Customer Ratings & Reviews

I originally purchased the Rotel A-12 at 60 watts RMS per channel because it had all the features I was looking for - a quality DAC, front panel USB port to hardwire my iPhone, slim-line design, excellent signal-to-noise ratio, APX bluetooth, quality headphone amp and great reputation. However, I returned it and upgraded to the A 14 with 80 watts per channel. The additional 20 watts/ch. made a measurable difference, especially in the low end. With the A 14, you get an even better DAC. I have these perfectly matched with B&W 705 S2 bookshelf speakers and couldn't be happier. The sound performance in both improves after hours of listening. Yes, the combo has a break-in period.

This amplifier has a lot of features and supports all kinds of input. It looks nice and very easy to operate. I did detail A/B comparison of each of its functions vs. other equipment I have (two amplifiers, two external DACs, bluetooth receiver device, phono pre-amp, with multiple different speaker sets) What A14 does good: * Good built-in DAC. Good sound quality using as an external DAC. I compared it with Lavry DA11. The setup is CD transport -> A14 Coax (or Lavry)-> pre-out -> external amplifier. The difference between those two DACs is relatively minor. A14 DAC gives slightly more top-end extension. Lavry DA11 gave a little bit better energy and definition of the sound. * Good sound quality through USB connection What A14 does not score as expecting: * average amplifier sound quality. The amplifier output stage is rated 80W. However, the sound is on the "thin & flat" side and somewhat lack of energy. I compared it with another cheaper 50W old integrated amplifier. The setup is "CD transport -> A14 Coax -> A14 output -> speaker" vs. "CD transport -> A14 Coax -> pre-out -> the other amplifier -> speaker". A14 amplifier gave big/full 2-dimensional sound stage, and busy sound image. When switched to the other amplifier, the result is day and night difference. The sound stage is more 3-dimensional more depth, better tonal quality and sound image definition. (By the way, this was also demonstrating good capability of using A14 as a DAC.). * Bluetooth sound quality. I compared the A14 Bluetooth vs. an old Yamaha Bluetooth receiver dongle (connecting to A14 Coax). The audio quality through A14 Bluetooth is noticeably degraded vs through Yamaha dongle. * Analog pre-amp circuitry is noticeably degrading the sound quality when using analog line-in input connection. * Phono stage is nice to have. However sound quality is average. It's not to the level of entry level standalone photo, like Shiit Mani. Overall, I like the features A14 has. It could be a good fit for office room or bedroom. If putting together all the separate components to complete those features, it might cost as much. However, I feel the implementation of A14 is still not quite to my expectation.

Purchaed to drive a couple B&W 700 series speaker towers, SERIOUSLY AMAZING QUALITY AUDIO!

Great product. User friendly and the quality is great

The Rotel a14 is a great integrated amp for the money. The connectivity is great (USB, PC USB, unbalanced inputs, Bluetooth, AUX, Phono, ext), except for unbalanced input/output and a dedicated subwoofer output. The preamp output for the subwoofer connectivity works well. I originally bought the A14 do to the size and style (small, sleek, and modern). I compaired it to a pre pro rotel/anthem MCA 20 with KEF R700 series, Martin logan motion 15 (with sub KEF R400) and Martin logan Mosaic ribbon hybrid speakers. The sound on the Martin logans and both a14 and the athem amp sounded the same (great). I had an issue with the A14 driving the R700. Sound was flat, lower mids and bass missing. I am using Nordost purple flare speaker cables with direct decoding via rotel driver on PC with analysis plus USB cable (say what you want about cables, the point listing the cables was the problem of the sound was not the interconnects causing the sound issues). the R700 sensativity (85 to 87 db) is a lot lower than that of the martin logans (over 90db). I decided to biamp the A and B speaker and unhook the built in jumper cables on the back of the speakers. The result was fantastic, sound better than the Rotel/Anthem setup. Energetic deep bass, indepth detail in the mids/highs. The internal DAC is pretty good, excpecially at this price point. I would like to rate the a14 at a 4.5 star, do to not having blanced inputs and a dedicated subwoofer out. I can not justify rounding down to 4 stars.

This is a great two channel amplifier for the money I would recommend amp for your separate listening room

This receiver provides a great sound environment. The blue-tooth feature is great for streaming music . Buy it you will not regret it!