***Official*** Rotel RSP 1066 Fact and LOGICAL discussion thread (1 Viewer)

[Legairre]

Nicholas,

We've got something in common. I'm replacing my Denon 3300 with a silver 1066 on Saturday. The thing is finally in. I also have a 1095 amp. Both of us should enjoy the Rotel combos.

 

[Nicholas Renter]

I use crap stands and crap speaker cable. These are now the weak links of my system (in my opinion).

I thought about buying the stands, but at the time when I bought the 805s, I thought they were out of their minds charging that much money for speaker stands. Needless to say, that is an upgrade for another day.

Also, I thought that the B&W stands, although absolutely beautiful, were a few inches too short for my liking. When I upgrade, I'll probably go with Sound Anchors.

Where did you get your stands (and B&Ws)? I actually work in Buckhead, so I am frequently in ATL.

So I take it that you like your 805s? I absolutely love mine. I also have a REL Strata III subwoofer. The 805 / REL combo is amazing (and I could go on and spout my opinion that a 805 / REL combo will easily take on the 804 and the 803, but that's another discussion).

 

[Nicholas Renter]

Legairre,

So what are you going to do with your AVR-3300? I haven't decided what to do with mine. I could e-bay it, but I doubt I'd get much more than $500.00 for it. For that kind of money, I may as well keep around or give it to my nephew.

It's a pitty, because mine is in mint condition. I haven't moved it since I set it up (exactly 2 years ago).

 

[Legairre]

Nicholas,

Here we go again. Mines in mint condition too. It's been in the rack for nearly three years. I already gave it to my brother. I thought about using two channels from it to power the back surrounds in a 7.1 setup, but decided that a Rotel RB-1080(200x2wpc) would be real sweet. That combined with my 1095 would give me a 7.1 setup with 200x7wpc. I'd actually use the RB-1080 for the fronts because it's dampaning factor is 1000 and the 1095's is 400. This addiction, I mean hobby never ends.

 

[Gregg Z]

Nicholas,
I bough my stands a Georgia Home Theater in Marietta (they are on Hwy 41 about a mile outside of 285 in the BestBuy shopping center).
I love my 805/HTM/SCM combination. You are one step ahead of me though. My sub will be a REL, but I cant make up my mind between the Storm III and the Strata III. I completely agree that an 805/REL combination can sound as good as the higher dollar 800's (I might even be so bold as to say better because by decoupling the bass from the mid/hi, you can better place the speakers to maximize your rooms acoustics).
Legarrie,
Have you thought about the RMB-1066 (the 6x60w amp)? I'm thinking about driving the main 5 with the 1095 and getting the RMB-1066 and bridging it down to a 3x150 and using it to drive my 2 center backs and my zone 2 speakers.
Gregg

 

[Nicholas Renter]

Gregg,
Personally, I would recommend the Strata III over the Storm III. The Strata III is a sealed box, while the Storm III is a ported system. I find the Strata III to be tighter and more responsive, while although the Storm III will give you a bit more of that lower octave, what you do get is a bit sloppier. However, YMMV.
Also, if you want more bass in the future, you can always add a 2nd Strata III.
Nicholas

 

[Will]

If you want a new tuner and want to spend less than $200, I've heard the Yamaha TX492 is a pretty good new-model tuner, for the money.

 

[Christopher G]

HI I'm chris. I have been read this thread for a week after I was told about it. I asked a question on a diff. web site this person sent my here. so here I'm. I am going to get a 1066 but like everyone else,my local dealer is out of stock.I'm replacing my ADCOM 740 with the 1066. I have not owned a ROTEL product before. I have been looking for products that have over build power supplys, which understand that ROTEL is over build in the power supply department. I hope this is true. THANK YOU for the info on this thead. CHRIS GUNTER.

 

[JohnSC]

Welcome Chris. Let us know how you go. I have owned ROTEL products for many years and am very happy with them. I hope you find them to be the same.

