the mood, I’ll relate a short story from my recent trip to the Florida Audio Expo in Tampa.

I stopped by a room where a gentleman was giving a lecture about vinyl record production. It was fascinating to learn about all the nuances of pressing procedures, material selection, factory environmental conditions; you know, real geek stuff. Then he got to a part about record playback. It was supported by microscope photos of grooves and styli, also fascinating. Then he said, “You know, of course, that heat from the stylus to groove friction can distort the record and that it should only be played once in 24 hours, so it has time to resume its original shape.” That one got my attention. In my mind, a big neon sign lit up that read, “This is why the CD was invented.”

Of course, today, CDs are something of a retro thing too. With music streaming, USB, AirPlay, Bluetooth, and the like, physical media is fast becoming a thing of the past. But there are still many audiophiles who cling to their vinyl. And spend copious amounts of money on gear to play it.

What if you want the tactile experience of physical media without the need for disc recovery time? CDs require no such handling. Play ‘em all day every day and they never change, or wear out, or need cleaning. If you are like me and many other audio enthusiasts who have amassed a large CD collection, you can either rip them all to a server or enjoy playing them on some nice stereo gear.

Rotel has this market covered with multiple products. Today, I’ll be pairing their RCD-1572MKII CD Player with an RA-1572MKII Integrated Amplifier. While the amp has many modern abilities with its digital inputs, Bluetooth and USB, I’ll be playing two-channel Redbook CDs over an analog connection and enjoying the satisfaction of doing a few things myself. There will be no smartphone or PC. OK, I’ll try out the Bluetooth. But my focus here will be on playing shiny discs.

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The RA-1572MKII Integrated Amplifier boasts an interior built for high-end performance and an exterior that features elegant and understated styling. To ensure reliable and clean operation, it has a toroidal transformer and a Class AB amp section rated for 120wpc continuous into eight ohms. Lower impedance speakers are no problem. I ran my four-ohm Axiom LFR-1100 towers (front array only) for many hours at high volumes and barely felt any heat coming from the amp.

The DAC is a 32-bit/384kHz Texas Instruments chip tuned to produce fine detail with a wide sound stage. The digital section supports USB with MQA and MQA Studio compatibility. You can connect a PC as your source and play either stored or streamed content up to the full 32-bit/384kHz bandwidth.

The brushed aluminum front panel is well-stocked with controls and a right-sized display that shows two lines of information. The lettering is small, but I could read it from about 10 feet away. It shows the volume level, current source, and bitrate information for digital inputs. To the left is a power button ringed by a blue LED. Both it and the display can be dimmed. Below it is a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB port. Next to these are speaker A and B buttons. You can run a total of four speakers if the impedance is eight ohms or higher, or switch between two pairs. Under the display are individual buttons for the 12 inputs. This includes Bluetooth which comes in aptX and AAC flavors. To the right is a large volume dial with menu navigation buttons below.

The RA-1572MKII comes in either silver or black, my sample was silver, with a solid faceplate and smoothly rounded corners. There is plenty of ventilation on the sides and top to keep the innards cool. Even with the RCD-1572MKII CD Player stacked on top and a four-ohm speaker load, I never felt much more than room temperature coming from the grills.

The RCD-1572MKII CD Player maintains the same styling as the amplifier and the two components together make an attractive stack. It’s built like a tank with the same solid aluminum faceplate and stout chassis. Inside, you find a high-quality transport with a tray that glides in and out silently and a noiseless motor. The DAC section features the same TI chip as the RA-1572MKII. A toroidal transformer is also used here to provide clean power and perfectly smooth operation. All circuits are physically and electrically isolated to create an invisible noise floor.

The front features a metal-capped drawer in the center topped by a two-line display that shows timing and track information. To the left is the same blue-ringed power button. Both can be dimmed if you wish. Under it are three buttons that let you play random tracks, repeat a track or repeat the entire disc, and cycle the time display between elapsed, track time remaining, or disc time remaining. To the right are the transport controls.

As a music system, the RA-1572MKII and RCD-1572MKII are a perfect match. Just stack them on your favorite piece of furniture or in a rack, and connect a pair of speakers. While it is always good practice to leave an amp’s top free for airflow, I put the player on top and experienced no heat issues even at high volumes driving four-ohm speakers. The system was paired with my Axiom LFR1100s which normally require two channels of amplification apiece but for this review, I hooked up the front baffles only which effectively turns them into M100s.

To link the components, I tried a few different things. First, I connected the 12v trigger out from the amp to the player so they would turn on together. The player can be controlled with the amp’s remote but it’s not quite a plug-and-play affair. More on that in a moment.

Since the DAC chips in the two boxes are the same, I theorized that digital and analog connections would sound the same. This turned out not to be true. I was surprised to see no optical output on the CD player, so I connected them with a coax cable. This sounded good but not great; certainly not what I expected. I then tried the XLR connection using some nice cables from Blue Jeans. This woke the combination up significantly. Playing the same recording back-to-back was a completely different experience. Where the coax connection sounded compressed and small, the XLR had more presence and space, a LOT more.

With that accomplished, I experimented with the RA-1572MKII’s remote. To activate the transport controls, I pressed CD on the bottom input selector. This makes the amp’s RCA input labeled CD active. If I pressed XLR on the remote, the transport controls no longer worked. To get around this, I pressed CD on the remote, then XLR on the amp’s front. This gave me the desired operation. I was able to control the player with only the amp’s remote. Problem solved. With everything humming along, it was time to spin some shiny discs.

