*** Rotel 1055 vs Denon 3803 *** (1 Viewer)

[Mark Nguyen]

Hi guys,

Need to know something before making the purhase. Is the sonic difference just marginal or is there a big difference between the two? Obviously, Rotel is the one on top right?

My dilemma is I definitely like the up-conversion for all of the video inputs to 1 component out to my projector on the 3803 but I would compromise and get the rsx-1055 if the sonic difference is significant...50/50 for music/HT. If it's not, I can save some $ and have the up-conversion by going with the 3803.


Thanks,

Mark

 

[John S]

I may get some flack over this post.

But I prefer the sound of Denon Power Amps over Rotel.
Preference will have a ton to do with this.

I almost bought separates, but in auditioning, I honestly thought and still think Denon Power Amps sound best to me.

I bought a Denon 4802 by the way.....

 

[Dan Driscoll]

Mark, you will have to listen. I think most people will say the Rotel has better sound quality, but you might not think so or the difference to you might not be worth the price differnce. But that is something you will only be able to decide by actually listening to them both, preferablly in your home system.

 

[CharlesD]

I just bought a Rotel 1055. I auditioned both the Rotel and the Denon 3803, the Rotel sounded much better to me. The in-store audition was done using B&W speakers, and Rotel has the reputation of matching well with B&Ws. (My HT speakers are B&Ws)

 

[Mark Nguyen]

Thanks for the response so far...

My speakers are:
Deftech BP2000 (front)
CLR 2000 (center)
BPX (rear)


Mark

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Mark there's a very long list of former Denon owners over in Club Rotel that all say the same thing about improvements in audio clarity etc after switching over to the Rotels. Now Rotel is about to release an updated version of the 1055 receiver (1068) that will have video upconversion on it so you won't have to go without that feature either. For what its worth I now have the 1098 and 1075 and used to own the Denon 3300 and auditioned the 3801 and 3802 in my home before moving on to Rotel

 

[Mark Nguyen]

I found the solution! I decided to take a nice drive over to our local friendly AV store and listen to the 1055...sounds great but of course I didn't get to compare it against the 3803 since they don't carry Denon. Anyways, I found out Rotel is discontinuing the 1055s and replacing them with 1056s. It will be release mid of February at the same price as the 1055.

Guess what features the 1056 has? Yup, everything the 1055 + it has the up-conversion to component, and more! So I guess all I have to do now is wait and I will have the best of both worlds.

Thanks for the quick replies guys.


Mark

 

[John S]

I would probably be inclined to agree also, til I put on some serious horn oriented jazz. That is really the only place Denon power amps seem to sound better than anything else to me. Somehow it must just agree with my ears.

 

[Neal_C]

Mark,

Rotel and Def. Techs go very well together. I have:

Rotel 1055 (as preamp)
Rotel 1075 amp
Def. Tech 2002tl mains
Def. Tech clr2002
Def. Tech bp2x surrounds

I can't say that I have any complaints with my setup. I think you will be very happy with the 1056.

Neal

 

[Mark Nguyen]

Neal,

Nice amps for your Deftech. Just curious, have you tried running them with the amp on the 1055? If so, does it have any problem, and how does it sound?

I am currently driving the fronts with a RB-1070 which works fine...and the future 1056 will drive the rears/center.


Mark

 

[Neal_C]

Thanks Mark...

No, I haven't ever run the Def. Techs with the 1055, but I'm sure it would do fine. I bought the 1075 when I had a Pioneer Elite 35TX. I used the 35TX as a preamp for a while, but then decided I wanted true seperates. Since the 1055 and 1066 have no real world sonic differences, I decided for less money and getting a tuner, the 1055 would be a good choice, eventhough it isn't sold as a preamp.

Enjoy your new toys

 

[Rich Wenzel]

the 1055/1056 is going to cost you more than the 3803...

you have to look at what you may get for that...

difference in sound quality in 2 channel and multi channel---subjective...

features - denon (mostly)

power - rotel

looks - subjective (but i think most would go with rotel)

upgradeability - rotel for sure...


there is one other benefit, at least to me, that rotel has over mass marketers...they dont put out a new amp very often, this somewhat stymies the need to upgrade urge...not completely...but companies that put out a new receiver every 9-12 months would make me want to upgrade more frequently...

when i made the choice, i went with the rotel, is it perfect, no, is it better than the denon, for me yes, and it better be, cause it cost more...

Rich

 

[Neal_C]

Mark,

As another option (and I'm not trying to steer you away from Rotel) but the new Denon 3805 will be realeased in March. I heard it at CES, and it sounded wonderful, has a very in depth menu system, Auto Room EQ (that is manually adjustable), 7.1 channel, etc. There is a thread going here somewhere talking about it.

And to be honest, I will be demoing it when it hits the streets.


Neal

 

[Dan Driscoll]

Just to clarify, the RSP-1068 HT processor will be the replacement for the RSP-1066. As several people have already noted, the RSX-1055 HT receiver will be replaced by the RSX-1056.

 

[Geoff C]

Neal,

Check out the latest Axiom newsletter for a short but critical analysis of the new Denon Room EQ.