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Rotel RCD-1520

By Gary Pearce

June 2010

Rotel RCD-1520 CD player $1499

Having owned and enjoyed a pre/monoblock amplifier system from Rotel in the past, I have a lot of admiration for this almost-boutique Japanese manufacturer and their approach to the world of hi-fi and home theatre.

Their components are usually stripped of unnecessary flashing lights and useless widgets, while the better than competent build and aesthetics have been more than matched with good sound quality for the dosh.

A strange fascination

There has always been a fascination for me when stumbling across hi-fi gear that over-performs, I remind myself of a comparison a friend and I made when auditioning both our systems: mine was a modest system (including the Rotel amps) while my friends more ambitious system included Dynaudio loudspeakers and Plinius amplification.

To cut a long story short, even though the Plinius/Dynaudio system was about three times the cost, it just did things differently in terms of sound quality and didn’t embarrass my precious Rotel/Castle Harlech/Esoteric/Pink Triangle gear at all. They were in different rooms of course, but both spaces were similar and we thought highly of their acoustics and similarity to each other in terms of dimensions/floor coverings etc.

So it’s thanks to manufacturers such as Rotel for my leanings toward budget to mid-price hi-fi rather than the elusive chase for expensive audiophile esoterica. If less expensive equipment can sound so enjoyable, why pay more?

Of course being perpetually cash-strapped does me no favours either, but there is a hell of a lot of good (dare I say it – great) budget equipment out there, like Rotel’s new RCD-1520 for instance.

It’s the only CD spinner in the company’s flagship 15 series, but the RRP of $1499 has it firmly in mid-price territory. A solidly built player, the 1520 utilises a slot loading mechanism a la Mac Mini instead of a conventional tray system and is beautifully styled and engineered. Rotel opted for 24-bit Wolfson dac’s for d/a conversion (I couldn’t find any further details regarding the actual dac used) while Burr Brown op-amps have been specified due to their low distortion characteristics.

The fully featured front fascia is milled from a seemingly solid billet of aluminium, and despite having a few more buttons than expected (from an audiophile-oriented device) still managed to look extremely uncluttered. Connections on the rear panel are slightly less exciting – plain jane stereo RCA outputs are provided along with a single coaxial digital output. No XLR or toslink here folks! A 12v trigger for custom install systems is included along with a RJ45 Ethernet connector for firmware updates.

So that’s the hardware explained, all up the RCD-1520 looked beautiful in the flesh and promised much. It was now time to taste the candy and see what the flavour was like.

Of magpies and hi-fi

My magpie-like passion for HiFi knows no bounds, thus the RCD-1520 was trialled in a number of systems (just to make sure you see). The main system comprises of the following: Korsun V8i 250wpc integrated/Voigt ‘Vofo’ single driver speakers or Wharfedale Opus Ones, while the secondary system used the delightful Yarland Pro88-2SA tube integrated and TDL Studio 0.5 transmission line loudspeakers to great effect.

Cables were predominately Nordost Blue Heaven interconnect/Superflatline MK2 bi-wire speaker, with a dash of Audioquest thrown in here and there. I mounted the player on a Sole To Soul support, with the player situated on three Nordost Pulsar Points (thanks Neil).

After a suitable warm-up period it was apparent that I was listening to a pretty good CD player. The sound is perhaps a touch on the bright side, but certainly has a good deal of pep and verve. Dynamics were unrestrained and there was good definition, control and speed on tracks with complicated bass lines (like most of my CD collection to be honest)

In fact I considered the timing of the 1520 to be a touch above the average, maybe superior in fact to my much-loved Raysonic CD-128. Where it didn’t quite compete with this player was through the midband and although good, just lost out in absolute terms with an oh-so slight veiling of midband detail and emotion. The ability of the RCD-1520 to produce a soundstage was also reduced when compared with Raysonic, although the cheaper player managed to image well with a good ‘3D’ dimensionality.

Listening revealed a cracking CD player with audio performance to match those supermodel looks. Although we may be seeing the decline of the silver disc as a medium, the RCD-1520 is still a serious contender for the middleweight crown.