It is always exciting when a brand like Rotel sends you a component from their flagship lineup. Rotel, a blue-chip, value-based brand, is known for making quality audiophile-grade components. The P5 Series 2 from Rotel’s Michi line is a preamplifier in the $5,000 price range. This preamplifier comes fully equipped with dual eight-channel ESS SABRE ES9028PRO chips for its DAC, balanced input and outputs, a moving magnet and moving coil phono stage, Bluetooth with aptX HD and AAC, and support for MQA and MQA Studio, as well as being certified as Roon-tested. As you would expect with a preamplifier that features a DAC in this price range, it comes with a full range of digital inputs as well. You get three digital coax inputs, three optical inputs, USB-B input, and a network port if you want to hardwire the preamplifier into your network. The other things you’re getting are a digital coax and an optical output, should you wish to not use the built-in DAC. If you’re not familiar with the Michi product line, they represent the flagship group of products from Rotel. This product line was first introduced in 1993, and then relaunched again in 2019, when the original version of the P5 was introduced, before the Series 2 was launched last year (April 14, 2023) with over 125 plus upgrades from the 2019 version.
What Makes the Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 Preamplifier So Special?
- The Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 uses dual toroidal transformers to isolate digital and analog power supply feeds to reduce noise and distortion. This is a feature that most preamplifiers don’t have, and I can’t imagine many audiophiles will complain about less distortion or noise in their music.
- The Michi P5 Series 2 DAC in this integrated amplifier is a force to be reckoned with. While the preamplifier has digital outputs, I cannot imagine many people will ever use them. I A/B tested the Michi P5 with the Anthem STR preamp (read my review), and the DAC compared very well. Each has their sonic differences, but both were extremely good options on the digital side of things.
- The Michi P5 Series 2 comes with a sleek, modern look. There is always plenty to be said about how looks aren’t everything, and if your audiophile gear lives in a rack in a closet, then I totally get that. If you’re like me and your gear is out for the world to see, it is great to have gear that is as stylish as the P5 Series 2 is, and also provides you with information on its front screen like which input you’re using, the frequency of the music, and its bit rate.
- Using the Michi P5 Series 2 preamplifier is beautifully simple. One of the things that we deal more and more with our audiophile preamplifier sections is the ability to customize. Now, customizing the sound can be a beautiful thing, but it also comes with complexity. The Michi P5 Series 2 isn’t going to burden you with any of that customization. You attach your source, you play it, you adjust your volume, and you enjoy. Nothing more, nothing less.
Why Should You Care About the Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 Preamplifier?
Rotel has created a very compelling stereo preamplifier with the P5 Series 2. They have made over 125 plus upgrades over the original P5, and that is no small feat in just five years. One of the first things you will notice with this piece of equipment is that it is very straightforward. You can do just about everything you need to do with it from the two knobs on the front. There are other settings that you need the remote control to access, but that is the exception, not the rule. There will be some folks in the hobby who might want to be able to customize the sound more, but it felt great to have a preamp that was so simple to use and set up that I could have had my nine-year-old do the work.
Some Things You Might Not Like About the Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 Preamplifier
- There is no HDMI connectivity, which is still rare in the audiophile space, but becoming more popular. While I would fully expect the next version of this integrated amplifier to have an HDMI connection with eARC, this one simply doesn’t have it. I think many people shopping in this price range will expect it, as there are many integrated amplifiers that are half of its cost that include it.
- The size and weight of the preamplifier could be an issue for people with smaller equipment racks. One of the great joys of writing these reviews is getting to unbox the products, but this one came with a real surprise. That surprise was that the preamplifier weighs 50 pounds! That is 10 pounds more than my Class-A/B amplifier. If you’re going to look at this preamplifier, make sure your rack is prepared to hold over 100 pounds, as you are likely going to be close to that weight by the time you add your own amplifier to this preamp.
- The volume could be more granular in terms of its increments, both up and down. In my A/B testing that I did, one of things I noticed was that the volume knob caused me to have to match more to the Michi P5, as it wasn’t as granular as the Anthem STR that I was testing it against. This is a pretty minute detail, but one that audiophiles may notice when they are trying to get their volume just right.
Listening to the Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 Preamplifier …
I ran this preamplifier with the Anthem MCA 225 Gen 2 amplifier, MartinLogan Motion XT F100 floorstanding speakers, the Music Hall CD 25.3 CD player, the Pro-Ject X1 B turntable, and I streamed using Qobuz through the Sonos Port.
