Shootout : Parasound C2 vs Rotel 1098 (long)

[DrBoom]

Well, it's been almost 2 months now that I've lived with both my Rotel RSP1098 and my Parasound C2 and the time for deciding which I'm going to keep is almost at hand.(not that I HAVE to decide now for some reason, but I'd hate to end up with 2 processors permanently)
I actually own both of them, because I was planning to keep the C2 and sell my 1098.
But the past months made it clear the 1098 wasn't going to give up without a fight.
I've come to realise that although it has a couple of "flaws", so does the C2 so neither are what I'd describe as "perfect".
I'll try to describe what it is I like about each of them, and what I feel is missing or could be better.
Below is a list of my setup, just for reference.

My system

B&W Nautilus 804 main speakers
B&W Nautilus HTM2 center
B&W Nautilus 805 surrounds on original stands
B&W ASW-650 subwoofer
Parasound HCA2205AT poweramp
DVD player: still looking for upgrade, tried Denon DVD2200/Pioneer DV668/Philips DVD963SA/Arcam DV88+ for testing purposes
Interlinks from processor to poweramp : Kimber Hero
Interlinks from DVD/SACD/DVD-A to processor : Van Den Hul D102 MkIII
Digital interlink : Kimber D60
Speakercable for fronts and center: bi-wired Kimber 8TC (bass) and Kimber 4TC (mid and high)
Speakercable for surrounds : Monitor Cobra 3-mix (single wire, budget cable)
Shielded DIY powercables with Marinco IEC connectors



I'll start off with the one that's been with me the longest, namely the Rotel RSP1098.

Rotel RSP1098

Pro's

The overall sound

Let's start with the most important thing of all, how does it sound.
I'd describe it as neutral and airy with a powerful midrange.
This very strong midrange also gives the 1098 a somewhat forward sounding character, the sound really gets away from the speakers and there's a very strong center-image.
So when you've got your speakers set up correctly, equidistant from each other and the listening position, voices just float between the speakers which I like a lot.(and you don't even have to try to hear that effect, it's just very very noticable).
Bass is good on the front channels, but I feel the subwoofer output lacks punch. (I've heard my sub sound better on other equipment)
The sound is detailed enough, but maybe lacks the final bit of transparancy and resolution you get with the absolute top processors or high-end stereo amplifiers. (I'm being very picky here)
Nevertheless, it can certainly hold it's own in it's price class and even a bit above.

Build quality

I love the way it's constructed, it weighs more than most mid-priced receivers and looks great.
Just the top panel is a bit flimsy but so far I haven't seen any processors that have a 5 mm thick top panel. (maybe Theta Casablanca)
The front panel is also very nicely finished, and the buttons & knobs feel solid enough.
The volume knob has a nice smooth action, and I'm glad to say it isn't one of those ultra-light things like Denon uses, but it's rather stiff like a volume knob should be
The selector knob is a lot lighter to use, and doesn't feel as solid (but still OK), mainly because it also has a "push" funtion so its center point isn't fixed like a normal knob. (you can press it to select functions)

Bass management

If I've ever seen good bass-management, Rotel has it.
I love being able to play stereo without using a sub, speakers run fullrange.
And when I want to watch a movie I set them as Small with 80 Hz crossover, which is configurable in the menu just like it should be.
No fiddling around with menu's changing stuff when you want to watch a movie, and then changing it back for music.
It's all there !
I also love being able to set subwoofer levels for virtually any surround mode, and especially the multichannel inputs.
Since there are several DVD players out there that don't give the right subwooferlevel (sometimes 10 dB too low) for SACD and DVD-A, it's very handy that you can adjust that level in the 1098.
Lot's of crossover points are selectable too, so you can set it lower if your speakers allow it.

Bypass mode

Many preamps out there don't have this function, or have it in some limited way.
The 1098 can function as a normal stereo preamp, without converting analog sources to digital first.
And it can do this for all of its analog inputs, and the multichannel input.
Very handy if you've got an SACD player hogging the multichannel input, and you still want to connect a topnotch CD player with better DAC's for pure stereo playback.

