Are Rotel amps and preamps any good?

Someone once said, "Rotel designs their products from the outside in."

Never heard a Rotel preamp that sounded good but I do like their power amps!

They're ok. No big deal though.

Rotel is a good midend brand. This is where I started and I've gone higher up in chain. Never looking back. But if you are coming from popular store brands (sony, pioneer, onkyo, yamaha, denon), Rotel would be a huge upgrade.

To my ears, Rotel has both good and bad traits:

THE GOOD:
-Very good build quality and attractive looking faceplates
-Crystal clear and sometimes "glass-like" clarity
-Hyped up detail
-Soundstage is very forward, like you're in the front row

THE BAD:
-Voiced to sound dynamic (can be good or bad depending on perspectives)
-A bit too forward in the upper-mids/treble
-Not enough wamrth
-Bass is lacking in texture and definition

Another area of bad is that all-in-one Rotel systems are usually set up with B&W speakers. Depending on the B&W speaker demonstrated, it can bring out all of the negative traits in Rotel.

Pair Rotel with speakers on the warm side, and those without metal dome tweeters.