Worth changing from Rotel RA-971 MKII to Cambridge Audio CXA60?

SidZoot

I observed that Bronze 2 has lot of bass, maybe a little excessive to my room, but I liking it and I am finding it defined and showing details in the bass and drums from recordings from The Smiths Hateful of Hollow that I didn't notice with AE1. But when I listen to Yes Roundabout, the bass seems a little dry. I think the midrange is a little harsh or analytical, less meat or musicality than hearing on my powered monitors.

muljao

I agree that 60w is a nice bit of power, (my amps are 45watts and can shake my house when required -or more to the point when the wife is away)and if as you say it's true rather than the exaggerated numbers sometimes spewed out by manufacturers then all the better.

I am fairly sure they would drive the emits no problem. I only made the point as I read a few times the emits are power hungry to get the best out of them, I am not sure does this just mean for volume or overall quality.

I use the bronze 2s also, and amount of bass is not really a problem, they can go low,though sometimes more than a certain speaker offers is required, I'm not sure there are any weak links as such here, just individual matching issue

Mark.Yudkin

I agree that the OP doesn't have any weak links as such. although I would contend that the speakers are where the most improvement could be achieved with a decent budget. More importantly though, I don't think either of his proposals - Rotel RA 971 mkII -> CXA60 or Monitor Audio Bronze 2  -> Dynaudio Emit M20 - will achieve much, even though the Emits would be an upgrade. Interestingly , I'd have thought that the AE1 MKIII's would have run hoops around both the MA's and the Dynaudio's.

The midrange will likely improve when the speakers run in.

SidZoot

That's exactly my main doubt: If the amplifier power output is responsible for the overall quality of the speaker or if any speaker asks for a simple recommended minimum power required.

muljao

Can I ask if you like studio monitors, why are you not going down that route

SidZoot

Because of previous great reviews and also it's price, I thought the AE1 would be the final speaker. But I always found it very different from my powered monitors, in the sense of details and also bass achieved. But in the overall it offered a very pleasing experience. But it definitely sounds different from the Bronze 2. I can tell for sure that the Bronze 2 offers a very detailed bass response. I am rediscovering some records. For example, The Smith's Hateful of Hollow recent remaster, I'm noticing great details of bass and drums. Also, I can tell now the difference between records that have overall less bass frequencies than others.

Anyway, I will try a momentary change between the AE1 and a friend of mine Dynaudio 2/6, that also got great reviews on past articles, this weekend. I will tell here what I found.

SidZoot

That's a good question. I thought of that at first, but then I noticed that I would need a mixer to link CD player, dvd player and computer. I could use the Rotel as a simple preamp, as it has preamp output, but I would need another pair of quality RCA/P10 cables, and would need to power at least four devices to listen to music.

So I opted for the Bronze 2, that got a great review at What Hi Fi, got it at an accessible price here in Brasil. I think that I am finding the Bronze 2 has more similarities to my monitors. So I can hear a mix in my studio and in my room without much difference.

SidZoot

So I compared my Monitor Audio Bronze 2 with Dynaudio 2/6. Firstly, i found that the Dynaudios worked very well with Rotel, despite being 6 ohms, sounding powerful and musical, and I kept Rotel's volume knob at the nearly the same position that I keep when connected to Bronze 2.

Then I tried to compare Dynaudio with Bronze 2, using some tracks from Smith's 'Hateful of Hollow' 2011 remaster CD and Yes 'Fragile' 2003 remaster.

Maybe because of it's smaller woofer size, Dynaudio 2/6 seemed to sound overall better to my small and acoustically untreated room. It sounded full even at low volume, giving a general sense of presence, and it has musical midrange and highs.

Bronze 2 seems to sound better, or fuller, when I pushed the amp to a little louder volume. But to my surprise, the bass sounded surprisingly more defined. I could easily hear more bass details from 'This Charming Man', and more defined drums from 'How Soon Is Now', even distinguished the kick drum and snare despite the heavy reverb effect. And could hear more defined bass from Yes 'Fragile' album also.

I know I am comparing two different classes of speakers, with different original prices, but found the Bronze 2 a 'no turning back' point because of the surprising low end definition. So now I am curious to hear a smaller Monitor Audio speaker. Well, I think the search for an ideal audio system will never end. But will keep the Rotel amp.

SidZoot

Hello everyone. Sorry for resurrecting this post after two years. I finally got a good deal on the Dynaudio Emit 20 and bought it, and found it very pleasing. It has plenty of bass and is detailed. Also, it pairs well with my Rotel 971 MkII. For a while I got satisfied with this setup. Problem is, this year Rotel had to be serviced two times because of faulty internal components. It's working fine now, but maybe it's time to take a chance with a new amplifier. So my question is the same as the two years old original post. Is Cambridge Audio CXA 60 worth as a Rotel 971 substitute (I could have tried the Rega Brio, that seems to be well regarded, but read on manual that it gets very hot with 4 ohms speakers, so I unfortunately had to discard this option). Or any other option on the cambridge or marantz price range?

Costello

I’ve been running a Rega Brio and the remarks about it running hot are nonsense. Yes, it runs warm  like many other electrical appliances and every other amp but not hot. It’s a cracking amp with plenty of power. Selling mine here:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                For Sale - Rega Brio - Excellent Condition - Boxed                                                                                                        Selling my Rega Brio. In excellent condition: no marks or blemishes anywhere. Comes complete with all original packaging and accessories including remote control. Photos tomorrow. £450 including delivery. No offers. Thanks for looking.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                www.avforums.com