This year's big story is the resurrection of Rotel as a major force in the amplifier category of the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2024. The Marantz PM6007 has been a serial winner of our budget amplifier Best Buy since 2020, and it looked primed to keep up that formidable winning streak until the late arrival of the new Rotel A8 (£399/ $449/AU$649) changed things.
Don’t get us wrong, the A8 isn’t a radical product in any way, but much like the company’s great affordable amplifiers of the early noughties, its simplicity is the key to its success. The Rotel focuses its limited budget on getting the fundamentals right. The A8 isn’t luxurious but is solidly made and assembled with care.