Component upconversion & Group delay

Fairly common in all receivers nowadays, but strangely enough NOT common among high-end pre/pro's ?
Rotel did good and included this feature to convert composite and s-video to component video.
Very handy because you only need to connect 1 set of component cables to your projector. (when I get one eventually)
Same goes for the Group Delay function, necessary for synchronising audio with video when using progressive scan.

TFT Display

The dreaded display, some hate it, some love it.
I'm in the last category and love it, especially for DVD-A and making adjustments on the fly without powering up my TV.
When watching a movie, I turn off the TFT display, and since I don't touch the volume or anything else, it stays off during the entire film.

Personalisation

By this I mean all the options you can set to personalise the 1098 to your own situation.
Stuff like start-up volume, maximum volume, volume speed, trigger configurations, ...
There's virtually nothing it can't do, and I'd miss every single one of these features if they weren't there

All the rest

May seem like little things you'd take for granted, but it's nice to have them.
-Dolby digital 2.0 flag detection which activates PLII when a DD 2.0 signal is detected.
-192 KHz/24-bit D/A and A/D converters
-Great IR reception from any angle (very important, but often overlooked)
-Direct surround mode selection from the remote, no scrolling through the entire list of modes untill you get the right one

Now for the things I feel could've been better (luckily this is a much shorter list )

Cons

-Digital Signal lock takes some time
-Relay's clicking for everything you do, and I mean everything
-Hissing at loud volumes (over 70) except when using the analog bypass mode or multi inputs
-Few minor software bugs
-The overall sound could've been a bit more detailed by using better opamps all around, not just for the front channels.
But I guess they ran out of budget and let's face it, it isn't THAT expensive and they already put in a TFT display.
-The remote is OK, but could've been a lot better designed. There are too many of the same buttons, and for instance the Power Off button is 5 mm above the Volume Up button, not a smart move to put it there

So this concludes my perception of the Rotel RSP1098, if there are things I haven't mentioned in either pro or con list, they're either too standard-issue to mention or they're just OK and didn't jump out enough to make me notice them.



Parasound Halo C2

I bought this machine used (8 months old), for around the price you'd pay for a new RSP1098.
The idea was to replace my 1098 with the C2, and at first when I demoed it the difference seemed big enough to make the change and go with the C2 permanently.
Before I bought it I was already aware that the C2 didn't have all the functions of the 1098 but I was willing to sacrifice that for a better sound.
So I went ahead and bought it, already preparing my ad for the 1098.
After a day or so, I wanted to compare the 1098 again with the C2, and to my surprise it sounded different but not a lot worse.
And it has a lot more features that I liked.
Then began the long task of finding the right match for me, considering the many differences between both pre/pro's.


Pro's


The overall sound

To be honest it kinda surprised me.
When I switched from a Rotel RMB1075 poweramp, to my current Parasound HCA2205AT, the sound became a bit brighter and definitely more forward.
There also was a huge increase in bass tightness, detail and just plain more power to the sound.
When I switched the 1098 with the C2, I was expecting the sound to evolve in the same manner once again.
Strangely enough, it sounded way warmer and less bright than the 1098.
The bass did become tighter and more powerful, seems to be a Parasound trademark, and the midrange got tamed down a notch.
This also made the center image less pronounced, something I really liked about the Rotel.
The sound still comes from between the speakers, but it's not that defined anymore.
On the other hand, reducing the really powerful midrange gave the highs a bit more room to play.
At low volumes, I prefer the Rotel because it's still very detailed and voices remain very clear and well articulated.
But at higher volumes, the Parasound was less agressive.
Another thing was the output from the subwoofer, which I didn't really like on the RSP1098 because it didn't sound tight and controlled.
Well this one did, and how !
I don't know how a simple pre-out can make such a difference, but it does.
Bass from the sub was incredibly tight, which gave movies a whole new dimension.
The 5 speakers also seemed to integrate better on the Parasound as they did on the Rotel.
The C2 is also very quiet, meaning that there is little or no hiss at all even at high volumes.
Hiss only becomes audible with volumes over 0 dB (reference level) and with no source playing at that time.

