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To repair, rebuild, or toss?

I have a Rotel RB 1080 amplifier which I used to power golden ear Triton one speakers.  I had the amplifier repaired once before, It needed replacement of a capacitor in the right channel. Now there is asymmetric output with respect to the right and left channel. I received a quote to repair the issue for $300 or rebuild the amplifier for $600. The question is, should I repair or rebuild the amplifier? The rebuild option entails a visual inspection and replacement of parts that look like they need to be replaced., I’m a newbie at this game, so I’m not sure what else is out there. Would the money be better off spent on a new amp, if so, which one?
 

Thank you for your input.

amplifier11
celtic66
1,942 posts
 

Toss it!  Consideration:  https://exposurehifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Exposure-Datasheet-3510-Stereo.pdf

Oft overlooked brand.  Good hunting.

bassbuyer's avatar
bassbuyer
893 posts
 

If your repair guy is reliable I would go with the $600 rebuild.  That’s a very reasonable price to fix a piece of equipment that you like.  Love my Rotel equipment.  I hope to keep my amp, preamp and CD player for a long, long time.  

jbuhl's avatar
jbuhl
1,110 posts
 

+1 for the "Time to Move on".  To many great amps out there that have been refined over the years and you dont have to brake the bank to get one. 

amplifier11 OP
2 posts
 

I want to thank everybody for all the responses. This is my first post and I greatly appreciate all the suggestions. All of you have been a wealth of information.

As far as the amp, I will probably just take it back and hold onto it. Not sure what I want to do with it at this time. I want to move on and get an amplifier that will improve my listening experience.

The Golden ear Triton ones have a high velocity folded ribbon, tweeter, which according to reviews has the potential for a clear and detailed high-end.

With the Rotel the mid range is a little blunted. Looking for an amplifier to enhance the mid and upper range. Would appreciate a little more clarity and resolution I know the speakers with the right amp can deliver. 

The Coda 8 amplifier sounds like a wonderful piece of equipment, however, I don’t think a class A amplifier would work in my scenario. I have all of my electronics, amplifiers, streamers, and AV processors in a separate room in my basement. I control all the streamers and AV processors via apps on my phone. For convenience, I leave the amplifiers on all the time. I would not want to have to go downstairs to turn the amplifier on every time I want to hear music. So that leaves me with a class  AB or D amplifier.

I have to research the amplifiers that were mentioned in this discussion. Any other suggestions for amplifiers that would yield higher fidelity in my Triton ones would be appreciated. 

Thanks again 

soix
11,243 posts
 

This AGD Tempo di GaN would be a big upgrade and would reward you with upgrades to your pre, DAC, and streamer going forward.  Put another way, it will outclass the rest of your electronics and deserves better partners, and as a class D amp you don’t have to worry about leaving it on.  And it’s also user upgradeable when the designer introduces improved technology, which is nice and he has done  already.

https://tmraudio.com/fresh-arrivals/agd-productions-inc-tempo-di-gan-stereo-power-amplifier-t9fp/

Another idea would be a good integrated like this Hegel H400 that could potentially replace everything in one unit at least for now. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/336340445009

Just a couple ideas FWIW. 

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