Here's a new wrinkle...Denon versus Rotel (1 Viewer)

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?

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.

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?

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

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


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.

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

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...

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

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.

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.

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.

Yes, I've heard both. It was in a dealer's show room where he kept pushing the Rotel because it "sounded better." Please understand that I'm not saying Rotel isn't a good piece of equipment. It is.

An editorial in this month's Stereophile discusses an audition of a playback system with a room full of well versed audiophiles. The response people gave of their impression of the system were varied and diverse. Some even contradicted the others. Most of this hobby especially the audio side is based on preferences. What I like and what you like are going to be different, and what I call musical is probably going to different from what you call musical. I'm the only one who can say what, "sounds better" to me.

FWIW, I'd be saying the same thing if someone said a Krell amp was more musical than a Rotel amp.

To the original poster, please go audition both and buy the one you like. Do some research, go listen, and search for the best price.

BTW, I'm working towards a separates system, and there is a very good chance a Rotel amp and prepro will be part of the system.

I had a Rotel 1056 for 2 years,sold it on ebay,lost $100.I sold my 3802/03/05 for 1/2 of what I paid.Something to consider also.The buying public must be somewhat informed on Rotel.

You from Texas? The store I do custom design for in Phoenix for Sounds Like Music, who just got gobbled up by Home Theater Store late last year. We're quite obviously the company's redheaded stepchild (until of course they close this location like they plan on doing in Febuary '07 and opening a new store where the rent is cheaper...). We lost almost all of our high-end brands with this acquisition, too (Linn, Mark Levinson, and Revel, just to name a few).

Perhaps that salesperson was misinformed. Come to think of it, I think the computer system actually does classify the RSX-1057 as a 7.1 receiver, IRC. But everyone is correct, the 1057 has only 5 amplifiers. However, it shares the same processor found in the 1067 and offers pre-outs for connecting an amp for the side channels.

In summary, get a demo on both and buy what will satisfy your needs the most. In most regards, the Rotel is indeed a better sounding piece of gear (despite its more conservative power rating) musically, but the Denon does have a stronger feature set. My observations:

- Rotel tends to have better amp designs, cleaner analog signal paths, and better onboard DACs than Denon. The Rotel will always beat the simarly-priced Denon when you A/B them with the same 2-channel music demo in soundstaging, transparency, and clarity. Rotel also has a very generous 5 year parts and labor warranty versus Denon's 1 year.

- Denon has always been good at keeping up with the latest technology. For this reason, their mid-priced AVR's are usually decked out with features you'd only find in competitor's more expensive models. For example, the AVR-3806 offers upconversion of analog video signals to HDMI (comes in very handy for some users), whereas the HDMI on the RSX-1057 is only a switch and offers no upconversion from analog video. Denon's 2nd zone audio capability is also a lot more user friendly. The Denon also has a phenomenal auto setup feature that the Rotel lacks.

So there's trade-offs to both, just like anything else. Stores that sell both Rotel and Denon in their showrooms will always push the Rotel first because it pays more. I have some customers that will buy nothing but Denon and that's still great because selling what fits their needs the best keeps them coming back.

Nick,

By "pays more" do you mean rotel carries more of a markup?

Well at least at Home Theater Store, the markup is higher (ALL Rotel stuff is 40 points markup to MSRP, whereas Denon is 35 points) AND they pay a higher percentage commission on the margin because Rotel/B&W/Classe are the store's "push lines".

But like I said before, listen to both and compare the features (there's pros and cons to both models). Then, buy the one that suits your needs the best. If you're still torn between these two models, I'd pick the Rotel if you think you'll be listen to music on a regular basis along with watching movies. If the large percentage of your listening will be home theater, the Denon is a no-brainer from the standpoint of its superior feature set.

Another model from Denon to really consider is the AVR-2807. It's $200 cheaper and aside from having a little less amplifier power (it's really not enough to notice a significant difference), the 2807 is in many ways better than the 3806, which will soon be replaced with the 3807. The 2807 has newer processors, iPod link capability, and it has better HDMI switching.

There's some food for thought. Good luck with your decision.

This has been a lively debate. Since looking over the forums and listening...I'm actually going with the Denon 2807. Given the upgrades in the features and the fact that music will rarely be listened to in my room, it seems to fit the budget better (price match at OneCall).

Thanks for the all the info. My gear should be here by the end of the week!

Rick

Be sure to give us your thoughts once you get everything set up.

Will do. Everything is coming in waves, so once I get everything set up and calibrated, I'll respond.

Thanks again for all advice and input

Just my 2cents:

Definition of "True Fidelity" = Rick's ears.