Rotel DX-5 Amplifier Review

How times change! Some veteran audiophiles will still remember Rotel back in the nineteen seventies, when it made the biggest and baddest looking amplifiers that money could buy – or so it seemed. They were behemoths with brash brushed-aluminium fascias, massive volume knobs, and a plethora of switches scattered across the front panel. Yet the new DX-5 you see here is the total antithesis of those monsters, being an exercise in minimalist design that would make Dieter Rams jealous. It is, says the company, "designed for modern lifestyles".

This compact integrated offers a claimed 25W RMS per channel of Class AB power into 8 ohms, and a little more into 4. Rotel says this is an ultra-low noise design, with a 100dB signal-to-noise ratio and a seriously wide bandwidth of 10Hz to 100kHz. The DX-5 sports a wide range of connectivity choices – including HDMI ARC, subwoofer output, headphone out, and a choice of TOSLINK or coaxial digital inputs. You also get aptX HD/AAC Bluetooth and a PC USB input. These work with the built-in ESS ES9039Q2M Sabre DAC, which supports 32-bit/384kHz PCM via USB and DSD 4x.

The company has used audiophile best practices, including its own specially designed in-house toroidal power transformer and high-current transistors. The build quality for an amp of this price is superlative – close your eyes, and you could be touching something made in Switzerland from a company with an exotic French- or German-sounding name.

The case is all aluminium and expertly finished, with a lovely volume control knob that operates in buttery-smooth 0.5dB steps. It weighs 4.1 kg and measures 215x76x251mm, and comes with a nice little aluminium remote control. Both black and silver finishes are offered.

The Listening

Although the DX-5's output power is obviously limited, if you pair it with reasonably sensitive speakers – let's say 88dB or more – it should fill any small-to-medium-sized room with surprisingly strong sound. It went very loud with my 94dB Wharfedale E70s, for example. An open, even-handed and musically engaging performer, the wee Rotel adds little in the way of euphonic colouration to warm up chilly recordings – and nor does it flatter bad ones, either. Yet whatever it is asked to reproduce, its obliging character makes you want to keep the music going.

This matter-of-fact tonality will please many people, but others might want more warmth. Spin Neil Young's classic Old Man from CD into the Rotel's coaxial digital input, and you don't exactly find yourself immersed in a sepia-tinged nineteen-seventies flashback. Rather, the DX-5 sounds spry, crisp and dry. All the same, you soon find yourself listening intently to the great man's distinctive voice, zoning in on its combination of fragility and nasality. The music feels plaintive and melancholic, and surprisingly affecting for an amp of this type.

This musical immediacy works across all genres. The classic disco of Sister Sledge's We Are Family, via the analogue input of a Chord Hugo TT2 DAC, is vibrant, open, expansive, and really rather beguiling. The DX-5 is able to get to the rhythmic point easily and hold the listener's attention, without any sense that it's just going through the motions. In this respect, it hints at what more expensive and exotic Class AB amplifiers get right. However, in absolute terms, the Rotel is a little opaque-sounding, as there is less low-level detail than you'd get from an (admittedly pricier) Exposure XM, for example.

All the same, this little amplifier ushers the listener away from its limitations. It goes louder than you'd expect given its modest power rating, and handles dynamic crescendos surprisingly well. Thumping modern techno like Liquid Crystal's You're No Good is fun through the DX-5, which tries valiantly to cope with the track's crazy synth bassline and just about succeeds. In absolute terms, at very high volumes, the low end does sound a little laboured, although again it's not surprising given its 'lifestyle' orientation. Happily, the Rotel always shows grace under pressure and never gets shouty – so you can deploy its limited power to the utmost. As a result, this banging classic dance track sounds way bigger and more zesty than you'd expect from this sort of amplifier.

The Verdict

Rotel's new DX-5 integrated skillfully combines all the attributes that modern 'lifestyle' buyers will like – namely, decent power, good connectivity, an exceptional finish, and a musically engaging sound. Yes, there are cheaper small amps around, but this delivers a potent combination of abilities in a most charming little package.

For more information visit Rotel