Build quality

Owning the HCA2205AT which is built like a tank, I was expecting a whole lot from the C2's mechanical construction too.
Turned out to be a real dissappointment actually.
The unit looks nice and all, but that's about it.
The front panel is really thin metal, and the 2 "handles" on the left and right side of the frontpanel appear to be made of plastic with a metal foil over it.
There's also a distinct difference in color and structure between the front, and the handles.
The top and side panels are very well ventilated, so well that most of the metal is gone leaving you with almost nothing.
The display looks nice, but for some reason blue LED's aren't easy on the eyes and I sometimes have a hard time focusing on the display, really strange.
It's also dimmable (1 setting), but you can't turn it off.
The other leds on the front panel aren't dimmable, nor can you turn them off.
The good thing is that most leds are indirect, only giving a "halo" of light around the knob so they don't light up your entire room like Rotel's blue standby LED. (which I taped over btw)

I also don't really care for the switching power supply, I still prefer a good old transformer
That may be really oldfashioned, and it's very well possible that the C2's switching supply is way more stable and reliable than any linear powersupply.
I'm sure they didn't just put it in for nothing.

Bass management

Where Rotel has a very extensive bass-management, the C2 offers just the basics.
You can select Large or Small for each set of speakers, and set 1 crossover for the sub and that's it.
If you've set your speakers to small, with 80 Hz crossover but you wanted to enjoy normal 2-ch stereo without using your sub that means going in to the menu and changing everything.
So unless you always use your sub OR you have really big true fullrange frontspeakers which you can set to Large permanently, you'll be spending a lot of time fiddling with the menu.
The only way around this is by using the multichannel inputs, which are analog-bypass and don't have bassmanagment.
So if you set your speakers to small, and connect your stereo source to the multichannel input, you could bypass this issue.
The other way is by using the Balanced input, but that means you have to go balanced all the way, and you have to use the balanced outputs to your power amp.
The signal from the Balanced input isn't sent to the unbalanced output at any time.
Oh and the "balanced" in- and outputs are only pseudo balanced, not full-differential and the XLR connections aren't of the locking type either if I'm not mistaking.

Auto setup and calibration

Parasound supplies a nice aluminium microphone with the C2, not for karaoke but for level and distance calibration.
This works really well, and you can even do it from the display, you don't have to use the OSD if you don't want to though it does show a whole lot more information during calibration.
The C2 measures Acoustical Distance, which means that the distance it measures might vary from the actual distance.
This appears to differ only for the sub, because of the nature of low frequencies according to the manual.
My sub is about 7 ft away from the listening position, yet it always was calibrated as being 21 ft away.
This seems to work just fine, and I never tried changing it.
Level calibration is very accurate too, and if there's too much difference between 2 measurements, it will just measure it again.

The remote

The remote(s) Parasound ships with its C2 are among the best you're ever going to get with a processor.
There actually are 2 remotes, the main remote is the well-known Home Theater Master MX700 (with Parasound logo instead) and the other one (The sidekick) just has a few buttons like volume and channel up/down.
The MX700 comes fully programmed for the C1/C2, and you can add a ton of other devices as well.
It's completely programmable with the MX Editor software for PC, and it has an LCD display so you can add those special functions that aren't printed on any buttons with standard hardkey-only remotes.
The remote works and feels great, and it also has good range.
The strange thing is, with my own Marantz RC2000 MkII remote which I learned all of the C2's functions, it didn't work quite as well.
The C2 was very unresponsive to the Marantz Remote, and I really had to point to it to get it working.
With the 1098 I never had this problem with the Marantz remote, so either the MX700 remote is really powerful, or the RSP1098 has a very sensitive IR sensor.

All the rest

-Input signal lock is really fast
-No clicking relays, just power-on and that's it


But not everything is this good on the C2, here are the cons.