 

[Harold_C]

On reading the manual again, it states that setting the Sub to MAX will redirect all low bass to the Sub. The next sentence then says this will give max bass performance as normal bass will be played by both the Sub and the Large speakers. To me this sounds a little confusing. Is the bass redirected or given the last sentence, played by both sub and large speakers? Another question then comes to mind. With the setting as MAX, does the crossover then have any effect on the Large speakers or is it exclusive to Small speakers and Sub only?

In the MAX setting, the normal bass (i.e. bass recorded in one of the regular channels) is both redirected to the subwoofer AND played by the LARGE speakers. The reason the manual says that it redirect ALL low bass to the SUB is that the MAX setting redirects bass from both SMALL and LARGE speakers to the sub. The more typical "YES" setting operates as Dolby's bass management intends: normal bass is redirected from any SMALL speaker to the sub, but NOT from any LARGE speakers -- hence not ALL of the bass from ALL of the speakers is redirected.

There are three settings for the subwoofer:

NO: This is pretty obvious. Select this if you don't have a subwoofer. Any LARGE speakers play their own normal bass plus the LFE channel. Any SMALL speakers play from the crossover point up and send their normal bass to the LARGE speakers.

YES: Equally obvious. This is really the proper setting for a 5.1 channel system with a subwoofer. The subwoofer plays the LFE track. SMALL speakers play from the crossover point up and send their normal bass to the subwoofer and LARGE speakers. LARGE speakers play their normal bass, plus some of the redirected bass from any SMALL speakers.

MAX: This is the double-bass setting. Any LARGE speakers play their normal bass plus their normal bass is ALSO sent to the subwoofer. IMO, this is really a crappy configuration, intended for people who are interested in maximizing thump at the expense of sound quality. It's a standard feature of Dolby Digital processors these days, but it's generally not a very appropriate setting assuming you have a halfway decent subwoofer.

In no case is a high pass crossover ever used on LARGE speakers. The term "LARGE SPEAKER" really means "no high pass filter". The term "SMALL SPEAKER" really means "with high pass filter".

For 99.9% of systems, the best overall performance will be achieved by setting ALL of the speakers in the system to SMALL and the subwoofer to YES, with either an 80 to 100 Hz crossover point, depending on the speakers you are using. There are other settings that will work with certain combinations of equipment, but you are basically swimming upstream against the whole premise of THX/Dolby Digital system configuration, usually to no particular benefit. I firmly believe that if people would follow the recommendation of ALL SMALL speakers, the would eliminate a great deal of confusion in configuring their systems. This is the way THX conceived the whole bass management scenario, which has, in turn, been implemented in all Dolby Digital processors.

 

[Legairre]

Gregg,
Hmmm, an RMB-1066. Now you've got me thinking. The RB-1080 list for $1000. Do you know what the RMB-1066 amp list for?
Harold,
Thanks for the extremely clear explanation of the 1066's bass management. Now why the heck didn't Rotel's writing department just hire you. Clear, precise and to the point . Now that's the bass management explanation I need. Thanks
Thanks
Legairre

 

[JohnSC]

Harold,

Finally some clarity on this! Thanks heaps.

It looks like I should use the analog bypass function for music and leave the digital decoding for HT only. The reason I say this is that if I opt for digital decoding for music then setting my fronts to small would limit the bass they produce which I think would diminish the sound quality. I do not like using the sub whilst listening to music. It sounds too muffled and not as punchy and tight as the fronts do.

What do you think?

John

 

[Gregg Z]

Hi Legarrie,
The RMB-1066 lists at $699.
Rotel has all of their list prices on their website. http://www.rotel.com/html/retail-price-us.htm
Another benefit of the RMB-1066 is that it has adjustable gain and may be able to be tweaked so that the gain matches that of the 1095. I've been meaning to email Rotel and ask them that question but haven't got around to it yet.
Gregg

 

[Harold_C]

It looks like I should use the analog bypass function for music and leave the digital decoding for HT only. The reason I say this is that if I opt for digital decoding for music then setting my fronts to small would limit the bass they produce which I think would diminish the sound quality. I do not like using the sub whilst listening to music. It sounds too muffled and not as punchy and tight as the fronts do.