I’ve made no mention of disc formats thus far. The RCD-1572MKII is a Redbook CD player only. It does not play the hi-res layers from SACD, nor does it play DVD-A. It is strictly a two-channel unit, but it will play the Redbook layer of an SACD which I confirmed with a trip through my recording of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. My first impression was that the amp/player combination had a warm sound, rich with detail, and a sound stage that was just the right size. I also noticed tremendous dynamic range with extremely compelling soft sections where the strings became transparent, and the woodwinds blended with them rather than riding on top of the sound.

This prompted me to explore some of my favorite concerti, starting with the Grammy-winning CD of Strauss Wind Concertos with the Chicago Symphony. Recorded in 2001, it features horn and oboeconcertos along with the Duet Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon. The Rotel system kept the solo instruments up front without letting them bury the orchestra. The Duet is especially rife with counterpoint between the soloists and solo string instruments. This interplay was beautifully preserved. Dale Clevenger’s brassy horn sound was allowed to bloom where appropriate while his warm piano flowed smoothly.

Murray Perahia’s Beethoven Piano Concerto set is a reference recording in my library. Having just performed the Emperor Concerto (No. 5) a few weeks ago, I sat back for an even better rendition and was handsomely rewarded. Beethoven’s piano writing is percussive at times and this quality was rendered well. I could hear the hammers strike the strings during fortissimo passages while softer sections flowed as though the soloist were barely touching the keys. The orchestra is a bit recessed in these recordings, but I was still able to hear the occasional bassoon solo.

For a more bombastic representation of the orchestra, I turned to the New York Philharmonic recording of Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration in a live performance from Avery Fisher Hall. I attended concerts in this space, and it is not a kind place acoustically. Recordings made there are somewhat boxed in and small though they retain a good dynamic range. The Rotel system reproduced this quality faithfully and I suspect there is no gear that would make it sound better. The orchestra is fantastic of course, and they have adapted well to the hall. I especially enjoyed the brass section as they announced Strauss’ themes with authority. It is gratifying to know that the NY Phil is finally getting the space they deserve when the newly renovated David Geffen Hall opens for the 2022/23 season.

If your idea of the classics means Guns ‘n Roses and Led Zeppelin, Rotel has your number. The first strains of Good Times, Bad Times rang out with a clear performance of Jimmy Page’s signature guitar sound. The reverb both from the guitar amp and from the recording mix was clearly defined. John Bonham’s drums were crisp and tight with perfectly controlled bass from John Paul Jones. The second track, Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, starts with acoustic guitar which showed its percussive nature much like Murray Perahia’s piano. You could hear Page’s fingers pluck the strings.

Guns ‘n Roses created a new genre of hard rock when they released Appetite for Destruction in 1987. This is a very well-engineered album that keeps the different instruments clearly separated so they never descend into mush. Slash’s guitar sound is very distinctive as is his articulation which the opening of Sweet Child O’ Mine is a definitive example of. You can hear not only the plucking of his Les Paul’s strings but the distortion that creeps in as nearby strings are excited and resultant tones are created. This is the kind of detail that encourages one to turn up the volume.

In tribute to the Foo Fighters (RIP Taylor Hawkins), I had to listen to their acoustic performance from Hollywood’s Pantages Theater in 2006. Cold Day In The Sun is Hawkins’ chance to shine on lead vocals and his punk/grunge style shone right through a busy drum accompaniment. Dave Grohl’s backing vocals appeared at the right moments in perfect balance. Other songs like Everlong and Skin and Bones brought their acoustic guitar lines to the fore. It was easy to hear the fingerboard shifts and the difference between strings plucked by a pick or with a finger.

Compared to other high-end components I’ve heard like NAD, Hi-Fi Rose, and Anthem, the Rotel RA-1572MKII, and RCD-1572MKII combination delivers a warmer sound. That’s not to say there is a lack of detail, far from it in fact. You can hear every nuance and the dynamic range is tremendous. I was encouraged to listen to soft passages as they were presented with a fragile transparency that I found addictive. Loud sections were clean and expansive with a sound stage that was neither too broad nor too narrow. It didn’t quite go beyond the walls of my room, but it filled the space around and over my head.

For $3,200, the RA-1572MKII Integrated Amplifier and RA-1572MKII CD Player deliver high-end sound at a mid-fi price. If you want the feel of vinyl and tubes without the hassle, there is no better system.

If you go to a high-end audio show and listen to vinyl and tube components, you will be mesmerized. Some of the expensive stuff is truly compelling because it offers a different kind of sound than solid-state amps playing digital music. It’s not that it’s better, just different in a good way.

The Rotel RA-1572MKII Integrated Amplifier and RA-1572MKII CD Player deliver a very similar feel and experience at a more modest cost and without the hassle and tweaking required by old-school audio gear. CDs may be considered retro by today’s standards but there’s no denying the convenience of a format that never wears out, changes, or requires cleaning. And you don’t have to set up a CD player’s anti-skate, tracking force, or rotational speed.

Though I’ve reviewed these components as a system, they stand alone just as well. The RCD-1572MKII CD Player with its precise DAC and XLR outputs would be a great addition to any music system. And the RA-1572MKII Integrated Amplifier is a worthy and capable nerve center for any two-channel setup with its myriad of inputs and clean reliable power output.

If you’re looking for a retro two-channel experience without hassle or high cost, this Rotel combination is just the thing. Highly Recommended for those with big CD collections who love music.