Cons

-No analog bypass function for the analog inputs (just for multichannel and balanced input)
-Limited bass-management
-No component upconversion, which is really common nowadays, but I guess it wasn't that common when they designed the C2.
-No 192 KHz/24-bit DAC's, another one of those everyday features that's missing. Not sure if it makes that big of a difference but it's still something I'd have liked.
-No group delay adjustment (audio delay for progressive scan)
-It's horribly expensive in Belgium where I live (€5850 which is like $7200 US)


Conclusion

So, which one is it going to be for me ?
To be honest I'm still deciding...
I like the abundance of useful features on the 1098, and its great sound for stereo.
I love the way it's built, and it has all the latest evolutions except DVI/HDMI/iLink but those are very rare at the moment.
For movies I'd prefer the C2, but to my taste the midrange needs a little boost.
I'm also eagerly awaiting the C2's software update, which seems to take forever to finish, to see what they can and can't add.
If they would be able to add more extensive bass-management that would already be a giant step in the right direction for me.
I also have to consider the price difference, and the fact that the 1098 is store-bought and has a full 5-year warranty, and the C2 was bought used so it doesn't really have any warranty at all. (although I would be able to arrange something in the event of failure)
Not that I expect any problems, it's just one of those better safe than sorry things.

This is bringing me to the end of what has become a very long "review" of 2 top-notch HT processors.
During the following days I may still change or add a few things I might've forgotten to mention.
In the mean time, I'll be happily switching back and forth between these 2 contenders in my seemingly everlasting quest for a perfect HT processor.

I'll make sure to let you all know how it turns out in the end, and what was the decisive factor. (if I ever get there)

Kevin

[Chris D]

Wow, good stuff, Dr. Boom. Thanks for the info, and please keep us posted on what more you find and decide. As for the video transcoding or "upconversion" as you put it, I know that many higher end companies shy away from doing that due to signal degradation during the process. I know that's the reason that Parasound has given. They have told me, though, that if they can make it happen with little or no signal loss, they'd love to put that in the Halo gear.

I too can't wait for the Halo upgrades, whether they be hardware or software. Unfortunately, they just keep dangling it in front of our noses. Officially, there haven't been ANY upgrades to either, yet, as official upgrades will be notified and posted on the Parasound website. But we all know that you can contact Parasound direct for software updates of the minor sort.

[Kingdaddy]

I totally agree about the bass, my test between the Sony TA-E9000ES and the C2 was very similar to yours. I will add a thought though; the bass tightness/rightness is IMO the result of a very clean signal more then anything else. My subs used to clip horrible at -3 below ref level, now with the C2 it so clean that I cant seem to drive my subs to clipping, and they are so much stronger and controlled that I feel that they are different speakers the before.

I disagree about the switching power supply, the reduction in heat is very beneficial to the longevity of any electronic component, and there is obviously no sound compromise, so I welcome it.

The C2 is the most sonically appealing processor I’ve ever heard, but as you mentioned there is some flaws, like all components, but the sound is hard to leave. I got a incredible price on a b-stock unit so it was well worth it to me, but at the price you mentioned the gap would close a bit.

My C2 review

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=7651

[Rags]

DrBoom - good write up. Very informative. I demod a few processors before deciding on the C2 - for me it offered the best surround sound performance - especially in the rear channels with excellent panning. The bass management features are somewhat limited and lets hope that a software upgrade will soon be forthcoming.

Im glad that I am not the only one who finds the sub out on the C2 to be extremely good. I have been through a number of B&W subs with the C2 and all of them sounded excellent at their respective price points (I started with a ASW675, moved on to two ASW750's and in my quest for bass Nirvana have now ordered an ASW850). You definately will see huge improvements as you move up the B&W sub range - the ASW750 is a real cracker with the C2 producing clean, tight bass with loads of slam.

On a side note - having moved from Nautilus 805's to 804's I can definately recommend the HTM1 - its a much better match for the floorstanders and offers imho a significant improvement over the HTM2. Also how are you finding the Arcam Dv88+ ?

