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By: Barabas
18th Jun 2022
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"RA-820AX"
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A nice sounding amplifier it is. Most about it has already been written in the other reviews: it's dynamic, neutral, transparent, plus I like it has tone defeat, a minimal number of buttons and a phono input. Only rated as 30W/channel but I'm using it to drive B&W Matrix 1 series 2 and/ or a pair of Linn Tukan. Both speakers that are not that easy to drive but this Rotel has no problem with them. I also have a NAD 314 which is powerfull enough but by comparison has (much) less bass, which might be good in combination with big bassy floorstanders but for compact speakers I prefer the Rotel. The phono stage is high quality and superb sounding as well! Do take into account that the 4 biggest capacitors (2 x 6800uf 50v & 2 x 470uf 25v) need to be repaced if they aren't already (I used 2 x 10000uf 63v & 2 x 470uf 25v). Easy and well worth to maintain/ repair and highly recommended.
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26 people liked this review.
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By: Vinnie
21st Aug 2017
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"Rotel RA-820AX"
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So I picked one of these up recently with a RCD-855 cd player, this little amplifier is amazing, I've been running a top end Denon AV amp with 140 watts rms 8ohm per channel and this amp sounds better than it, I'm feeding it through a pair of Yamaha Soavo 3 speakers, around £2000 worth when new and I just can't believe how well this little amp drives them, surreal is all I can say, Bags of bottom end, great sound stage, clarity etc, If you pick one of these up and the sound is lacking it will be the source or the speakers that are the problem and not this amp unless it needs servicing, and oh yes it is worth servicing, Highly recommended and punches far far above its price and age and rated at 30 watts per channel rms has to be a joke, it seems far higher to me anyway.
I tested it out for a few hours with my main test cd's, albums I know very well and they all sounded great through it with this amplifier, a very surprising result for me, I'm kind of in shock at how good it is.
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69 people liked this review.
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By: FD
13th Aug 2017
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"RA-820AX"
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A terrific little amp which reviewed very well at the time of its release and was at the top of the list in its price bracket in terms of quality. I bought mine new from Richer Sounds back in 1991. It's a solid wee beast that had a higher build and sound quality than the NAD amps which dominated the field of entry-level hi-fi in the late 1980s / early 1990s. After a few years in "fallow" due to one of the channels dropping out, I resurrected mine with a few squirts of DeoxIT (the main problem being the input selector switch). It sounded OK for about six months and then an internal fuse started repeatedly blowing. A check under the hood identified two of the 25 year old electrolytic capacitors oozing splooge (including the main power cap). I replaced those and the corresponding caps for the other channel to keep things balanced (2 x 6800uf 50v & 2 x 470uf 25v). The underside of the board is easily accessible by removing an access panel on the underside. What a difference! Tight bass, great soundstage; I'm still impressed with what this amplifier can do.
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91 people liked this review.
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By: Y Chan
14th Feb 2015
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"An old friend"
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Two years ago I replaced my 820AX with an Exposure 1010 as the Rotel was playing up with one channel not working occasionally. I have kept the Rotel and today I decided to have a play with it, and miraculously it worked perfectly. The sound that's coming out of this beauty caught me by surprise as being quite good compared to the Exposure. There's lots more bass and sounds relatively warmer than the Exposure, although it has slightly less detail.
So now I'm going to permanently hook up the Rotel to my system and use it whenever I feel like having a change from the Exposure.
A little beauty she is, now around 20 years old, I think!
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36 people liked this review.
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By: Frank de Wit
29th Nov 2014
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"A perfect friend"
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I started out with this amp as the heart of my system. Times changed, and I needed to upgrade to surround, because I love watching movies. It turned out to be a NAD T753, which still works great. But I kept the Rotel RA-820AX as my PC amp, in combination with a Terratec Aureon USB sound card. I listen to it with my AKG K172 HD headphones or Behringer B2030P speakers, and in both cases it sounds amazing. The sound stage is still completely satisfying, with rich deep base, sparkling highs, a strong presence of voices, and a huge dynamic range. I will never need anything new to get this kind of sound on my head. I should probably get it revised soon though, because the switches are very dirty and they cause some problems. If you ever get the chance to buy one of these second hand, don´t hesitate, this is perfectly reliable amp with a great sound.
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62 people liked this review.
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By: Incey da Guv'nor
14th Jan 2014
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"Rotel RA-820AX"
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I too have owned one of these beauties since 1989 (a replacement for my first ever amp, a Yamaha AX300) when I was 19 years old. I vaguely remember paying the good folks at Billy Vee in London £150 (approx) for it a few weeks before returning to purchase my Rega Planar 3 (which was initially fitted with a Linn K5 cartridge) which I still use as my primary source to this day! I cannot overstate the joy I have had listening to my vinyl collection through this high-class, budget performer over the past two decades.
I recently took the fairly emotional step of deciding a newer amplifier was the order of the day due to the failings of the input selector that others appear to have had a similar experience with. Initially I was tempted by the Rotel RA-10 for obvious reasons but plumped for the Marantz PM6005. I was immediately impressed by the way the Marantz was able to 'open up' my Mordaunt Short MS35Ti Mk II speakers as I've always felt that perhaps the RA820AX was a little restrained at the extreme high and low ends. A few weeks on and I'm starting to miss the 'hi-fi' quality of the Rotel albeit that I am far from missing the aforementioned 'juggling' with the input selector that drove my decision to make the change in the first place. But for this, I would certainly be using my Rotel RA820AX still. Sadly, it is now confined to a box in a cupboard.
However, unless there was a significant (perhaps technical) reason to do so, I would suggest saving your money and admiring the Rotel until flood waters, burglars or some other unforeseeable circumstance (or substantial upgrade to a Naim, for instance) prevented you from doing just that.
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61 people liked this review.
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By: David
1st May 2011
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"The old RA-820AX still lives"
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This amp has been superb for me also. I bought it from Richer Sounds when it was first released. I still use it now. The overall sound quality is superb. It delivers nice punchy bass and a good clear defined range with my Tannoy AC2000s. Yes, I agree. The only thing that is starting to fail is the tone knob and the selector. You can still get all channels after a bit of juggling though. Am sure a squirt with electrical spray on the contacts would have it back to as good as new though.
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30 people liked this review.
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By: fernando
8th Jan 2011
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"one of the best buy group"
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I bought this amp in 1989 and still using it. It has good sound stage and good from bass to treble. The speakers I use is the Musical Fidelity MC4. They sound very good. The only little drawback is the selector become not good, you may need to turn it a few times to make good contact.
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34 people liked this review.
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By: John
11th Feb 2010
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"Still Going Strong"
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I've had this amp from new and currently use it to power monitors for recording.
It has a clear transparent sound that is so enjoyable to listen to. I prefer this to my two other amps, a NAD and a Cambridge Audio.
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51 people liked this review.
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