Company History

Rotel is a company we know well. Started by Mr. Tomoki “Tac” Tachikawa, the company began modifying televisions from the US to work in the Japanese market. After a company reorganization in 1961, Rotel went into the audio OEM business. After years of perfecting in-house designs, the company decided to go into business under its own name to make high-end but affordable audio. Rotel knew that there were a lot of products out there in the ’70s that were marketed on features instead of sound quality. Instead of following that trend, they focused on three basic principles: musical accuracy, build quality, and affordability. Rotel knew there was a market for audio products that performed admirably and did not cost a fortune. Designing and building many parts in-house allowed them to do just that. Several generations later, Rotel is still manufacturing high-quality, great-sounding products built to last.

Features and Technology

With the success of their first fully integrated streaming amplifier in the Rotel S14, Rotel knew they wanted to up the performance with their next model. The RAS-5000 is a full-featured streaming amplifier that combines this technology with a “separates” quality amplifier section.

Rotel has many years of experience making amplifiers. Their designs have been the hallmark of affordable, high-quality amplification. The RAS-5000 uses a Rotel-manufactured large oversized toroidal power transformer and a full bank of stiffening capacitors. These components ensure that the rated power is met while having extra power in reserve for more complex or dynamic music passages. This gives peace of mind, knowing that any realistic volume will not tax the amplifier nor put undue stress on your speakers due to amplifier clipping or distortion. Rated at 140 Watts/ch at 8 ohms and 220 Watts/ch at 4 ohms, there is plenty of power available for any speaker system likely to be paired with the RAS-5000. This also gives scalability because you could have a smaller apartment system right now, but should you move to a larger room, the RAS-5000 will have no problem moving to larger speakers. The RAS-5000 also has a single separate subwoofer RCA jack, should you want or need to add a subwoofer to the system.

In today’s world of digital music, you need a component that can handle the various delivery methods people use for their content. Apple AirPlay, Chromecast, Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, and Roon are all invited to the party. This allows you to use your phone, iPad, or PC/Mac to control the music playback, sending the data to the RAS-5000 for processing through the network. This lets you use the same apps you use for on-the-go listening with the RAS-5000.

Rotel does offer its own app to use when you want to listen to internet radio (through Airable), and most importantly, this gives users the ability to have direct access to Qobuz high-resolution streams. This is very important as Qobuz has yet to come out with its own “connect” app to allow direct connection to your network. While most people will connect the RAS-5000 through their favorite streaming apps directly, having a dedicated easy-to-use app through the RAS-5000 will give even more usability options for getting your music.

For music stored locally, Rotel has you covered. With a PC/USB type-B input (up to 24-bit/384kHz), you can connect your desktop, laptop, or Mac to the RAS-5000 and use its internal DAC to process your music from the player app of choice (Windows PCs need to install the Rotel Driver for this function). Also, there is a USB type-A connector should you have an external hard drive or flash drive with music files.

Having Bluetooth included is an essential feature for many people who want a method to connect their devices that is both quick and easy. While it will not have the quality of a network or wired connection, the performance will still be excellent and should be fine for casual listening or party situations. The RAS-5000 supports traditional Bluetooth, AAC, and aptX™ HD Bluetooth audio streaming.

For the people who have extensive CD collections and a good CD player or anything with a legacy digital output, Rotel thought about you, too. With Toslink and coax digital inputs (up to 24-bit/192kHz), the RAS-5000 can adapt to any digital source component using the internal DAC to improve the sound. If you have a CD player with an excellent internal DAC or a turntable and phono preamp in your system, the auxiliary RCA inputs will allow you to connect these sources. This is good news, seeing that the compact disk is going through its renaissance, much like vinyl, which has been growing in popularity for years.

HDMI eARC has become a preferred way to connect a television to your audio system. This will allow the RAS-5000 to be controlled by the television for power, volume, and mute. you can easily connect an HDMI cable between the television and the RAS-5000 for a high-quality two-channel audio option. This connection is faster and more capable than an optical connection. But remember, if you have an older television with only an optical output option, the RAS-5000 has that too!

Performance

Unboxing the RAS-5000, we were shown that Rotel protects its units in shipping and that the packaging is well thought out and executed. Taking it out of the box, we looked at the overall build quality and front panel layout of the RAS-5000. The build quality is the standard Rotel quality, having a great fit and finish.

The front panel is well laid out with a simplified look that allows us easy access to the settings. Using the controls under the volume button, we could easily navigate the settings on the screen, allowing us to set up the network, streaming settings, and audio settings. The input buttons are on the front panel under the display and have one button for each input, which is a nice touch and easy to navigate. The standby power button on the left of the front panel has a quality feel to it as well as the volume adjustment knob on the right. The rear panel connections are well-spaced and allow us easy access to our audio and network connections. The remote control for the RAS-5000 is laid out the same as the Rotel S14 we reviewed, so we were very familiar with the layout of the buttons.

Connecting the RAS-5000 to our network was either a network cable or a straightforward WiFi setup away and allowed us to connect to the unit with our Roon setup for testing. This was as simple as going into the Roon settings and finding the Rotel on the streaming output menu. The last step was to connect our speaker cables to the excellent quality binding posts that accept banana or spade connectors, and we were ready to do some listening.

Roon: Everything You Need to Know

Nirvana’s 1993 album “In Utero 30th Anniversary Super Deluxe” is a classic album from the 90s that is always a fun and exciting listening experience. Bob Weston took the helm at mastering this edition and seemed to have done an excellent job. On the Rotel RAS-5000, this album came alive and allowed us to hear the excitement in this album. The RAS-5000 has the power to bring music alive with about any speaker out there that is in the Rotel’s price class. The bass was tight and clean, with the punch that high-powered solid-state is known for. The midrange brought vocals to life and let the guitars show their detail without any grain or brightness associated with lesser amplifiers. High frequencies were smooth yet detailed, allowing us to hear Dave Grohl’s dynamic drum work. The internal streamer and DAC inside the RAS-5000 had good detail while keeping things smooth and musical. Yes, you could spend more on a separate DAC and beat this performance, but that would go against the whole design goals for this amplifier. This is designed to be a one-and-done solution for folks who don’t want the complexity and cables associated with separate components.

Black Puma’s 2023 album “Chronicles of a Diamond” is an excellent sit-back and chill type of album. We chose this album not only because it represents some of the new music coming out today but also because it represents the type of recordings that are popular today. These newer albums are dynamically limited and cranked up to the limit in the mastering process. This allows us to see how this RAS-5000 handles a “loudness war” type of recording since most users of stereo equipment today will run into such recordings. Even though the album itself is a loud recording with some parts that almost sound clipped, the RAS-5000 kept its composure fully, letting us enjoy the music. The song “Mrs. Postman” has a great rhythm section and vibe that sounded great on the Rotel. The vocals had clarity and drive, and the Bass was punchy and detailed without losing the natural tone. The imaging was solid, and the soundstage was as wide as the music let it be. Again, in its price class, the RAS-5000 is only beaten handily by much more expensive and complex systems.

Overall Recommendation

For someone looking for a simple all-in-one amplifier that handles all of your digital music needs, has a legacy RCA input for a phono preamp or CD player, and is easy to set up and use, the Rotel RAS-5000 hits all the right notes. Rotel’s high build quality with a very powerful class A/B amplifier section opens up the speaker selection possibilities. It has more than enough power for about any speaker you choose at this price level. We really liked our time with the Rotel RAS-5000, and we would recommend anyone looking for a simple-to-use streaming integrated amplifier to give it a look.

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