[DrBoom]

Rags, regarding the DV88+, it's not mine but since I work at a hifi store I take home some stuff now and then for demo purposes
All the DVD players I listed were demo's, I only have a crappy Panasonic DVD player for the time being :roll:
Of all the DVD players I tested, I liked the Arcam best for it's fabulous CD sound.
It's just miles ahead of mainstream DVD players like Denon's DVD2200 or Pioneer's DV668AV which sound very average at best for CD playback.
The Arcam however is superbly detailed, with incredible bass slam and control.
Since I'm a big stereo fan as well, I find stereo CD playback a very important part of a DVD player, sadly enough most of them don't handle it well.
The Arcam was even better when connected to the analog multichannel input of the C2, so that suggests it has better DAC's.
This is one of the reasons I'd like to have analog bypass on all inputs.
If I were to buy the arcam, I'd have to sacrifice the analog inputs just for that.
So I could forget ever getting a DVD-A or SACD player, since there would be no inputs left to connect it to.
On the other hand, if I buy a mainstream DVD/SACD/DVDA player, and connect it's multichannel outputs to the C2, I can forget about buying a really good CD player because I don't have any analog inputs left.
I'm sure the DAC's in the C2 are of good quality, but it was quite clear that the Arcam DV88+ sounded better through the analog inputs, so I can only imagine what difference it would be with a true dedicated high-end CD player.

I'm also planning the step towards an HTM1 in the future, but I'm postponing that untill I get a decent DVD/CD player and I've sold one of my processors.
I'd like to get the HTM1 before B&W introduces their new 800 series II (or whatever they're gonna call it) whenever that may be.
The thing is, once they stop producing it I can never complete my setup unless I get a used one.
Subwoofers aren't that series dependent, but center speakers are imo.
I'd also love to have that ASW850, but I'm afraid it'll be a while before that's going to happen.

[Rags]

Your system is uncannily like mine . I used to own a DV89 (same as the 88+ but with DVD-A) and you right as far as DVD players go it has great CD playback. I have since changed it to a DV79 as I needed the HDMI out. I also find that the SPIDIF out on the Arcam players is a notch above other players. Not sure how much the DV88+ cost in Belgium but you can get a new one in London for £500 or a DV89 for £550.

I think the Nautilus series II may be a while off (end of next year at the earliest according to my dealer and with limited changes). But you never know...

[DrBoom]

Wow, I would be cheaper off getting a ticket for the Eurostar train, going to London and buying a DV88+ there then if I'd buy one in Belgium. :E
Over here a DV88+ costs €1650, which is £1100.

For that kind of money I would've probably gone for Arcam already, they're well worth that.
The Denon DVD2200 and Pioneer DV668 cost £599 over here, and they're not even half as good for CD playback.
The only thing is that those are universal player which support SACD and DVD-A, but I'm more than willing to give that up for good CD playback.
The only thing I didn't like about the Arcam was the remote, but I wouldn't use that anyway since I've got a universal one.
Oh and I had a slight problem with SPDIF dropouts with the Arcam DV88+, something I've heard at least 1 other user complain about too.
Any experience with that ?
And how do the DV79 and DV89 compare to the DV88+ regarding CD playback ?
I read somewhere that they weren't as good anymore, any ideas on that ?

[Rags]

As the DV88+ and DV89 have been effectively replaced by the 78/79 they are on special offer at the moment.

TBH I havent had the chance to give the DV79 a good run - I only got it 2 weeks ago. I would be surprised if the CD playback quality had gone down though - Ill have a listen and try to report back later in the week. Re the DV89 it sounds exactly the same as the DV88+ for CD playback - the only diff is the addition of a DVDA board on the 89. The remote on the DV79 has been upgraded - now comes with a CR415 remote but apart from a change in colour I am really not sure what has changed - still as bad as ever !

I did not experience any dropouts with my DV89 when connected to my C2.

[Whistler]

Hi Kevin,

Nice summary .

Seems the Rotel and/or Parasound preamplifiers have a different sound within their own productline. Before I bought the Halo P 3 I had an RSP1066. In my opinion the Halo P 3 has an overall better performance "stereo", more details, more open soundfield without getting harsh.

Maybe the Rotel is a better match for your B&W N804 which I know quite good due several listening sessions.

