*** Official Rotel RSP-1066 pre/pro DISCUSSION Thread *** (1 Viewer)

[Evan S]

Do you get the white noise no matter what the input? (CD, DVD, whatever?). Could it be a bad interconnect or maybe a bad RCA jack in the back of the Rotel? Man, that would be too bad if you just got a bum unit. I would talk to the dealer about maybe giving you a different unit or at least hook that unit up at the store to see if they have the same experience.

 

[Neville]

Noise was present no matter what the input source. I thought about a bad interconnect, but since I couldn't duplicate the noise with my I reconnected my old unit I discounted this. It haven't ruled out a ground loop, but since it went away with my old unit I would have to wonder why this unit is more susceptible to a ground loop. The fact that I use a line conditioner should prevent this, if I am thinking correctly.

I just got done reconnecting the Rotel piece and the hum is still there. Maybe I should disconnect one source at a time and see if it goes away.

I would still like to know why the Rotel would have this problem and not my Carver. This really makes me think it is something with the Rotel piece.

Anyone see a flaw with this logic?

 

[Steve Elias]

David S,

I called the same store in Ontario yesterday. They told me that they didn't have any in stock, but they would be happy to order it for me. I asked about an audition or a demo and they politely said no. As far as their low price policy, the $1499 price they quoted me is definitely not the lowest price around. Heck, they wanted $1180 for the older 976 model and $1999 for the 985. I'm hoping to hear the 1066 at a more reasonable store near Pasadena.

Neville,

Hmmm. Thanks for the heads up, especially as it takes some of the winds out of my sails and helps me to proceed with more caution and less impatience. Hopefully I, or someonr else, can soon check out another 1066 to see if this problem is unique to your unit or a model wide shortcoming.

-Steve

 

[David S]

Steve - pretty poor. The salesman was a total dick. He actually followed me around/I think he was listening to me tell my brother in law my schtick! Now you find out 0 stock!! Anyway, at least Sound Factor in Pasadena will set one up. Not sure of stock though. Duke is a great guy to deal with at SF.

 

[Steve Elias]

David S,

I haven't talked to Duke yet, but Rick at Sound Factor sounds like a good guy over the phone. He seemed open to the possiblity of a lower than MSRP price as well as an in store audition. I didn't ask about a take home audition. According to Rick, they received their first unit on Tuesday and promptly sold it. Rick was expecting more today (Thursday) but as he hasn't called me they may not have arrived yet.

 

[Will]

Will,
If my memory is functioning properly your info reveals that you live in the Los Angeles area. Can you recommend any Los Angeles area Rotel dealers other than Sound Factor (Pasadena), Leigh Adams Discount Sales (Rancho Cucamonga), or Elite Audio/Video (Upland)? Thanks.

Steve,
Looks like you've already found quite a few. I think the LA area has an embarassment of riches when it comes to Rotel dealers, according to the Rotel web site. We have good quantity but I guess others will have to report on if we have good quality dealers with price deals. Here are some of the local LA area Rotel dealers:
OPTIMAL ENCHANTMENT
522 SANTA MONICA BLVD.
SANTA MONICA , CA
USA 90401 Phone: 310 393-4434
SOUND FACTOR
2936 WILSHIRE BLVD.
SANTA MONICA , CA
USA 90403 Phone: 310 264-5457 Web: www.soundfactor.com
SYSTEMS DESIGN GROUP
1310 KINGSDALE AVE.
REDONDO BEACH , CA
USA 90278 Phone: 310 370-8575
GNP AUDIO VIDEO
1254 E. COLORADO BLVD.
PASADENA , CA
USA 91106 Phone: 818 577-7767
SHELLEY'S STEREO
6201 TOPANGA CANYON BLVD.
WOODLAND HILLS, CA
USA 91367 Phone: 818 716-8500
SOUND FACTOR
17265 VENTURA BLVD.
ENCINO , CA
USA 91316 Phone: 818 501-3548 Web: www.soundfactor.com
AHEAD STEREO
7426 BEVERLY BLVD.
LOS ANGELES, CA
USA 90036 Phone: 323 931-8873 Web: www.parthe.net/aheadstereo.com
SOUND FACTOR
2 S. ROSEMEAD AVE.
PASADENA , CA
USA 91107 Phone: 626 577-4945 Web: www.soundfactor.com
ELITE AUDIO/VIDEO
840 W. 9TH ST., SUITE J
UPLAND , CA
USA 91786 Phone: 909 981-2835
LEIGH ADAMS DISCOUNT SALES
990 ONTARIO MILLS DR. #F
ONTARIO , CA
USA 91764 Phone: 909 476-9667
AUDIO ECSTASY
786 HIGUERA ST.
SAN LUIS OBISPO , CA
USA 93401 Phone: 805 544-8392 Web: Link Removed

 

[AVspec]

Broken in or not..... I would think there should be no "white noise" or "hiss" from any new unit(s)..... was there this kind of noise on the new (beta units mind you) Outlaw 950's???? Not that I remember reading.... let hope this is a isolated unit and the others do not have it.

