Rotel RB-870
The Rotel RB-870 is a stereo power amplifier from the mid-1980s. Documentation is thin. Nearly everything known about it comes from a combined test report in HiFI-Stereo (April 1985, p.25), where it was reviewed alongside the RA-870 integrated amplifier.
The review says the RB-870 works as a conventional stereo power amplifier or, with a switch on the rear apron, in bridged-mono mode. In mono, the magazine found the clipping power far greater than twice that of a single stereo channel, and distortion actually lower, when driving 8 ohms at 1 kHz (p.27). A later HiFI-Stereo listing (1990, p.56) shows a BX variant, the RB-870BX, rated at 100 W/channel and bridgeable with the RA-870. Rotel's own advertising in High Fidelity (November 1986, p.69) claimed the RB-870 was a Hi-Fi Choice "Best Buy," along with the RA-820, RA-820BX, and RA-870.
Beyond these period snippets, almost nothing has surfaced. There is no full specification sheet, no service manual, and no confirmed production dates in the usual archives.
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