New to the Audiophile world! Need some advice on my new Bowers & Wilkins setup! :)

[hockey_101]

I just ordered a Rotel 1057 Receiver (2007 era) for a bargain off eBay to replace my newish Pioneer Elite VSX-44. I have never heard this receiver before, but I have seen very good reviews across the net on Rotel paired with B&W gear and am craving better sound for music. The Pioneer sounds great, but still, I'd like more. I am new to the audiophile world and am wondering if anyone has any suggestions to get the most out of my system thus far. I am interested in spending more money, although I do not like to buy new as I am on a somewhat tight budget and have found some wonderful deals online so far. My system is used for 90% music and 10% movies.

My system:
Rotel 1057 AV receiver
B&W 684 towers for fronts
B&W 685 rears
B&W HTM-62 center channel
B&W ASW-650 subwoofer OR B&W ASW-675 subwoofer (I just ordered the ASW-675 and plan on "A/B ing" the subs and keeping the better one.)
Generic 16 gauge speaker wire

I might bi-wire everything if it helps so I guess my question is, 'Does bi-wiring really help the speakers performance in a system of my caliber?'
Any advice on how to get more out of my current system or upgrades would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

[kobestonecold]

I just ordered a Rotel 1057 Receiver (2007 era) for a bargain off eBay to replace my newish Pioneer Elite VSX-44. I have never heard this receiver before, but I have seen very good reviews across the net on Rotel paired with B&W gear and am craving better sound for music. The Pioneer sounds great, but still, I'd like more. I am new to the audiophile world and am wondering if anyone has any suggestions to get the most out of my system thus far. I am interested in spending more money, although I do not like to buy new as I am on a somewhat tight budget and have found some wonderful deals online so far. My system is used for 90% music and 10% movies.

My system:
Rotel 1057 AV receiver
B&W 684 towers for fronts
B&W 685 rears
B&W HTM-62 center channel
B&W ASW-650 subwoofer OR B&W ASW-675 subwoofer (I just ordered the ASW-675 and plan on "A/B ing" the subs and keeping the better one.)
Generic 16 gauge speaker wire

I might bi-wire everything if it helps so I guess my question is, 'Does bi-wiring really help the speakers performance in a system of my caliber?'
Any advice on how to get more out of my current system or upgrades would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

What you need is 800 series if your music is 90%. These 600 series won't do a job for you.

[Kal Rubinson]

1. Bi-wiring will not do anything if you use decent cables.
2. You do not need 800 Series speakers to really enjoy music. (I have had both 600 and 800 series speakers at the same time.) The 600s you have are quite good.
3. The critical issues are the room's acoustics and the speaker setup with respect to listener position. Dimensions and descriptions (or pix) of your room setup might allow us to suggest improvements.
4. The Rotel 1057 is pretty old stuff. It will not support BluRay or HD audio because its HDMI is V1.1. For high quality audio (music), you will need to use the analog inputs (or S/PDIF). It also lack any streaming or EQ facilities. That said, it has decent power amps. I hope you got a really good deal. Original MSRP was $1299 but I would not pay more than $250 for it today.

(P.S.: Rotel is often paired with B&W because they are part of the same corporate structure.)

[madmac]

I'm with Kal on this. Forget about bi-wiring but get better speaker cables in the 12-14 gauge range. As well, Kal is right about the 1057 Rotel. It accepts HDMI but only for video switching (no audio). If your TV has enough HDMI inputs, just bypass the Rotel for HDMI and connect the cables directly to the TV.

I have the 1057 and it is a very musical receiver! Trust me when I say that you will like it's performance playing music. It is essential that you read the entire manual to properly set it up for optimum performance (speaker size, distance, crossover etc). As well, the Rotel you are getting is rated at a very real 75 watts/channel so I suggest to free up power that you set all your speakers to 'small' in the Rotel menu and cross over the bass to your sub/s (80hz ideally). This will free up the piles of power that this unit can deliver to your B&W's.

And lastly, if you want hi-def multi-channel audio, I suggest that you buy a player that does that conversion on board and send the analog signal to the Rotel via RCA patch cords to it's muti-inputs on the back of the unit. The Rotel will however, play and convert HDCD audio and 24 bit audio (2ch pcm only) via it's optical and digital coax inputs.

Enjoy !!:T

[hockey_101]

I'm with Kal on this. Forget about bi-wiring but get better speaker cables in the 12-14 gauge range. As well, Kal is right about the 1057 Rotel. It accepts HDMI but only for video switching (no audio). If your TV has enough HDMI inputs, just bypass the Rotel for HDMI and connect the cables directly to the TV.

