Rotel 1068 vs. B&K Ref 50

**jimmyp58** · 13 July 2004, 21:33 Tuesday

Is there any way the dealer would let you bring home each of these unit's demo units to see which would sound better in your environment? Just a thought.

The interesting thing is that a dealer I used to work with did all he could to steer me away from B&K. I think it all comes down to preferences just like anything. I've listened to the Ref 50 and it was good but nowhere near as nice as the 1098 I purchased. I have yet to hear a 1068 but did hear a 1066. The 1066 sounded nice but nowhere close, IMO, to the 1098. So for me, this would be a tough one. In the environment I listened to the Ref 50 in, I would say it sounded better than the environment I listened to the 1066 in. Completely different stores mind you, different speakers, different acoustical treatment, and different source units. So in all, a challenge to really say which sounded better.

If you want, e-mail me as I might have another option for you. In fairness to everyone else that will respond and probably in line with forum protocol, I'll leave it at that. See my profile for my e-mail address.

Jim

**Andrew Pratt** · 13 July 2004, 21:43 Tuesday

Jimmy for what its worth apparently the 1068 sounds a lot like our 1098's...at least a lot more so then the 1066 does.

Both the B&K and the Rotel are fine processors and frankly I doubt you'd be unhappy taking home either unit. With the Rotel you're gaining a cheaper unit that is somewhat upgradable but best of all you gain all the support of the membership in Club Rotel which can help you get the most out of that unit (its very customizable)

I agree with your choice of amps too as the 1075 has tons of power and runs very cool which is a nice bonus at this time of the year

**ajpoe** · 13 July 2004, 21:46 Tuesday

No, they will not let me demo each model in my house and I'd have to bring an amp too. I'm new to separates as I have always had a receiver.

The irony here is that they have my identical speaker set up running off a 1068 and a 1075. That's what I listened to when I decided to get my Paradigms but they are still pushing me toward the Ref 50. Getting my speakers was the last time I physically went there so I have not listened to the Ref 50. I assume they have it in one of their B&W speaker rooms. I didn't know I was going to consider another upgrade this soon but I just don't feel like I am doing my speakers justice running them off the Onkyo receiver...

**Dmantis** · 13 July 2004, 22:34 Tuesday

OK,
The B&K and Rotel preamps both have ups and downs.I could list them owever this might be better learned on your own.Explore alittle my man.

I will say this,B&K has better connectability.the 1068 falls short here with only 2 optical and 3 coax.B&K smokes that.
The B&K is also more custom then the Rotel with the features it has.

Sound quality is a toss up.Personal preference comes into play.
The B&k also has the ultimate Notch filter which I find completly usefull in every room I setup in.

B&K is fully hardware and software upgradable.Rotel is only software.

Sounds like I lean to B&K doesn't it?Not so.The 1068 is stellar in its price class.Remember that the ref50 was 3grand.And rightfully so when it came out.Today they dropped the price to 2 grand,which in my opnion is killer.

There is a downside to the B&K....it has problems that are consistant.the popping and clicking is terrible.Some hate it enough to get rid of it.You can find out more about that at the store.

the support in the forums or Salesmans pushing the B&K is not enough.In the end when your listening to it,it has to work.It has to tickle you pink,if it doesn't,all the support in the world isn't going to make it play nice in your system.

Go listen there for long periods of time if a in home demo isn't allowed.You could always buy them both,return the one not in favor.

Good luck with your upgrade.I support both companies proudly.

Dan

**jimmyp58** · 14 July 2004, 06:55 Wednesday

ajpoe:

I sent you a PM.

Jim

**aud19** · 14 July 2004, 12:03 Wednesday

If they've got the B&K in the same shop, get them to unplug it and hook it up in the same room as the Rotel to do a direct comparison. I mean you're gonna spend a good few grand there, the least they can to is take 20 minutes to move it!

Jason

**ajpoe** · 14 July 2004, 16:16 Wednesday

thank you for your help and suggestions. i purchased the rotel 1075 today. i know it will be a good fit regardless of which processor i go with. i think i'm leaning more toward the ref 50 after doing some more comparisons. the optical inputs are important to me and the remote control that comes with the b&k is quite impressive, too. as far as sound quality, i am no audiophile and they both smoke my simple onkyo receiver. i heard what u meant with the pops and clicks on the b&k and the dealer explained it to me. he also showed me several ways to help reduce those from occuring. i do have similar sounds when switching from DD, to DTS or to pure audio with my onkyo... that doens't bother me so much. i just want to make sure i get the most bang for my buck. i also like the ability to do hardware upgrades with the ref 50 if that were necessary down the road.

also, i was able to get the amp for $850 and would be able to get the ref 50 for $1700 vs $1450 for the 1068. Is 15% off descent from a dealer for these items? i'll keep doing some research and hopefully come to a decision in the next few weeks. if anyone else has something to add, i'd be more than happy to read but for the $250 difference, the B&K looks pretty good. thanks again!