Try to get the Denon2900 you are/were interested in and compare it than once more "analog/digital" .

Regards,

Jens

[jimmyp58]

Dr. Boom:

I am in the process of selling my RSP-1098. I was really close to going with the new Anthem Statement D1 until I took a listen to it. Understand that I have come to really love the 1098 but this hobby is a sickness of sorts...

Oh well, I found a dealer that carries both the 1098 and the D1. Couple that with the fact they carry my Def Tech speakers and I had a demo that was similar to what I have at home (the only item they didn't carry was a Bryston amp). I have heard and read a lot about the D1. To be sure, it is a top-flight pre-pro. Nothing left behind to the imagination. I really enjoy 2-channel music a lot though I have a serious growing multi-channel music collection and nearly 300 movies. The D1 is supposed to really shine in 2-channel mode. I sat back and took a listen. I was impressed by the D1. No question about it. Very, very clean, crisp and detailed. Then I had the gent switch over to the 1098. Guess what? Not a whole lot of difference. Some subtle differences in clarity, etc. but nothing that totally wowed me. To be honest, I left disappointed but glad I took the listen. Don't get me wrong, if I had any less pre-pro than the 1098 I am confident I would have been blown away. That D1 has patented technologies no one has at the moment. All that being said though, I really couldn't bring myself to dropping another few thousand for miniscule improvements.

Which leads me to my next point. Keeping with the upgrade theme, I have always wanted a Bryston SP 1.7 --- I have listened to it a bunch of times at various sites and it is totally transparent, clear, clean, concise, and flawless. I love that rascal. I have read many reviews about it and it stands at or above Krell and even holds its own with Meridian. So what has kept me from upgrading to it? It has very few features compared to most pre-pros. Bryston invested all its resources into producing a pre-pro that delivers top-flight sonics vs. frills. They delivered on their goal --- nailed it. I have come to figure out some easy workarounds for the couple of features that have held me back from buying it --- no multi-zone and no digital out. Well in the matter of about a month, I will be placing my order.

It would appear you are/were trying for an upgrade to the 1098. There is some merit to the Parasound but you are wavering, much like I was with the D1. Have you ever listened to the Bryston SP 1.7? I know you have an ht store so perhaps you carry Bryston? Well if you are still uncertain, you might want to get your hands on this unit for a demo. Just my 2 cents.

Good luck....

Jim

[DrBoom]

Hi Jim,

Bryston has always appealed to me as well, especially their amps (and their 20 year warranty).
I've seen and heard the SP1.7 only once, at the VAD in Holland which is a rather large (in european terms ) hifi convention.
But that was with totally different speakers, so I can't really tell how it sounded.
Unfortunately, the store at which I work doesn't carry Bryston and I don't even know any stores around here that do carry it.
Add to that the fact that Bryston is even more expensive than Parasound, and it's not such an easy choice anymore.
The SP1.7 retails for €6840 ($8333 US) in Holland (in Belgium it's even more), which is more than I'd like to spend
One other option I haven't explored is TAG McLaren, I've got some good connections with a TAG representative and it wouldn't be any problem at all to get an AV30 or AV32 for demo if I asked.
I've never seen or heard TAG, but I have heard alot about it.
But I'm not so sure on the feature list there, I'd like to preserve the feature set of the 1098 as much as possible, but I think the TAG is more like the SP1.7 with a very short feature list.

[jimmyp58]

Ouch....and I am complaining about how much it costs here!

Oh well, just know that it is an awesome sounding pre/pro and if I ever hit the lottery, I'll send you one as a gift.

Jim

[Scarp]

Let me be a bit the advocate of the devil (nothing personal against you, we discussed some issues before in private ).

I love the way it's constructed, it weighs more than most mid-priced receivers and looks great.

If weight is important then they could just put in some extra weight to make it look and feel more impressive. It does not say anything about the unit. Just put a huge oversized and totally redundant tranformer in to get weight.

I also don't really care for the switching power supply, I still prefer a good old transformer
That may be really oldfashioned, and it's very well possible that the C2's switching supply is way more stable and reliable than any linear powersupply.
I'm sure they didn't just put it in for nothing.

