Michi P5 preamplifier and S5 power amplifier

Rotel is one of those companies that doesn’t often grab the headlines much these days yet it has a heritage stretching back over 50 years. In the late 1980s, its entry level integrated amplifiers had a great reputation for delivering better sound than most thanks in part to UK design input that gave it an edge. This approach was duplicated by other Japanese brands with the Pioneer A400 being a notably successful example. In the mid-1990s, Rotel introduced some rather more lavishly built models that it dubbed Michi. These electronics had wooden end cheeks and resembled Japanese high end to …