I AB tested all of these tracks with an Anthem STR Preamplifier, using the same MartinLogan Motion XT F100 floorstanding speakers, Music Hall CD 25.3 CD player, Anthem MCA 225 Gen 2 amplifier and CD-quality streaming, using the Sonos Port.
One of the first tracks I listened to was “My Body is a Cage” (on Compact Disc) from Arcade Fire’s 2007 album Neon Bible. This track is unique, as not many recordings in the year 2007 were using church organs, and that is the most prominent instrument on this track. The Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 was able to reproduce the sound of the organ in a way that sounded realistic, and when they really pushed the organ close to halfway through the track, you could really feel the music, almost as if you were in the small church where Arcade Fire recorded the album. On a side note, Peter Gabriel recorded a cover of this track on his 2010 album Scratch My Back, where he delivers a rendition without the organ, just in case the church organ isn’t your thing. This version is equally dramatic, but in very different ways, due to the different arrangement of instruments, as well as how Gabriel delivers the lyrics.
Another track that I used was “The Best of You” (on streaming from Qobuz) from Foo Fighters’ 2007 double album In Your Honor. This is always a great track to crank the volume up and rock out. The Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 sonically had no issues at high volumes with this track. The groove always sounded together, and the acoustic guitar at the start of the track never sounded too bright. One thing that I noticed during my AB testing with this track, however, was that the bass guitar sounded a little bit thin in comparison to the Anthem STR. I wouldn’t think of this as a big deal, just a small sonic difference between the DACs.
The last track I used to test the Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 was “Everything in Its Right Place” (on Compact Disc) from Radiohead’s 2000 classic Kid A. While the bass sounded a little bit thin to me on the previous Foo Fighters track, the Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 really delivered on this one. It seemed to handle the digital music of “Everything in Its Right Place” extremely well. The soundstage was solid throughout the track, as you could hear all of the small details that are in this dense piece of digital music with a wide, open presentation.
Will the Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 Preamplifier Hold Its Value?
Rotel is a blue-chip audiophile brand and, with Michi representing their flagship products, it is hard to imagine that this product wouldn’t hold its value well in the used market. The original P5s can be found on the used market (mind you, not in great supply) five years after their release for $2,400. That is 53 percent of retail after five years, and I would guess that the value of that product was higher in 2023 before the Series 2 was released. I would expect the Series 2 to perform similarly in the market.
What is the Competition for the Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 Preamplifier?
The Anthem STR Preamplifier ($4,300 – buy at Crutchfield) fits as a comparison, with both units coming in at nearly the same price point. As noted, sonically these two units are very similar. In my listening, it was difficult at times to tell them apart. These are two very different units, however. Anthem has put their efforts into allowing the consumer to personalize their sound with things like ARC room correction, and being able to personalize each input, while the Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 takes the more straightforward and traditional route, and focuses on the sound more directly.
When you’re looking at this price range, you should always be looking at NAD Master Series M66($5,500 – buy at Crutchfield). Where the Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 uses Bluetooth to bring you a streaming option, NAD built BluOS in to put streaming right into their preamplifier. Now, we shouldn’t lose sight of the $1,000 price difference, as that is nearly 25 percent of the cost of the Michi, but if you’re someone who is looking to have their streamer built in, as well as room control and a color screen, then the NAD might be worth looking at if you can live with the difference in price.
The SPL Director 2 has caught the attention of a number of reviewers. This German-made audiophile brand delivers very resolute sound (Jerry Del Colliano’s review is pending), and its form factor is nothing short of gorgeous. The build quality is what you’d expect if Mercedes Benz made a stereo preamp with a DAC. Jerry noted the non-standardized size as a downside, but not much more. The closer on the deal with the SLP is its price, about $3,000 for the preamp alone, and just over $4,000 for the DAC/preamp combination. It also comes in silver, red and black finishes, which is refreshing and unique.
Final Thoughts on the Michi P5 Series 2 Preamplifier …
Simply put, the Rotel Michi P5 Series 2 is an excellent preamplifier. There is a lot to be said for putting your efforts into producing the best possible sound, instead of providing a lot of bells and whistles, and that is what the P5 Series 2 represents.
I spent a lot of time comparing this preamplifier with the Anthem STR, and I think both have different sonic benefits, which I pointed out in the listening section. At the end of the day, they are different units directed at different people. If, when you think about a preamplifier, you are thinking of something that is simple, straightforward and just works, then I think you should definitely consider the Rotel Michi P5. It has all of the inputs you could possibly want in its digital and analog sections and, through all of my listening, it always provided a very pleasing sonic signature that is its own.