I have the 1057 and it is a very musical receiver! Trust me when I say that you will like it's performance playing music. It is essential that you read the entire manual to properly set it up for optimum performance (speaker size, distance, crossover etc). As well, the Rotel you are getting is rated at a very real 75 watts/channel so I suggest to free up power that you set all your speakers to 'small' in the Rotel menu and cross over the bass to your sub/s (80hz ideally). This will free up the piles of power that this unit can deliver to your B&W's.

And lastly, if you want hi-def multi-channel audio, I suggest that you buy a player that does that conversion on board and send the analog signal to the Rotel via RCA patch cords to it's muti-inputs on the back of the unit. The Rotel will however, play and convert HDCD audio and 24 bit audio (2ch pcm only) via it's optical and digital coax inputs.

Enjoy !!:T

Thank you so much for your reply. I have read your comments on previous threads and they are very informative. I am having trouble accessing the Menu on the Rotel. I've read elsewhere online that the OSD (On Screen Display) is the only way to access this menu and you must do it through either S-video or Component video, not HDMI. I still cannot get it to show up on my TV. I have several Samsung TV's that I tried plugging the Rotel into and I cannot figure out how to pull up the OSD. It seems this is the only way to access certain features like turning the subwoofer input ON. Unfortunately there is no other way to access this feature other than the OSD. Any input on how to do this?

[madmac]

Yes !!

Assuming that you have the Rotel properly hooked up to the TV with an S-Video cable (S-Video out from the Rotel to S-Video in on the TV). First press the 'AUD' button on the top left side on the Rotel remote so that the 'Rotel' logo shows on the remote's screen. Then, press the little 'M' button near the bottom of the remote. If the S-Video cable is connected properly as explained above, this should pull up the opening menu on your screen. If this does not happen, re-check your S-Video connection on the back of the Rotel and it's proper connection to the TV.

You are correct in that you must have access to the on-screen menu to do ALL of the set up and audio adjustments on your Rotel. As stated earlier, make sure you read the manual (Actually, it's more like a book!!) carefully for proper set up!

[hockey_101]

Yes !!

Assuming that you have the Rotel properly hooked up to the TV with an S-Video cable (S-Video out from the Rotel to S-Video in on the TV). First press the 'AUD' button on the top left side on the Rotel remote so that the 'Rotel' logo shows on the remote's screen. Then, press the little 'M' button near the bottom of the remote. If the S-Video cable is connected properly as explained above, this should pull up the opening menu on your screen. If this does not happen, re-check your S-Video connection on the back of the Rotel and it's proper connection to the TV.

You are correct in that you must have access to the on-screen menu to do ALL of the set up and audio adjustments on your Rotel. As stated earlier, make sure you read the manual (Actually, it's more like a book!!) carefully for proper set up!

So it turns out I bought a 'dud' because it is not putting out any sound to the speakers after hours of fiddling around. I really wish I could have at least heard the system to decide if I want to buy another Rotel or not off eBay. I have a Pioneer Elite VSX-44 that I am running in the meantime which sounds very nice but I keep reading all these rave reviews about B&W paired with Rotel and it seems to be the right thing to do. Does anyone have any recommendations on a different receiver under $300 USED price I don't care if it's old or doesn't have HDMI because it is for mainly music listening? Also, has anyone had luck ordering parts directly from B&W? I'd like to replace a dented tweeter on my 685.

[madmac]

So it turns out I bought a 'dud' because it is not putting out any sound to the speakers after hours of fiddling around. I really wish I could have at least heard the system to decide if I want to buy another Rotel or not off eBay. I have a Pioneer Elite VSX-44 that I am running in the meantime which sounds very nice but I keep reading all these rave reviews about B&W paired with Rotel and it seems to be the right thing to do. Does anyone have any recommendations on a different receiver under $300 USED price I don't care if it's old or doesn't have HDMI because it is for mainly music listening? Also, has anyone had luck ordering parts directly from B&W? I'd like to replace a dented tweeter on my 685.

You 'could' get the Rotel repaired for about $300 bucks or less at Rotel ?? Personally, I would never buy a piece of audio gear that I was not able to audition before. Buyer beware !!!

[hockey_101]

I only paid $150 for it, shipping included. I ended up sending it back but am on the lookout for the same receiver unless you have another recommendation? I don't care about HDMI inputs, just sound quality for music.

[madmac]

I only paid $150 for it, shipping included. I ended up sending it back but am on the lookout for the same receiver unless you have another recommendation? I don't care about HDMI inputs, just sound quality for music.

You will be happy with any Rotel amp when it comes to music!! I'm curious though....... Why a surround receiver if you are mostly interested in music?? Why not a 2 channel amp ? In any event, try Kijiji in your area. Just put 'Rotel' in electronics in the search engine at the top and see what pops up. I get lots of Rotel hits here in Montreal.

$150 bucks for a Rotel receiver that costed $2k new (At the time) was a deal too good to be true. You should expect to pay at least $300-500 bucks for a working unit in good condition.