 

[John Morris]

Noise? Hmmm, I sorta remember somebody who reported on this a month ago.... wonder who that could have been? As for burn in, I sure hope that that takes care of the problem for the sake of those of you who want to buy this unit.

Neville: The other thing you may want to try is to make sure that you only connect audio sources and have NO connections to your TV, VCR, or DVD at all.

 

[Neville]

Thank for the feedback guys.
I am hoping some of the experts can elaborate on this for me a little bit. Why would one unit be more susceptible to this "hiss" throught the speakers and other not? And do line conditioner work at elimating this problem or not?
I will disconnect all the video sources this evening and see if it goes away.
Just for the record I am not trying to point anyone in one direction or the other I am just trying to give you guys my impressions as I demo the unit good or bad. I don't want anyone thinking that I am an expert when it comes to things like this, I can only tell you guys what I experience as it happens.
When I was listening to the piece the first night, I was listening at low volumes(below 40 - Rotels numerical setting) because it I was the only one awake. Last night since my wife also up we listened to it at higher volumes which is when the sound seemed to degrade. I played with it more last night so here is what I found.
With nothing turned on but the Rotel and Amp when the volume setting reads minimum the speakers are dead dead dead quite. Turn on all the sources, CD/Tape/TV/VCR/ no change. Then with my ear next to the speaker you turn the volume to 1 and you hear a very faint pop/click and then a buzz/hiss. Turn the volume up to 60 the noise does not get any louder. :frowning:
Now when listening to music through the CD player on music which is mostly accoustical(lack of a better word) when you keep the volume levels below 40 the unit sounds good. I agree that break-in should make the unit sound better and I tried to take that into consideration the first time I listened to it. When you get the volume up to around 60 you can tell that background noise starts to become noticable. I don't know how to describe it other than than sound seems to degrade and get muddier. I don't think this is the same buzz/hiss I heard with no music, because that didn't get louder as the volume increased. The two may some how be related though.
I want to thank everyone for being patient with me, and I am sorry if I have not done this unit justice. I know this can be a very rough crowd which is why I mostly just lerk and learn, but I know there were a lot of questions regarding this pre-amp and so I thought I maybe able to contribute.

 

[Brian Corr]

What part of the component are you'll referring to that needs to burn in?

I wasn't aware that SS processors needed to be broken in.

 

[Bob-N]

Yes, burn-in is real. I work for a very large router/switch company and every unit is burned in for at least 4 hours before shipping to the customer. I'm sure that's just a start and as the unit starts sending data/electrons through those SS devices, they "loosen up" after a time and that's when you get optimum performance.

 

[Brian Corr]

But don't you run them first to make sure they work, not to improve performance?

I do translations on Nortel DMS-250's and Ericcson AXE-10's and have never heard of them "improving" over time. Thanks for your input.

 

[BruceD]

Brian,

You are correct, all Network Equip "Burn-In" rooms are designed (ISO standards) to catch units that fail, indicating a potential bad batch of components. They are not used to make any unit work "better".

 

[Steven Phipps]

Hi everybody...first off, I am in no way a critic or do I know much more than laymans terms what the hell I am talking about when it comes to electronics, I consider myself alot 'smarter' than the average joe, and 50 times smarter when it comes to electronics than most future shop salesmen...I hope you got the picture.

