Red Dwarf Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I've been lurking in the background for some time but never really thought to share my setup... I'm a confirmed 2-channelafile as my preference is for audio rather than movies... (despite the presence of a 40" Samsung in the lounge ) As for the system well as you can see from the signature I have a thing for Rotel... or at least that's the way it's turned out! The 991 is a very capable CD player but I have plans to add a Rega Saturn sometime this year (just don't tell my wife! ). The Planar 2 will always be in the system as I have very fond memories of my humble beginnings in the world of HiFi... So I guess I'll end up with a Rega front end! I've listened to a fair few pre/power amp combinations (at least where my budget allows me to play!) and I still think the 995 more than holds its own, it's an absolute gem!... and paired with a couple of 981s I certainly have no complaints about quality of reproduction... The Castles were an absolute steal... I've previously owned Castles and after dusting the system off after being in storage for a while I started hunting for another pair... You'll probably think I'm slightly nuts but TradeMe does occasionally throw up something very special... New... for less than 1/3 of the retail price!!! The sound is to me very close to perfect... There are a couple of things I need to sort out. One is the cable situation... The speaker cables are way too long for the current set-up ... and everything is (on tiles) on the floor as I need to sort out furniture for it If I can figure out how to attach photos I'll post a couple for laughs.. Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonto Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Red Dwarf;93354 wrote: I've been lurking in the background for some time but never really thought to share my setup... I'm a confirmed 2-channelafile as my preference is for audio rather than movies... (despite the presence of a 40" Samsung in the lounge ) As for the system well as you can see from the signature I have a thing for Rotel... or at least that's the way it's turned out! The 991 is a very capable CD player but I have plans to add a Rega Saturn sometime this year (just don't tell my wife! ). The Planar 2 will always be in the system as I have very fond memories of my humble beginnings in the world of HiFi... So I guess I'll end up with a Rega front end! I've listened to a fair few pre/power amp combinations (at least where my budget allows me to play!) and I still think the 995 more than holds its own, it's an absolute gem!... and paired with a couple of 981s I certainly have no complaints about quality of reproduction... The Castles were an absolute steal... I've previously owned Castles and after dusting the system off after being in storage for a while I started hunting for another pair... You'll probably think I'm slightly nuts but TradeMe does occasionally throw up something very special... New... for less than 1/3 of the retail price!!! The sound is to me very close to perfect... There are a couple of things I need to sort out. One is the cable situation... The speaker cables are way too long for the current set-up ... and everything is (on tiles) on the floor as I need to sort out furniture for it If I can figure out how to attach photos I'll post a couple for laughs.. Cheers Mike Nice setup but it doen't exist till we see photos! I've always liked Rotel gear - I still want one of their big 5x200w amps for a 'future' HT setup < Dreamer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Dwarf Posted June 5, 2009 Author Share Posted June 5, 2009 Hope this works... (If not I guess my system is destined to forever be in forum limbo !)... You'll have to excuse the missing Rega... It's been removed as we have guests coming tonight and I'm a bit paraniod... But it does exist.. honest! Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilNZ Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Nice one Mike! I loved my Castles when I had them, sort of regret selling them. I'm sure they would sound great on the end of those Rotels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Dwarf Posted June 5, 2009 Author Share Posted June 5, 2009 Yeah... know what you mean! My wife knows that if the house burns down we grab the cats then the Castles (I gave up trying to convince her that the order was wrong!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilNZ Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Haha, Our cat would definitely be first too, my speakers are way too heavy to even contemplete trying to move! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aarond1553552714 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 neil;93365 wrote: Haha, Our cat would definitely be first too, my speakers are way too heavy to even contemplete trying to move! Any fire would be too scared to tackle your Dyns... Nice looking set-up, those Castles look loverly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilNZ Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 I've just noticed something Mike. You have big coils of speaker cable behind your speakers, you should get it cut down and reterminated to the lengths you actually need. The less cable the better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonto Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Yup confirmed they exist- I forgot the awesome wood finish on Castles-Damn! A lot can be said for the aeshetics of an all one make- The Rotels look awesome - Pity the new stuff is in that light grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Dwarf Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 Yeah, the speaker cable is something I really do have to sort. These came from another system that had a lot more space to play in... There's actually more cable than you think... The way I have the amps set up the right speaker is connected to the left power amp, I think they might be 4.5m long!!! I'm going to end up buying new speaker cable for this system rather than cut these (they can keep the other Rotel amp company in storage )... I guess the search for cables should keep me busy for a while! (Anyone else out there running Castle/Rotel that can make a suggestion for a starting point?) I can confirm that the build quality on these is something really really special... It's no wonder the boys from Yorkshire were kept busy building cabinets for some pretty fine speaker makers (along side the stuff they produced for Castle!)... I never really wanted rosewood but now they've been in the house a while I think they were the nicest of the finishes that Castle produced!! Thanks for the compliments... It's always nice to hear that other people appreciate your chioces! Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilikecrumpets Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Well done Mike, the Castle/Rotel combo works surprisingly well - I had my Harlechs biamped with a pair of RB970BX mk2s and the RC990 pre. They sounded awesome, especially for the money. I'm picking you picked the Harlechs up from Graham off TradeMe, he's the ex-importer and a real nice guy. They are the last pair of Harlechs in the country (used for a demo or 2 from memory). Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Dwarf Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 Yeah, Graham was a pleasure to deal with... Didn't know they were the last pair of Harlechs! The order has changed... it's now the Castles then the cats in case of fire! I've got a 970BX(II) hidden away which may find use in a second system at sometime... The 995/980 set-up is I think a great match for the Harlechs and I'd have to think very hard about looking at something else! I absolutely love the sound... Thanks for the info... and it's always good to find a fellow Rotel/Castle fan! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Very nice set-up. I was talking about Castle speakers just yesterday with (new member) T110. He was really singing their praises. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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