upgrade recommendation request (1 Viewer)

I am not an audiophile, but I am trying to put together a HT system. My girlfriend has some decent equipment from her previous relationship that she isn't keen on replacing, but I suspect to get where I'd like to go I'll need to swap some of it out. The current equipment is

Rotel RSP 980 Dolby Pro Logic preprocessor / preamp
Rotel RB 985 five-channel amp
PSB Century 500i R/L, 200c Center, Subsonic 2i subwoofer, Ambient II RS/LS.

To this, I'm adding my Panasonic RP72 DVD and eventually a HD monitor and Echostar's HD-PVR product (DishPVR 921).

The problem is getting AC3 from the DVD and/or HD receiver to the amp. The RSP 980 uses a DB25 (!) to do 6-channel analog. I've hacked up a cable to hook the Panasonic's six RCA jacks to the RSP's DB25, but for the DishPVR 921 (and any other digital sources) I need a AC3/DTS decoder.

So... at the very least, I need a preprocessor, but since the RSP 980 has a goofy input, I need to probably replace both preprocessor and preamp... Looking around (and knowing very little about audio) it seems that everything is now an integrated receiver. Should I look for a receiver with preamp outputs and keep the Rotel amp or should I just replace all the Rotel stuff with an integrated receiver?

I'm looking for recommendations to get somewhere near the quality of the existing Rotel equipment, preferably without having to pay a lot. I want at least AC3 and DTS on 5.1 channels, and would like analog six-channel in (to use the DVDA on the RP72). Video switching features useful to a HD system would be nice too (but not required).

Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

In your otherwise very nice setup, all you need is a modern pre/pro... and a logical good match would be Rotel's RSP-1066... it's loaded.

$1500 msrp, $1300 street... the only competition in that price range is Outlaw.

If you're more ambitious, you can double that expenditure and move up to Anthem, B&K, Sunfire, Aragon pre/pro's.

Thanks for your reply. I've spent a little time looking at the forum and now have another question...

I've seen some threads that say that the RSX-1055 and the RSP-1066 share the same pre/pro section. Since the 1055 is cheaper, could I use that as the pre/pro? I could probably use the 1055's amp to drive some other speakers in the house.

If I did use only the pre/pro of the 1055, does the amp sit there and draw power / generate heat? In other words, is there a way to power down the amp section, or is the power draw minimal when it's not driving an output?

Or is this a flawed idea?

Thanks again.

Have only auditioned the 1066 in-store, but the consensus is that the 1055 and 1066 are virtually the same in the pre/pro... the addition of amps in the 1055 is said to increase the noise floor slightly, and is not necessarily audible.

So yes, the 1055 should be an equivalent pre/pro... plus you get a tuner... plus it costs less (reasons for that are not entirely clear).

1055 amps drawing power?... don't know for certain, but it's been my long-held understanding that they only draw 'idling' current unless they are fed a signal and are driving a load... correct me if wrong.

Here is a Rotel forum for detailed inquiries:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?H4E431B24