Anyways, I just made the leap to separates very recently, I started out with the following:

Pioneer Elite VSX29TX Receiver

PSB Stratus Silver Front & Rear

Stratus C6 Center

PSB Subsonic 3 Subwoofer

Pioneer Elite DV-F07 DVD

Sony VPL400Q Projector

Da-Lite 106" Matte 1.1 HDTV Screen

Mitsubishi 46" RPTV

Now I have after a three month period of selling an buying:

Rotel RSP-1066 pre/pro

2 Aragon 2004 amplifiers

Martin Logan Aerius Front

B&W DS6 Dipole Rear

PSB Subsonic 3 Subwoofer

Pioneer Elite DV-F07 DVD

Sony VPL400Q Projector

Da-Lite 106" Matte 1.1 HDTV Screen

Mitsubishi 46" RPTV

So, as you see, I do not have a center anymore, nor do I have center rears either. I do find however, using the phantom center with the ML's sounds clearer, and more detailed than with the PSB's with the center (however, that is another argument altogether).

I just got this thing last night, so I don't have alot to talk about yet, but I can comment on a couple of issues...

White noise: I did the same as Neville (turned up the volume on a source, without the source playing (DVD)...the only thing I heard was the hum from my amp which was happening before with a couple other receivers I was using as a pre/pro. I do believe I need a cheater plug for the amp, no white noise though.

Sound: I still have yet to audition the 1066 for music, but I did get to watch a movie last night...Saving Silverman. Now as I do realise, this is not the worlds best DD 5.1 movie to review a unit with, but after breaking the wallet, I had to give in to the wife and watch something that she wanted to see. I didn't calibrate the speakers yet, just slapped her together and threw on a flick. I did however throw on a couple of short clips from The 5th Element, while she was out having a cigarette, and noticed that the rear surrounds were alot fuller and more ambient. Watching Saving Silverman, I noticed a much warmer, and stronger mid-range sound throughout the movie. I am sorry, but you'll have to wait till tomorrow to know anything more about sound, I'll have to audition TPM very soon!

Remote: Has Rotel ever heard of instructions...This instruction book is very lame. I have a Pronto TSU2000 currently, but with all due respect, the remote that comes with the 1066 kicks ass! At least compared to alot of other remotes out there. But alas, you have to screw around with it a fair amount to figure certain actions out. I am the type of person who doesn't like reading literature type instructions, but wants a picture with brief description on the function of the button. Oh well, no biggie.

That is all I really have time for now...sorry for babbling on about nothing much, but if you have any questions, which you think my limited knowledge may be able to answer, please feel free to ask. Please bare with me as I have never been a critic (well, not in this sense anyway)!

 

[John Morris]

Steven: If you get a chance, could you try some 2 channel music using the analog bypass mode of the 1066, and then report back as to how it sounds. Thanks!

 

[Karl Englebright]

Yes, burn-in is real. I work for a very large router/switch company and every unit is burned in for at least 4 hours before shipping to the customer.

So if I call this company and ask them why my new layer 3 switch is dropping packets, they might tell me to give it time so the electronics can "perform better" ? Hmmmm...

 

[Steven Phipps]

I will most certainly do my best John, however, I have never looked back since I got the DV-F07 to analog. I always used the optical output on the DVD to listen to cd's. I am very interested in finding out if there is much difference, as I was always under the impression (my own only) that digital would sound better period.:b
Remember, I have only turned to separates in the past few months, and in that time, everything has changed, mind you, the sub and the B&W's have been part of my system a very long time. I don't even know if I am commenting in the right area...maybe I should be in the "are separates better" thread!

 

[JohnSC]

Steven,
Rotel have a seperate manual for the 969 remote on their website. It might help. Here is the link:
http://www.rotel.com/html/owners-manuals.htm
Looking forward to your review on the 1066 for music.

 

[Larry B]

LarryB:

But that does beg the question - if you're ambivilent about HT, what are YOU doing around here so often? Now its time for a little introspection on YOUR part, oh hyphenated one!

I'm here for the same reason one gawks at a car accident: To see people whose plight is worse than mine.
Actually, I participate mostly to learn, and for the occcasional heated argument.
Larry-with-you-know-what
P.S. A bit envious of those hyphens, aren't we?

 

[Bob-N]

Sorry guys, I missed the burn in comments. According to our mfg guys, my understanding is that part of it is to catch bad units (infant mortality) so I agree with that but didn't mention it in my haste.:b However, another reason for burn in is to make sure that components are indeed "broken in" somewhat before shipping to the customer.
Karl, dropping packets could be contributed by a lot of factors. Burn in (IMHO) has been taken care of so, in theory, you should be getting a fully functional and performing unit.
So I think people might be oversimplifying what I'm trying to convey here. I hope that clarifies my opinion.
If you're being sarcastic, then I missed it. If you're not, no big deal. We'll just agree to disagree...no harm, no foul.
Bob