Upgrade from Rotel RCD-1072

denon 1650ar...much bigger soundstage...great value

I upgraded to a McIntosh universal player - to keep the same faceplate in my system and to add the SACD capability. The Rotel is a tough player to beat for the $$$ - either used or new.

Have you considered using the Rotel as a transport and purchase a new DAC? There are excellent DACs for under $500 and will give you the flexibility of hooking in your TV or CPU also..... I had great success using a Rotel/EAD dac combo!

Thanks folks. I get the consensus and that's kind of what I thought. The Rotel is a tough act to follow. I was thinking of the Rega Apollo. But you're right in that there's probably very little difference in performance.

I'll most likely now look elsewhere within the system for upgrading. Mik971: thanks for the recommendation about a separate DAC. Appreciate that but it's probably not a path I'll take. But I appreciate it anyway.

I'm not having any issues at all with the Rotel. None, it's perfect. It's just that I have the upgrade bug !!

Realremo: The Cambridge and Rotel units are probably comparable British designed machines. If you're thinking of either one, you will be served well by either. Thanks everyone.

I have a 1072 and enjoy it very much. I recently added a Squeezebox Touch and I cannot tell the difference between the two playing the same 16/44.1 song from the same CD, and in both cases using analog out. Yet the Touch provides so much flexibility plus ability to play 24/96 files that I now rarely turn the 1072 on at all. Even better value at $350!

My next step is an outboard DAC for both.

FWIW the rest of my system is Lamm LL2 pre, McIntosh MC275 amp, B&W804S speakers, Rel sub.