**aud19** · 14 July 2004, 16:34 Wednesday

15% is a pretty average to good discount. Most people can manage 10-15% so your on the better end of that spectrum :T

Jason

**CWD** · 19 July 2004, 14:32 Monday

Own B&K Ref. 30 and Rotel 1068, so...

I don't own the B&K Ref. 50, but I do have the Ref. 30. When I was upgrading my "no spousal acceptance factor required" system have been building in the basement, I looked at the Ref. 50, but picked the Rotel 1068 instead.

The largest issue was cost. I was willing to pay more for my upstairs family room system since my subwoofer could sit in exactly 1 location in the room. It had to hide behind a chair. I discovered that location created a pretty nasty bass hump centered around 64Hz. The bass either boomed or seemed thin. So, the notch filter in the B&K Ref. 30 was a hard requirement when I purchased a pre/pro and it worked wonders. The bass response is nice and smooth in that room now.

In my new system, I have free reign to put the subwoofer where I want it, so I can tweak the location to eliminate any bad room modes and I did some testing to verify I really didn't have any nasty problems based on how I setup the bass management for the system. Given that, I could put the extra money for the notch filter back in my pocket.

While the Ref. 50 offers more digital inputs, I could live with the amount offered by the 1068.

Quite honestly, I think the 1068 sounds as good as if not better than my Ref. 30, so it really does offer great "bang for the buck".

Good luck with your search. Options abound these days in the $1K-$3K range for pre/pros.

**ajpoe** · 19 July 2004, 22:52 Monday

Thanks for your input... it seems that the 1068 is a big improvement in sound quality over the 1066 which is what most people had compared to the Ref 50 originally and chose the 50 because it was better. I really like the looks of the 1068 especially in silver with the silver 1075. I bought the black 1075 though so I could get the black 1068 or black ref 50 and it would match either once i made up my mind. I'll probably regret a little that if I end up getting the 1068 because I'd have to get the black one now.

Another major thing I like about the 50 is the hardware upgrades. From what I'm understanding, people who bought 20s and 30s basically have a 50 after a couple hundred dollars in upgrades instead of having to buy a whole new processor to get the same result. If I am incorrect, please let me know because that's a big factor. Also, can you adjust bass on each channel with the notch filter or just the LFE channel? I don't have a .1 sub but do have a powered sub on each channel. For appearance purposes, the subs are sitting next to each front and under each ADP so I'm sure some tweaking would improve performance.

thanks again!
ajpoe

**Aussie Geoff** · 21 July 2004, 08:58 Wednesday

Upgrades not as cheap as you might think...

ajpoe,

Another major thing I like about the 50 is the hardware upgrades. From what I'm understanding, people who bought 20s and 30s basically have a 50 after a couple hundred dollars in upgrades instead of having to buy a whole new processor to get the same result. If I am incorrect, please let me know because that's a big factor.

Have a look at this thread - I get the impression the B&K 30 users paid $500 to get a B&K 31, which is B&K 50 software etc in the B&K 30 chasis.

HTGuide Forum

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=7666

Also (historically) the B&K 20 to 20+ (like the 30) upgrade seems to be $900 according to this thread here http://www.videoasylum.com/scripts/t.pl?f=ht&m=9546.

So it depends if you thinks that's fair...

Geoff

**Andrew Pratt** · 21 July 2004, 09:31 Wednesday

Ouch $900! That's a significant cost given that if you purchased the 1068 for $1500 (which is high) that would mean you'd have to get less then $600 for it on the used market X years later to make the upgrade on the B&K worth it...plus you still have an old case. The resale prices of the 1066 pre amp are still commanding prices up near $1K which means that over all you'd actually likely be better off buying a 1068 now, keeping it for a few years and then sell it and buy a brand new 10XX pre amp with all the latest toys and a new full 5 year warrenty...plus you wouldn't have to send your pre amp away to be upgraded so there'd be no downtime.

Hardware upgrades make sense to a point but it largely depends on the costs vs resale value.

Rotel 1068 vs. B&K Ref 50

Rotel 1068 vs. B&K Ref 50

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