Do you hear a difference? Putting this as a point more or less against the C2 is kind of strange. If the 1098 had a switching power supply then you wouldn't like the 1098?
Advantage is thats its incredibly light, but for you the machine should be heavy so thats a disadvantage

The other way is by using the Balanced input, but that means you have to go balanced all the way, and you have to use the balanced outputs to your power amp.

Not true. The balanced input is also output to the unbalanced outputs.

Oh and the "balanced" in- and outputs are only pseudo balanced, not full-differential and the XLR connections aren't of the locking type either if I'm not mistaking.

The outputs are locking, the inputs not. And yes its not fully differential, but that rarely is the case anyway. You still have the noise rejection and better shielding for your cables.

My sub is about 7 ft away from the listening position, yet it always was calibrated as being 21 ft away.

Read the manual. This is explained and actually the calibration is right.

It's horribly expensive in Belgium where I live (€5850 which is like $7200 US)

You cant hold this against the unit. Find a better suplier in e.g. The Netherlands which can give you a better price.

You convientently left out some other points of the C2 which you do mention as a plus side of the 1098. 12 volt triggers are also extensive and offer great flexibility.

On the leds, I agree with you that they are distracting and its a bad point. But the ever glow-in-the-dark TFT of the Rotel is terribly annoying too.

The bass management is indeed basic and a machine of this price should do better. Do note that the C2 was there a while earlier than the 1098, so it really isn't fair for comparing features. Such extended bass management was only on high end equipment (e.g. Meridian and Lexicon).

Note also that Rotel has no THX requirements added to their processor, thus removing limitations put upon them for this. From my contact with Parasound, I found that THX did require them to simplify some things.

For a novice users, the enormous amount of bass management settings is not easy to grasp and easy to setup this wrong.

I also find it strange for people to want to have small fronts with a subwoofer in surround, but large in stereo without a subwoofer. Still you are missing sound in stereo if you use it without a subwoofer I think. But well, maybe thats personal.

-No 192 KHz/24-bit DAC's, another one of those everyday features that's missing. Not sure if it makes that big of a difference but it's still something I'd have liked.

Can you actually say that you hear this? If not, then its a not important thing against the C2.

-No group delay adjustment (audio delay for progressive scan)

This was promised by Parasound in a firmware that should have been out in march, yet its not here yet. This is a really bad point of Parasound.

-No component upconversion, which is really common nowadays, but I guess it wasn't that common when they designed the C2.

You give the answer yourself already. Also parasound wanted to do this very well, but in light of bringing out the product they didnt have the time to get it functioning properly.

[DrBoom]

Hi scarp,

let me start by saying I don't take offence at your post at all

The weight issue: OK, weight isn't everything, but I was very surprised of the build quality anyway

Power supply: Granted, I don't think there is an audible difference, nor do I think it's less good. But I never put it down, I said that it may very well be even better than a lineair supply and that parasound wouldn't have put it in otherwise.
SMPS are known to put noise into the AC line, but I can't confirm this one does, just pointing it out

Balanced outputs: True, they are available at the unbalanced outputs, but NOT in bypass mode which I was referring to

Locking outputs: You're correct on this one, my bad ;x(

Distance calbration: I know that's correct, and I have read the manual, and I stated that it IS correct in my review

The C2 measures Acoustical Distance, which means that the distance it measures might vary from the actual distance.
This appears to differ only for the sub, because of the nature of low frequencies according to the manual.

192 KHz DAC's: Not sure if I could hear it, but still if you have an upsampling CD player you can't use the 192 KHz upsampling for digital connections.

Parasound software upgrades: I agree that they take way too long, and they're starting to fall behind in the features department.

Don't take this review the wrong way, I don't dislike the C2.
I just don't like it that much more than I like my 1098
In fact I love the C2 for movies, and with the right player also for stereo.
But in my situation, it never felt as right as the 1098 for some reason.

This is not meant to scare people away from the C2, nor encourage them to buy the 1098.
Just a very very personal opinion and that's the way it's supposed to be interpreted.