Thanks for the post...I believe the Arcam 73 doesn't do HDCD though, so if you are listening to HDCDs on both systems it won't be a fair comparison.
I prefer the Arcam sound myself. I didn't buy a 72 when I got my first system together because the $400 difference between a Rotal RCD-961 and the Arcam 72 wasn't worth it to me at the time. But I liked the spaciousness more than the Rotel's accuracy, or what some might call brittleness.
My Rotel has also had some problems - it had a period last year where it wouldn't play anything for a week, then mysteriously the problem went away. Recently it's had some dropouts, but I got myself one of Herbie's Grungemaster CD stabilizers and that problem has also disappeared (and I got a noticable improvement in smoothness, clarity and a wee bit more of soundstage - almost like an Arcam!) too so I'm happy for now. Probably just needs the head realigned or some such, but it's out of warranty.
I prefer the Arcam sound myself. I didn't buy a 72 when I got my first system together because the $400 difference between a Rotal RCD-961 and the Arcam 72 wasn't worth it to me at the time. But I liked the spaciousness more than the Rotel's accuracy, or what some might call brittleness.
My Rotel has also had some problems - it had a period last year where it wouldn't play anything for a week, then mysteriously the problem went away. Recently it's had some dropouts, but I got myself one of Herbie's Grungemaster CD stabilizers and that problem has also disappeared (and I got a noticable improvement in smoothness, clarity and a wee bit more of soundstage - almost like an Arcam!) too so I'm happy for now. Probably just needs the head realigned or some such, but it's out of warranty.