Rotel + B&W 685 match

[shtali]

Hi,
I am planning to buy the following gear:
Rotel RB-1070 Power Amp
Rotel RC-1070 Pre Amp
B&W 685

Does anyone have any experience with this setup?
I would like to know if it will sound good.

The Rotel gear is second hand and the speakers are new.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Shai.

[htsteve]

Shai,

It's a nice setup for two channel. It should sound quite nice. Good dynamics and detail, very clean. I do have two observations though.

First, this setup won't fill a real large space. I hope it will be used in a medium to small room. Next, do you have a subwoofer? If not, you will be missing the upper bass and low bass areas. You might consider going for the 684 or simply getting a good sub to match the 685's.


Hope this helps.

[GregLett]

Shai,

It's a nice setup for two channel. It should sound quite nice. Good dynamics and detail, very clean. I do have two observations though.

First, this setup won't fill a real large space. I hope it will be used in a medium to small room. Next, do you have a subwoofer? If not, you will be missing the upper bass and low bass areas. You might consider going for the 684 or simply getting a good sub to match the 685's.


Hope this helps.

:agree:

[shtali]

Thanks

Thank you guys.
I guess I'll start with this setup and see what's next...
I am a newbe in this area.

Shai.

[Briz vegas]

If you are a newbie then I would suggest listening to this combination and then trying something with a tube integrated amplifier, 685s again would be fine. This will give you an idea of your options and will help identify the sort of sound that most appeals to you. ie solid state vs tube

I have heard some embarassingly good setups with small speakers and tube integrated amps. I friend that went through this process was very impressed with the 685 and Cayin tube amps. He ended up with the small Quads and a Jas tube integrated but he said the B&W Cayin setup was equally good. I really enjoy the sound of his system.

Be prepared to spend a little on cables as well. No need to go crazy, but you will notice that when the shop sets up your demo they will not use the wires that come in the box with your gear - there is a reason for that.

[shtali]

Hi Briz,
Any recommendation for the wires (brand / type)?
I need the following:
1. Connect between the Pre to the Power
2. COnnect the B&W to the Power
3. 3.5 cable to trigger the 12v on the power (from the Pre)

Thanks,
Shai

[Briz vegas]

I have PM'ed you.

[Meldor]

I'd love to hear those recommendations too, if you don't mind sharing, because I'm planning on buying a pair 685's myself.

[shtali]

Hi Meldor,
I will be happy to share my recommendations once I get my new 685's
I already got the Rotel equipement and the speakers are suppose to arrive later on this week.

Shai.

[shtali]

Hi,
Just wanted to post an update about this setup:
Well, the Rotel equipment is very powerful compared to the strength of the 685's, but the sound those speakers give is very clear. The bass is stronger then I thought it would be (speakers on stands) but in the right portion.
I really enjoy the new setup and I just keep playing old music again and again because I hear it differently then how i used to hear in the past. Everything is much more detailed and clear. Now I can efford increasing the volume without loosing quality of sound. That's great.
The only thing I'm not sure about is my source:
I use a Vista Media Center, my CD's are ripped in WMA looseless or FLAC and the sound card is connected to the PRE with an Accoustic Research 3.5 to RCA cable. I hope this setup is optimal, but I see a lot of variables on the way from the VMC to the PRE & AMP.

Best Regards,
Shai.

[audioqueso]

Can you change your soundcard in your computer? Or if you have a digital out, buy an external DAC.

[videophile]

Can you change your soundcard in your computer? Or if you have a digital out, buy an external DAC.

Sorry for the OT, this is interesting. What external DAC would you recommend? Will hooking pc to external DAC sound better than comparable priced standalone cd player?

[shtali]

Good question.
audioqueso, what is better? is there any way of reaching a stand alone CD player quality when playing FLAC / WMA Looseless from a computer?

Thanks,
Shai

[shtali]

A quick update:
I just connected a MARANTZ separate CD player and the difference between it to the Media Center computer is huge!!
The separate CD player gives a much more bright sound and the volume is much higher (when the volume dial is at the same level when playing from both sources). Bottom line - I will leave the CD listening to the external CD player...

Shai

[audioqueso]

Shai,

Yes, there are ways of making a computer just as good as your CD player. True, you can use a dedicated CD player, but then why have your media server with all your CDs already on there.

How To Make Your HTPC Sound Just As Good As A CD Player:

1) Record all your CD's with lossless compression (I see you already did that)
2) Buy a soundcard that can give a bit-perfect digital output. (I use a Chaintech AV-710 card on my HTPC)
3) Setup ASIO and make your HTPC output a bit-by-bit perfect copy.
4) Buy a very high quality external DAC (such as the Musical Fidelity X-DAC or Benchmark DAC1)

This will essentially give you a great CD player that has access to all your albums easily.

In my setup, I connected the digital out from my Chaintech sound card to my Marantz SR7002 AV receiver. In this manner, I am use the DAC from the Marantz SR7002 to decode my signal from the computer. The SR7002 has the same DAC as my Marantz DVD player. When I compare the analog output of my Marantz DVD vs the digital signal from the computer being processed by the Marantz AV receiver's DAC, it sounds the same. I could compare a higher end CD player. And if I added a much higher end external DAC to my HTPC, the potential of the HTPC would excel that of the CD player. Does that make sense?

[Meldor]

You could use the Cambridge DacMagic as a DAC. It comes to the stores just now in november 2008 and this baby has won several awards (WhatHiFi and Hi-Fi Choice) already. Another great thing about this DAC, it's affordable.

I'm consider buying, so i'll keep you posted.

[audioqueso]

That's another great suggestion that Meldor mentioned. Cambridge's Azur line of CD players are popular for the performance they give at the price. I can see DacMagic being a good device for HTPC. I wonder if using the USB side will allow a bit-perfect output.

[shtali]

Thanks audioqueso & meldor
But after buying the amps + speakers I got no money left... at least for the next 1 or 2 months...
So I'll have to wait with the DAC & Sound Card.

Shai