What do you think?

I think your subwoofer is probably turned up too loud. Putting aside the issue of whether the digital processing introduces audible coloration, there is no reason that your speakers alone should should "tighter" or "better" in any way than your speakers properly crossed over to a properly calibrated subwoofer. Whether the source material is music or movies, a biamplified subwoofer/main speaker system offers signficant benefits.

I think that most of us get the subwoofer cranked up too high, which in turn muddies up the harmonic structure of the bass. Turning the subwoofer off cures this problem. However, a better solution is to get the subwoofer level down to the proper point where it is NOT muddying up the bass. Basically, the system should not sound like there is a subwoofer at all -- until that really deep bass note comes rolling along. If your system sounds like it has more bass all of the time with the subwoofer on, then the sub is too loud.

Personally, with the RSP-1066, I would go all SMALL on all the speakers and use the digital inputs for everything. I think that there are settings for the Dolby Pro Logic II music mode or the DTS Neo:6 Music mode that would do an outstanding job on music. I would particularly want to play around with some of the wider settings for CENTER WIDTH on the Pro Logic II music mode for stereo sources. I think this would solve the biggest problem of matrix surround modes for stereo source material -- collapsing too much of the signal into the center channel.

I understand that the analog bypass is more in keeping with the concept of a straight wire with gain. And, historically, I've been a big proponent of that. However, in the real world, with today's heavily processed run-of-the-mill digital recordings, I just don't know that the concept of minimal processing really has much validity.

However, it wouldn't be too tough to go with the analog bypass and no subwoofer if it floats your boat. Just go to the speaker set-up menu and set the subwoofer to "NO" when you listen to stereo CDs in analog bypass. That will kill the sub and disable all the crossovers. Just put it back to YES for all your digital inputs.

 

[brian a]

How I'm spending my long weekend:

Can you see the smile on my face from where you are?

 

[Legairre]

Isn't this the shootout Will is trying to get going in another thread?

 

[Sam Sugob]

Looks like we might have a three way here in the Houston area. Check this out: Houston HT Meet

 

[JohnSC]

Thanks HArold C. That sounds like good advice. Looks like I have more tweaking to do.

Brian a, can't wait for your opinion. I am jealous!

 

[Robert Ma]

Hi all,

I am starting to look at the Rotel RSP 1066. I visited a local dealer today who is sold out of the older one and back ordered on the new version with the updated software. He states that he will sell it to me for $1350 plus tax when they come in (up to 4 weeks from now!!).

I didn't even get to hear it since he sold his demo (with old soft.) this week.

Also, what really interested me in this dealer is that he will take my Marantz SR-19 A/V Receiver as a trade in for $600 credit towards the Rotel. I like the idea of not dealing with selling / shipping myself.

Some Questions:

Is $1350 a good price?

How would you describe the sound from the rotel (warm,nuetral,bright, or whatever you can think of)?

Has anyone heard the Marantz AV-9000 and the Rotel 1066? If so how would you describe the differences? (MY SR-19 is almost as good as the AV-9000)

I apologize if any of this is covered in this thread already. I do not have time right now to read this whole thread but I will cover it tonight for sure since I now have GAS-Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

 

[brian a]

$1350 is pretty standard I'd say. I think that's the standard price the Home Theater Store will quote you on anything (10% off). Others have paid more and a few have found it for less.

I haven't heard the 9000, so I can't give you ai direct comparison, but I'd say that the 1066 has a warm sound overall.

I don't think you can go wrong with it. I've had it for a few weeks and it constantly brings a smile to my face when rewatching old movies. I replaced a B&K ref20 with it, and it outpaces the B&K by quite a bit.

If you have any other specific questions, ask away.