Network streamers are among the most popular audio components these days. The appeal of being able to access virtually any song from any artist and play it back on a high quality HiFi rig is seductive to say the least. Audio aficionados know Rotel for their high quality preamps, integrated amps and power amps – I’ve got a classic Rotel RC1070 preamp in my own reference system handling source switching and volume control quite well, thank you very much. But did you know Rotel makes Network streamers too?
Rotel’s S14 network streamer doesn’t just give you instant access to lossless and high res audio music from your favorite streaming provider; it also includes its own built-in preamp and amplifier. Just add a nice pair of speakers and you’re ready to rock out (or jazz out, or classical out – is that even a thing?). The best part? The S14 (black version) is now available on Crutchfield for 60% off its regular price: that’s $999 instead of $2,499.
Get This Deal on Crutchfield:
Rotel S14 Powered Network Streamer now $999 (regularly $2499)
The Rotel S14 includes a color screen so you can view album art, artist and track information from across the room. You can stream to the S14 with AptX HD Bluetooth using your favorite music app on a phone or tablet or use Rotel’s own S14 app for iOS or Android to access thousands of Internet Radio stations, podcasts, and high-resolution music from Tidal, Qobuz and other streaming services. The Rotel S14 is fully certified Roon Ready and also supports Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Apple Airplay2 , and Google Cast for simple uniterrupted music streaming.
The Rotel S14 also includes coaxial digital, optical digital, analog RCA, PC-USB and aptX HD Bluetooth connections. The USB-A port allows you to play MP3, WMA and AAC files from a connected flash drive. The unit also supports MQA and MQA Studio files. You can also add a turntable, but you’ll need one with a line level out or a separate phono preamp as there’s no built-in phono stage. In addition to speaker level outputs, there’s a subwoofer output as well as preamp outputs in case you want to upgrade to a more powerful amplifier down the road.
The S14’s on-board Class AB amplifier features custom-designed toroidal transformer to put out 80 watts/channel into 8 ohms or 150 watts/channel into 4 ohms. Digital/Analog conversion happens thanks to the ESS Sabre DAC with up to 32-bit/384kHz resolution. Its rated frequency response is 10-100,000 Hz (±0.5dB) from the line inputs, and 10-90,000 Hz (±2dB) from the digital inputs. Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) is rated at 100 dB from the line inputs or 98 dB from the digital inputs.
The Bottom Line:
Rotel’s S14 offers rich streaming functionality, superb audiophile sound quality and a powerful 80 WPC Class AB amp capable of driving any number of great bookshelf or tower loudspeakers. At its list price of $2500, it is a bit pricey, but for $999 (60% off), it’s hard to go wrong making this the centerpiece of your 21st Century streaming HiFi rig.
Get This Deal on Crutchfield:
Rotel S14 Powered Network Streamer now $999 (regularly $2499)
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ORT
May 7, 2024 at 1:18 pm
If not for my choice of HEOS and Grace Digital equipment I would take a closer look at this by buying and using one. I have HEOS and Grace Digital for my steaming music needs but like Bluesound, this is another good choice. I have never had the desire to try out Sonos but it doubtless gets the bits right too.
Grace is the best bang for the buck as bits are bits. The DAC either decodes it all into analog or not. I’ve never had equipment from anywhere have any problems decoding dem dare bitses.
ORT