Pre/Power Amplifiers

With Rotel's diamond anniversary fast approaching in 2021, the brand began, and remains, as a family business underpinned by a team of long-serving engineers. The current MD, Peter Kao, joined Rotel founder Mr Tachikawa and his son, Bob Tachikawa, nearly 20 years ago and since taking the helm has pledged to 'follow the same philosophy and vision as they had for Rotel'.

So what of these new Michi-branded high-end amplifiers? It is tempting to think the M8 might simply be a bridged version of the stereo S5 model – after all they look almost identical inside [HFN May '20] and there's less than a kilo difference in weight. But Peter set the record straight. 'In fact, we started with the M8 as our top-of-the-line Michi product', he said, 'and from there we gave our engineers the task of creating a stereo version. From the M8, our engineers created a dual mono chassis that became the S5. There are differences in power supply and PCB layout in the M8 making it more efficient and allowing it to deliver the required amount of energy and control.'

As our tests prove the M8 delivers almost exactly twice the power into 8/4ohm loads as the S5, but it offers little extra advantage into lower impedances. In many cases, price notwithstanding, the choice between S5 or M8 may be determined by your resident speakers and liking for loudness! PM