How good is the RDC-7?

**Leslie** · 02 February 2002, 12:17 Saturday

I compared the sound with the B&K you referenced, as well as with much more expensive pre-amps, such as the Krell HTS 2 (I think), Proceed (2 models), and the Theta Casablanca.

I vastly preferred the RDC-7 to the Proceeds, the Krell, and the B&K. I loved the Casablanca music sound, but it lacked the home theater goodies I required, plus I was auditioning it with vastly different speakers. I was able to hear the two Proceeds AND the B&K with the speakers I planned to buy. Still, I made a leap of faith and went with the RDC-7. I appreciate it more every day.

Its ability to handle my component video switching without a hiccup and the ease with which we made adjustments after the addition this week of the side surrounds are really important to me. We were able to tweak up the sound to fabulous l levels, making it almost the centerpiece of my home theater setup. Plus it has such neat capabilities: the ability to dial up center front speaker sound on the fly to counter dialog problems in movies; the ability to make changes on the fly to solve lip sync problems originating in poorly broadcast tv programs, etc. I'm SO glad I made that leap of faith and bought it, despite not being able to audition it WITH the MartinLogan speakers I bought!
Leslie

**dschamis** · 05 February 2002, 11:48 Tuesday

IMO - the only preamp on the market that I would prefer over the RDC-7 is the Lexicon MC-12B!

**Clive** · 06 February 2002, 00:30 Wednesday

Leslie, does your receiver have enough power to drive the Martin Logans or are you planning to add mono blocks to the RDC-7? Are you satisfied?

CLIVE

HEY!! Why buy movie tickets when you can own a Theater?

**Steve Goff** · 06 February 2002, 02:35 Wednesday

Uncle Clive,

The Integra Research RDC-7 is not a receiver, but a preamp/processor. It requires separate amplifiers. And as for the initial question, I'd put the RDC-7 up against almost any processor, ahead of the Tag and Krell, if not the Meridian 861 or the Lexicon MC-12.

Steve Goff

**Leslie** · 06 February 2002, 19:49 Wednesday

As previously posted the RDC-7 is not a receiver. I am using a California Audio 2500 amp to drive 5 of my speakers (I call it Darth Vader due to its impressive size/hulk) and a Proceed BPA2 to drive the two side surrounds. I could drive the sub with the Cal 2500, but that's not how it's currently hooked up (self-driven). These amps have some similar characteristics to monoblocks.
Leslie

**Burke Strickland** · 07 February 2002, 02:33 Thursday

I'd be very interested to know what criteria those magazines used in their comparisons to define the catagories rated and how the tests were conducted. I'm especially interested in knowing whether "stereo" means two channel movie soundtracks, or stereo music (and if so, what sources and which signal path -- did they use each unit's internal DACs, or the CD player's, for instance.) That's because, although I am simply delighted by the way the unit performs in the various surround modes for movies, I am even more pleased at how well it functions as a high quality two channel preamp for music.

I auditioned a fair number of highly regarded pre/pros (including several on the magazines' lists), as well as a couple of two channel-only preamps, and found the RDC-7 to be the clear winner for my listening preferences. I am not going to do anything so foolish as assert that the RDC-7 is the "best" two channel preamp out there (stand alone or as part of a pre/pro) -- particularly since I haven't heard them all. :>) But it sure works well with the rest of my reasonably high end two channel music system. I was originally planning to use a high quality separate preamp for two channel music in addition to using a surround pre/pro for movies, but upon using the RDC-7 in my system, it was apparant that any other preamp was superfluous.

Burke

**Razvan** · 07 February 2002, 03:52 Thursday

Burke,

I think that by "stereo" they do mean stereo music. I'd be very interested in reading the reviews in the German magazine as I've heard that the European audio magazines are much more "direct" in their reviews than the US magazines.

Razvan

**wbk** · 20 March 2002, 14:45 Wednesday

Leslie, I would be interested in exactly how you "dial up center front speaker sound on the fly" and "make changes on the fly to solve lip sync problems"
thanks in advance

**Burke Strickland** · 21 March 2002, 17:59 Thursday

wbk -

Glad to see you participating here! I'm not Leslie, :>) but I'll take a stab at answering your questions about "on-the-fly" relative speaker level and lip synch adjustment.

If you find that a particular channel needs a little boost on a given song selection or soundtrack, the RDC-7's remote button near the bottom labeled "8" has a legend "CH SEL" above it. Pressing that button selects the channel to be adjusted, (center or sub, as examples) and then by pressing the buttons labled "9" (LEVEL +) or "ENT" (LEVEL -) you will temporarily increment the volume level of the selected channel up or down relative to the overall level of the rest of the system. (These changes are "erased" when you put the unit in "Standby" mode or completely turn it off -- or, of course, if you reset the levels again using these contols.)

As for lip synch, the RDC-7 calls the feature "A/V Synch" and it is accessible via the setup menus section 2-5 a.

From the upgrade supplemental manual:

If the video signal is progressive-processed using projector
or other devices, the sound and picture may not match
and the sound is heard too early. In such a case, use this
setting to properly synchronize the audio and video. This
setting can be set between 0 to 120 ms in 0.5-ms
increments.

Before the upgrade, the unit had the same A/V Synch function, but the range of adjustment was somewhat more limited.

Hope this helps -

Burke

How good is the RDC-7?

How good is the RDC-7?

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