[Kal Rubinson]

Why a surround receiver if you are mostly interested in music?? Why not a 2 channel amp ?

Many/some of us prefer multichannel for music.

In any event, try Kijiji in your area. Just put 'Rotel' in electronics in the search engine at the top and see what pops up. I get lots of Rotel hits here in Montreal.

Also, try HiFi Shark.

[hockey_101]

I want a surround receiver because I prefer using surround sound with music. To me, it sounds much better that way. Plus I have 5 speakers so it would be a waste to buy a 2 channel amp.

The Rotel 1057 goes for ~$300 on eBay, which is where I bought the broken one right when it was listed.

[madmac]

I want a surround receiver because I prefer using surround sound with music. To me, it sounds much better that way. Plus I have 5 speakers so it would be a waste to buy a 2 channel amp.

The Rotel 1057 goes for ~$300 on eBay, which is where I bought the broken one right when it was listed.

Your just like me Hockey ! Like Kal mentioned above, some people like multi-channel music and I'm one of them. The Rotel's do an excellent job playing 2ch music in it's "5 channel stereo" mode.

However, I would stay away from Ebay and buy a unit locally that you can go and inspect and listen to before buying.

[hockey_101]

Yes that is what I will do! Just found a Rotel 1057 on Craigslist for $250.. Do you know if you can use a universal remote, like a Logitech Harmony, to tweak the settings? Unfortunately the Rotel I found doesn't come with a remote and I am concerned I will not be able to access most of the settings without it.

[madmac]

Yes that is what I will do! Just found a Rotel 1057 on Craigslist for $250.. Do you know if you can use a universal remote, like a Logitech Harmony, to tweak the settings? Unfortunately the Rotel I found doesn't come with a remote and I am concerned I will not be able to access most of the settings without it.

Oh my!!!! That's going to be a huge problem! Yes, you need the Rotel remote to access most of it's functions, including the setup menu. I really doubt that a universal remote will work all those features properly.

However, I may be wrong. Anyone else here on the forum have any experience operating a Rotel product with a non-stock remote??!!! HELP???!!!

Where are you located Hockey ??

[BWLover]

I've used a Harmony remote on an RSX-1058. You are able to program in the more complex buttons you need to access the menus/OSD into the remote with its desktop software.


Bowers & Wilkins 683S1 Speakers
Rotel RB-1090 2 Channel Amp
Rotel RC-1082 Stereo Pre Amp
Rotel RCD-1072 CD Player
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon w/ Ortofon 2M Red (sitting on a piece of slate supported by 3 "solid tech feet of silence" isolation feet)
Rotel RLC-1040 Power Conditioner
Shynyata Research SR-Z1 Power Outlet & Venom 3 Power Cords x 4
Tara Labs RSC Vector 1 Speaker Cables & Interconnects
Primacoustic Room Treatments

[PowerCommander]

I too am in need of remote control for my non functioning RSX-1057. I will need it for when and if I get it working again.... What models of universal remotes have been used on an RSX-1057?

[BWLover]

Any Harmony remote would work. Very in depth customizable programming. You'd be able to program in the buttons that one uses for the Rotel's menu system.


Bowers & Wilkins 683S1 Speakers
Rotel RB-1090 2 Channel Amp
Rotel RC-1082 Stereo Pre Amp
Rotel RCD-1072 CD Player
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon w/ Ortofon 2M Red (sitting on a piece of slate supported by 3 "solid tech feet of silence" isolation feet)
Rotel RLC-1040 Power Conditioner
Shynyata Research SR-Z1 Power Outlet & Venom 3 Power Cords x 4
Tara Labs RSC Vector 1 Speaker Cables & Interconnects
Primacoustic Room Treatments

[wkhanna]

+1 on the harmony

i have had mine for years

[hockey_101]

So I just got my used (like new) Rotel 1057 and it was working perfectly fine until I did something in the Menu that changed something so that the subwoofer doesn't work now. I'm not sure what I did. It says there is a subwoofer connected and I've tried it in Dobly Surround mode and 5.1 and 7.1 channel stereo and the subwoofer doesn't move. Any advice? I know for a fact it's not the subwoofer or the connection between it and the Rotel. I believe it is just a setting that I can't figure out. EDIT: Figured out the problem. Subwoofer must be set to MAX to get any sound out of it. Somewhat weird that it can't just be set to YES as that is another option. Anyway here is a picture of my 600 series speakers with diamond phase plugs

[Kevin D]

If you set your fronts to LARGE, and the sub to YES, the only thing sent out is LFE information from Dolby Digital and DTS tracks. Setting it to MAX sends any bass information sent to the fronts to the sub as well. You would probably be better off setting the fronts to small, but lowering the crossover if you want a little more bass on your fronts.

Kevin D.