The RA-1572 rocks. It swings. It has exceptional bass authority.
The RA-1572 is feature-rich in terms of control connectivity, with an RS-232 port, Ethernet port for IP control and firmware updates, two 12v triggers, a 3.5mm IR input, and Rotel Link inputs and outputs. The integrated amp also features dual mono subwoofer outs and stereo preamp outputs, along with a Type-B USB port labeled “PC-USB.”
In keeping with Rotel tradition, the amp features numerous setup options that allow you to customize and personalise it for your needs. In addition to the expected balance and bass/treble controls, the amp also benefits from niceties such as poweron volume defaults, auto-off timer presets (with your choice of 1, 2, 5, or 12 hours), and the ability to change its Aux, USB, PC-USB, Optical, Coaxial, and Bluetooth inputs to fixed volume.
Sound
One of the things I’ve heard about the RA-1572 from certain circles is that it lacks something in terms of timing and dynamic punch.
A great test for this is “Spoonman” from Soundgarden’s Superunknown (20th Anniversary edition via Qobuz, 192/24). Granted, this isn’t exactly what you’d call audiophile bait, but especially toward the end of the track, as the cutlery and woodblock percussion start their chaotic swirl around and through the soundstage, if there’s anything temporally awry, you’ll hear it. You’ll lose that holographic quality to the percussion. You’ll lose that precise placement of the instruments.
The RA-1572’s delivery of the track frankly fell short in exactly zero
ways. I’m puzzled as to where these accusations of temporal muddiness originated, and after a few hours playing Superunknown again and again and again at nigh-uncomfortable listening levels, I’m ready to call shenanigans.
In terms of dynamics, I absolutely couldn’t ask for more than what this integrated amp delivers, especially with the galloping percussion in the verses. The RA-1572 rocks. It swings. It has exceptional bass authority, a wonderful sense of coherence, fantastic transient response. Simply put, it gives what it gets.
The downside
While the performance of the RA-1572 is exceptional across the board, I do have some nits to pick about a few operational quirks and a handful of disappointments in terms of the amp’s feature set.
First things first, I really wish Rotel included AAC among its supported Bluetooth codecs, which are aptX and SBC. The significantly cheaper A11 Tribute does both AAC and aptX, so it’s hard to shake the feeling that the RA-1572 should, too.
Not that I would really use the Bluetooth input all that much. Like other Rotel gear, the RA-1572 self-mutes when you’re on the BT input but no music is playing. This not only means that you miss the first second or so of a song, but the pausing and unpausing are also accompanied by an audible click.
I also wish the amp had a quarter-inch headphone jack instead of 3.5mm.
And I wish that its headphone output automatically muted the output of the speakers when I plugged in a set of cans.
If you want to listen to headphones and you don’t want music to also pour out of your speakers, you have to use the A/B select buttons on the remote or the unit itself to mute the in-room sound.
Final thoughts
In my time with the Rotel RA-1572, I kept going back to that famous quip from Han Solo: “She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts, kid!” Granted, nobody would accuse Rotel’s mid-tier integrated amp of being a bucket of bolts, and it’s certainly more reliable than the Millennium Falcon, but in every other respect, it has a lot in common with that mythical space freighter: It’s got undeniable retro swagger, it’s a little bit fussy to operate at times, but its performance is out of this world.