Here's a new wrinkle...Denon versus Rotel

Rick Westfall · 07-16-2006, 01:51 PM

I was in the local Home Theater Store looking at the Denon 3806. Many have told me to wait for the 3807. The sales guy pushed me to the Rotel 1057 telling me it was 7.1. When I went to the Rotel site, it led me to believe that it was not a true 7.1. You really needed to add an extra stereo amp to get 7.1. Anyone know anything about this? If the Rotel is a true 7.1...how does it compare to the Denon or the Yammy?

Alon Goldberg · 07-16-2006, 04:27 PM

Hi Rick - that is correct, the RSX-1057 is a 5.1 receiver, but can be stepped up to 7.1 by adding a two-channel amp. Quite simply, the RSX-1057 is absolutely stunning. Rotel focuses on high fidelity and excellent build quality. The Denon AVR-3806 is focused on a large feature-set.

Personally, I would get the AVR-3807 (expected out around September) for an engaging home theatre experience. However, if you are interested in a true hifi experience and want to bring the most out of your CD collection and have very capable speakers I would certainly lean towards the Rotel.

Rick Westfall · 07-16-2006, 04:49 PM

Reason why I won't buy from my local Home Theater Store...the guy didn't even know how many channels the Rotel would drive. Thanks for that info. This receiver will be strictly HT. I guess there is the possibility that I will go to my HT room and sit and listen to CD's, but I don't see that happening very often. CD sound isn't going to play a part in the decision making.

Any rumors on the MSRP of the 3807?

mackie · 07-16-2006, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alon Goldberg

Hi Rick - that is correct, the RSX-1057 is a 5.1 receiver, but can be stepped up to 7.1 by adding a two-channel amp. Quite simply, the RSX-1057 is absolutely stunning. Rotel focuses on high fidelity and excellent build quality. The Denon AVR-3806 is focused on a large feature-set.

Personally, I would get the AVR-3807 (expected out around September) for an engaging home theatre experience. However, if you are interested in a true hifi experience and want to bring the most out of your CD collection and have very capable speakers I would certainly lean towards the Rotel.

Just out of curiosity, what'll keep someone with the Denon 3806 from having a true hifi experience?

Alon Goldberg · 07-16-2006, 10:41 PM

Denon AVR-3805 vs Rotel RSX-1056
http://www.audaud.com/audaud/MAY05/component/comp2.php

Quote:

To compare the digital decoding inside the receiver as well as the analog circuitry, preamplification, amplification, etc. I connected the digital output from the DVD-3910 and ran it into both the Denon receiver and a Rotel RSX-1056 ($1300). The Rotel is strictly 5.1 amplified and lacks some of the features offered by the Denon, but I’ve always thought highly of its sound. I matched levels and switched speaker wires back and forth. I was lucky enough to have two co-workers sit in and help with the judging and the cable swapping.

The first track we tried was off a Cello Demo Disc,Volume 4 and the track was by Julian Rachlin—piano and horn. The Rotel was sweeter sounding and all thought the Denon was not as open and made the piano sound slightly compressed.

Next was track 2 from Sade’s Lover’s Rock CD. With this track the consensus was split. My co-workers liked the bass better on the Denon claiming that it was tighter and more controlled (as if having a better damping factor). Still, it was thought that the Rotel had more air around the instruments and transitions in the music and phrases seemed more punctuated and less homogenous. I felt the Denon definitely had more bass although, for me, it was hard to judge what was correct with the electronic music.

I moved onto a favorite, track 5, from Candido and Graciella’s Inolvidable. The Denon was tight, punchy, but dynamically softened at the extremes. The Rotel again had more air and made the instruments sound more realistic. These differences would likely be missed without the direct comparison. The Denon sounded very good, it was just the Rotel sounded more…right—one of those difficult to describe experiences.

For the last stereo test I put on track 8 from a London Sampler DCI-21088, Bizet’s Carmen Entr’acte to Act 4. The Rotel clearly sounded sweeter, richer in the midrange, had more top end, and greater delicacy. The Denon sounded edgier, rolled off or toned down—something that seemed to permeate throughout the various recordings.

I have auditionned the Denon AVR-3806 vs a Rotel RSX-1057 on B&W 700 Series speakers as well as Monitor Audio Silver Series. I personally lean heavily towards the Rotel reciever for superb musicality and clarity.

The Denon AVR-3806 is a truly capable and excellent receiver for both music and home theatre, and will also offer a true hifi experience. It's all up to one's taste and what features they are looking for.

**HTF Ads**

CurtisC · 07-17-2006, 08:15 AM

If all you need is HT any decent avr will do.

mackie · 07-17-2006, 08:53 AM

Alon - what does superb musicality mean?

Sound and Vision did a recent review of the 3806 and I believe it measured around 150w in stereo at 8ohm and 250w in stereo at 4ohm. THD was.05 and frequency response was something like +- 0,0.2. According to this it has plenty of power, extremely low noise and a flat frequency response.

I think Rotel makes a fine product. Their amplifiers are first rate. I think Rotels being more musical is a marketing hype.

For sound quality and reliability it's simply hard to beat a Denon or Yamaha mid-level receiver.

Just my .02...

CurtisC · 07-17-2006, 10:53 AM

For reliability Denons great,I've owned many.If you have owned a Rotel you'd know why they are musically superior.

Alon Goldberg · 07-17-2006, 12:22 PM

Just to set the record straight, I currently own both a Denon AVR-2807 and a Denon DVD-1920. I absolutely love my Denon receiver! But after auditionning the Rotel RSX-1057 with my speakers (Monitor Audio Bronze Series), I really would love to one day upgrade to the Rotel receiver. I urge you to audition the Rotel RSX-1057, many hifi stores will let you take equipment home for a day, and this receiver certainly speaks for itself.

mackie · 07-17-2006, 08:13 PM

I don't doubt the Rotel receiver is a nice piece of equipment since Rotel has a reputation of making good equipment. It's been a few years, but I've listened to one of their receivers, and it sounded very nice. It has excellent fit and finish and has a good record of reliability. The only problem I've known about was one of their models would burn up if there was a short circuit in the speaker wires. This was due to a lack of a protection circuit. There was a thread on this forum about it awhile back.

Okay, we all agree Rotel makes good equipment, and it sounds good too. No argument there. I wouldn't have a problem owning one either, but I feel I can get equal performance with more features at a better price.

What I disagree with are statements like it sounds better, is more musical, is better for 2 channel music. True it will sound better than a Denon or Yamaha entry level receiver simply due to lower THD, higher current capacity, better DACs. However, this isn't necessarily the case once you get up into the mid-level and higher receivers like the 3806.

I think it's perfectly valid to say someone prefers one over the other due to sonic character, looks, features, name, price, but to say one is more musical is an opinion.

What does musical mean anyway? It's based on preference.

Rotel has also done a nice marketing job to carve out it's audiophile niche. Marantz, Nad, and Arcam have also done this.

Andrew Pratt · 07-17-2006, 11:31 PM

Mackie just curious have you ever owned a Rotel and compared it directly against a similar priced Denon/Yamaha/???

In a former life I set up and used to moderate Club Rotel over on another board and I can say from first hand experience that there's an awful lot of former Denon owners on that board that feel the Rotel sounds better for music. Now that said having chased better 2 channel sound from AV receivers and pre amp's I've come to the conclusion that its cheaper to use a true 2 channel pre with a HT bypass mode for music and just use a feature laden receiver for HT duty.