804N with Rotel RB1070 & RB991?

[niggy]

Hi,

I have, lying around, a rotel RB-1070 and an older RB-991 amp.

I have the opportunity to get a used pair of 804Ns at a good price. Was thinking of using these to bi-amp the B&Ws with the 991 taking care of the lower frequencies and the 1070 handling the upper end.

I know with rotel gear, I probably won't be experiencing the 804s full potential, but currently, that's what I have to work with.

Would this combo work, even with the difference in power from the 2 amps, or would I be better off just running them from the 991s?

Thanks for any opinions.

[Dutch BW]

I recently biamped my cdm 1nt with RB981 and RB980, pre was rc990. It sure made a big difference, more control, precision and power. Just try it, if you're not happy try to decide which of the two amps (single powered) works best and than sell the lesser one and buy another of your favorite to biamp... What's your pre and cdp?

[niggy]

I recently biamped my cdm 1nt with RB981 and RB980, pre was rc990. It sure made a big difference, more control, precision and power. Just try it, if you're not happy try to decide which of the two amps (single powered) works best and than sell the lesser one and buy another of your favorite to biamp... What's your pre and cdp?

Hey DutchBW,

Yeah, I guess I will be trying it out to see if it works, if not, will just have to rethink my plan.

Actually, just wanted to know if the difference in wattage between the two amps would cause any problems with the sound. The only other time I tried a bi-amp, the two amps were of similar power rating.

Anyway, am using the RC1090 with a RCD971.

[Dutch BW]

Difference in power can be a problem... Maybe you should focus on a second rb990 or rb 991. Or just sell both your amps and get a (or two) rb1080 secondhand...

[Briz vegas]

Dutch has a good point. At that price point you are better off with one good amp rather than 2 lesser amps. On the other hand you have what you have and it should work satisfactorily, at least as a temporary solution. These amps are not that old (I see the 991 was reviewed by stereophile in 1999) so I doubt whether a 1080 would be that big a jump (on the time line it would appear that the 1080 replaced the 991).
I would be looking for a bigger jump in amplification quality if I were replacing your Rotels.

I can see no harm in trying the various possible configurations with your two amps. As long as the gain is the same

Stereophile measured the 991s gain at 31.8dB unbalanced, 24.9dB balanced. I don't know the gain on the 1070 but you would need to make sure that it is the same or the sound will not be balanced.

[niggy]

Thanks guys.

Still waiting for the seller to get back to me on his speakers, but if I get it I guess I'll be trying it bi-amped in that combination and single-amped with the 991 and see what happens.

I also have a 1080 driving part of my home theater, so I'll probably try this out also. If this works better than the 2 combinations above, then I guess I might splurge and get another 1080.

[Dutch BW]

Move the 1070 to your HT system and power your stereo set with rb991 and rb 1080, that should work really fine...

[niggy]

Can't do that. Am running Dyn floorstanders off my 1080. In fact, they were the reason I had to get the 1080. Very power hungry fellas, and they do sound much better than with the 1070 running them. So I won't take it off the dyns.

What I might do, however, is to try the 1070/991 combination and compare with the 1080/991 combination. If the latter sounds that much better, maybe I should consider getting another 1080. But that will be only if all else fails.