New RSP-1066 Owner Questions/Observations

[dpippel]

I received my brand spanking new 1066 in silver yesterday and have spent a few hours setting up and calibrating the unit. My question is how do I find out the software version that's installed in this puppy? I searched here but couldn't locate the answer. This is a new unit that came to my dealer in the August shipment so it should have the latest and greatest, but I'd like to know for sure.

On to my problems/gripes. This piece is replacing my trusty Marantz AV9000 processor. I've noticed some things on the Rotel that bother me:

1 - Bass management issues already described in detail here. I'd love to see Rotel incorporate many of the suggestions for enhancements posted in this forum.

2 - Time delay settings on speakers. There's no reason the software can't calculate this for you based on speaker distance from the viewing position. Entering the delay in milliseconds shouldn't be necessary. And why aren't there values for the front L/R speakers here? Can this be addressed with a software update?

3 - Trouble detecting DD-EX and DTS-ES?? I played portions of both Phantom Menace (DD-EX) and Terminator 2 (DTS-ES track) and the 1066 did NOT lock on the correct bitstream. I got no sound at all until I switched to another input (CD in this case) and then back to the DVD input, at which point it detected and locked properly. Is this a known problem?

4 - Bitstream detection and lock delay. This has been mentioned here and it is pretty apparent on my unit. When skipping between chapters on a DVD, the 1066 takes a second or two to re-acquire the bitstream, identify it and lock in. It's very annoying. Any fix for this in the works? My DVD player is a Toshiba SD-4700 connected to the Rotel via coax and I've never had a problem with this on the AV9000.

5 - Pops. When navigating the OSD and sometimes when changing between different bitstreams on a DVD ( the menu to main feature transition for example), the unit produces very audible pops. It would be nice if it didn't do this.

6 - Channel crosstalk. I have my DSS receiver on all the time, connected to the 1066 via analog inputs. When switching inputs I can hear the satellite on adjacent analog inputs that are quiet if the volume is turned up. This may be a dealbreaker for me. I find this to be unacceptable on a $1200 processor. I take it this is a known problem.

And finally, isn't there an LED ring around the volume knob that's supposed to light up blue on the silver 1066 (red on the black) when the unit is on? Mine doesn't. It's dark. I can see the ring and it appears to be translucent blue but it does not light up. All I have illuminated is the blue power LED in the upper left corner of the faceplate.

Any comments, suggestions, work-arounds, etc. would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Lex]

That's a tough if not fair analysis. I can't say, since I don't own one. Andrew, the link to Rotel is out this week and next week. So, it's up to the members here to comment on your questions. I am sure we can get your questions passedf on to Rotel, but by the time you get a response, your time to return the Rotel would likely be up.

So, bearing in mind many Rotelers may not show up here until Monday, let's see what they have to say-

Welcome to the forum!
Lex

[dpippel]

Thanks for the info and the welcome Lex. Sorry if I came across "tough" in my post. My intent was merely to report some things that I don't like about the Rotel. I suppose that I waited so long to get it and read so much about it that my expectations were very high. When I discovered some tarnish I was disappointed and that seems to have come across in my comments.

So then, let me comment on some of the GOOD things. I *love* the way the 1066 sounds with my equipment. It's not a huge improvement over the AV9000 but it's certainly large enough to be quite apparent. The biggest gains that I've been able to pinpoint so far are improved depth of soundstage, better detail in the high and midrange freqs, better separation of instruments and sound effects and improved imaging. I also like the variable crossover alot (my Marantz is fixed at 80Hz - THX). My speakers integrate with my sub so much better at 60Hz. I also like the looks of the unit and the back panel is nicely and logically layed out. FYI, along with the Rotel my equipment consists of:

Sherbourn 5/1500A 200wpc amplifier
Cambridge Audio D500SE CD player
Toshiba SD-4700 DVD player
Onix Rocket RS750 mains
Onix Rocket RSC200 center
Onix Rocket RS250 rear surrounds
SVS 25-31 PCi subwoofer

DP

P.S. I hate the remote too. :LOL: Who decided it would be a good idea to put the input selection buttons behind the door?!? Glad I have a Pronto.

[Andrew Pratt]

1 - Bass management issues already described in detail here. I'd love to see Rotel incorporate many of the suggestions for enhancements posted in this forum.

Agreed and we're working on getting Rotel to incorporate these into a new firmware.

2 - Time delay settings on speakers. There's no reason the software can't calculate this for you based on speaker distance from the viewing position. Entering the delay in milliseconds shouldn't be necessary. And why aren't there values for the front L/R speakers here? Can this be addressed with a software update?

Agreed...see #1

3 - Trouble detecting DD-EX and DTS-ES?? I played portions of both Phantom Menace (DD-EX) and Terminator 2 (DTS-ES track) and the 1066 did NOT lock on the correct bitstream. I got no sound at all until I switched to another input (CD in this case) and then back to the DVD input, at which point it detected and locked properly. Is this a known problem?

I haven't notice this problem but others have said that to get it to work properly you need to manually force into each mode once before it will work properly.

4 - Bitstream detection and lock delay. This has been mentioned here and it is pretty apparent on my unit. When skipping between chapters on a DVD, the 1066 takes a second or two to re-acquire the bitstream, identify it and lock in. It's very annoying. Any fix for this in the works? My DVD player is a Toshiba SD-4700 connected to the Rotel via coax and I've never had a problem with this on the AV9000.

This is a strange one for me since I've enver noticed it either with the Sony 7700 or the Sony jukebox I use

5 - Pops. When navigating the OSD and sometimes when changing between different bitstreams on a DVD ( the menu to main feature transition for example), the unit produces very audible pops. It would be nice if it didn't do this.

I've only ever heard this when turning on and off Cinema eq and since I rarely use that its not a problem for me.

6 - Channel crosstalk. I have my DSS receiver on all the time, connected to the 1066 via analog inputs. When switching inputs I can hear the satellite on adjacent analog inputs that are quiet if the volume is turned up. This may be a dealbreaker for me. I find this to be unacceptable on a $1200 processor. I take it this is a known problem.

This is turning out to be very common in recent pre amps since there seems to be a trend to tie all the grounds together so there is some bleed between the analog inputs.

I'm not sure which firmware you are running and unfortunatly rotel took away the ability to display which firmware you're running so the only thing we know for sure is that you are running at least 1.35 since prior to that the firmware value flashed on the LCD display when you turned on the unit. You might try upgrading the firwmare to the latest version to see if that improves things somewhat but I know for a fact some of the things you've asked for are the very things we've been pushing Rotel to incorporate into a future firmware update...when that will happen though is anyone's guess to be honest though I was told to expect another update sooner rather then later

[Lex]

dpipple, first, can we call you dimple for short? or maybe ripple? :LOL:

I wasn't saying your analysis wasn't good. you make some very good, and likely valid points. Good post.

Nor was I saying that we only advocate positive posts, we certainly want to help isolate problem areas, and problem units. If we didn't, we wouldn't be doing either our members or the vendors service.

Andrew surprised me, and popped up on the road, maybe an internet cafe somewhere, and here he is, with a great response.

You see, you can't ever count any member of HTG out, as gone, cause with the information age, they show up when you least expect them to.

Thanks for the positive additions to your comments, and your welcome for the welcome!

I agree, the input buttons behind a door? 8O :roll:

Lex

[SaNdOkAn]

5 - Pops. When navigating the OSD and sometimes when changing between different bitstreams on a DVD ( the menu to main feature transition for example), the unit produces very audible pops. It would be nice if it didn't do this.

My 1066 does the same. Changing in menu's produce audible popz. Dunno what the prob is