Hi!
I have a Rotel T14 Tuner/Network Streamer here and I do plan to write a
detailed review of this fantastic device when I have more time.
Meanwhile I wrote some notes on the Rotel T14 to a friend which I think
are worth sharing with the list
I’ve mentioned the new Rotel T14 tuner I bought? Well actually its a
Network player with the feel of a tuner.
I wired the thing up to my Rotel RA10 Amp this morning so the T14 is now
a permanent fixture of my audio system in the Den.
So for some details.
The T14 is heavy by tuner standards weighing in at 6 kilograms and is
very well built but we are talking Rotel so I guess that’s no surprise.
What is a pleasant surprise however is the very few menu systems on the
device, two in fact and they don’t control much at all.
For example the DAB+ menu has a few options in it which are easy to
remember, options like Scan and so on.
The FM Menu has options to allow the setting of the scan threshold, I
don’t normally use the Scan functions of tuners anyway preferring to
manually tune.
The T14 has a keypad on the front though this is used only for entering
preset numbers which is a pity, would have been very nice to have a
facility to enter a FM frequency manually but still I like the idea of
each memory preset being instantly accessed via its own unique number,
the T14 has 60 presets from 01-30 on DAB+ and FM bands. No presets on
the network player side but that’s by no means a problem as I’ll explain
a little later.
The tuner comes with a rather large remote control which I haven’t fully
worked out yet but I know enough about the layout to get around the
tuner, browse up and down the DAB+ band, move between tracks when using
the T14 in Network Player mode etc.
The audio out of the T14 is as good as my Cambridge tuner and sounds
just as good when I switch to the Tuner on my Rotel DAC.
Switching between stations is amongst the fastest I’ve heard from any
Hi-Fi tuner I’ve tried and the Rotel is very sensitive for all bands.
So now to the Network player side of things and here the Rotel stands
out from the pack.
When you switch to the Network Player mode a message appears on the
screen telling the user to connect to “Play-Fi”. Play-Fi is an App
available for Windows, IOS and Android and all the network functionality
of the T14 is controlled from this App.
With Play-Fi you have the most extensive range of musical sources I’ve
ever seen bundled into one App, everything from being able to browse
your own network for Music, to iHeart and Internet radio, Spotify,
Pandora and Tital are all featured not to mention the ability to stream
from HD sources and play HD audio files - DAC of the T14 supports
sampling rates up to 384K 32 Bit -.
I haven’t been able to fully access the IOS version of Play-Fi but I can
use the Android version easily enough.
Along with the Play-Fi App one can stream to the T14 using the
conventional AirPlay system or use the T14 as a DLNA render device, I’ve
tried both these options.
There are other advantages to be had with the idea of using a separate
App for the control of Network Music which I discovered.
As one has to use a computer or a Smart Phone to have the T14 play
Internet radio stations it therefore follows that you can easily put
your controlling device onto a VPN so you may listen to blocked radio
stations or audio sites, I’ve done this myself.
With a conventional Internet radio setup where the Internet radio is
part of the Firmware one has to do some pretty fancy setup work to allow
connection of the Radio to a VPN.
Anyway the Rotel T14 ain’t cheap at around $1300 but its not the most
expensive Network player.
I was looking at what Marantz had to offer and - whilst struck by the
quality - the Marantz players weren’t as flexible as what Rotel had to
offer in the T14.
**********
Those of a positive and enquiring frame of mind will leave the rest of
the halfwits in this world behind.
- Rotel T14 Tuner Network Streamer Dane Trethowan
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