rsx-1055/rb-1070 combo

[Zoso]

Another question regarding my purchase of the 1055. I've noticed a few of you recommend the 1070 over say the 1075. Since i'm new to seperates i'm curious about one thing. Having only 2 of the 5 channels powered by an external amp of higher wattage, would that not translate to the mains feeling overpowering during 5.1 movies?

Just curious on your thoughts.

[Danbry39]

Not really, if you callibrate the speakers, although, I imagine that under circumstances where you were driving your speakers to the point of demanding too much out of the other channels, distortion or even clipping might occur in the over taxed channels. However, the name of the game would be to avoid this type of situation. The most likely candidate would be the center channel, which, in ht applications, demands a lot more than the rear or surround channels. Makes you kind of wish there were more three channel amps around, but I guess, if someone had the room, they could get a two-channel and a mono block to the same effect.

Aside from the home theater aspect, what a lot of people would want to be accomplishing is better two-channel performance for things such as CD's.

How do you like the 1055 so far? Have you felt it was lacking in power for your uses?




Keith

[Glenn]

Just curious what brand/model speakers you are using with your 1055?

[Mike Hayes]

Scarp has a really nice summary of the differences posted over on the "Which configuration" thread. Choosing between the 1075/1070 really depends on your goals (your speakers are also very important). For 5.1 HT, the 1075 would be the way to go. For 2 channel and general purpose, I think the 1075/1070 are going to be very close but many will say that the 2 channel amp will sound better than the multichannel amp. I think the 2 channel difference is more clear cut when you compare a 1075 to a 1080, ie, the 1080 is the clear winner for 2 channel when compared to the 1075.

[Mike Hayes]

BTW, it seems like you would have to have the system extremely loud before any balancing issue would arise. What levels do you listen at?

[Zoso]

Glenn the speakers i'll be using when i get my 1055(2 weeks and counting) will be Paradigm Studio 20's.

[Zoso]

Mike i don't anticipate listening to the 1055 any louder than i do now (i do have neighbours) I just thought the the 1070 would be a nice way to enter the world of seperates without paying more for a 5 channel amp i may not need.

[Scarp]

Adding a 1070 to the 1055 is always a good addition. It frees up some strain on the power supply of the 1055, which probably makes it better on your center and rears.

Good calibration won't make the 1070 powered speakers sound louder. Note that speakers only take what they actually need.

I use a RB1090 and a RMB1075 and I have no volume differences between my fronts and center/surrounds.

[Glenn]

Adding a 1070 to the 1055 is always a good addition.
Good calibration won't make the 1070 powered speakers sound louder.

Scarp, I have a question regarding the above.

When using different powered amps, calibration is needed to achieve an equivalent sound level for each of the 5 speakers in a surround setup. This makes sense.

But when listening to 2-channel, using only the higher powered 1070 amp, how is the full potential (ie power) of this amp then realized? Is additional calibration needed when switching back to listening to 2-channel?

Thanks

[Scarp]

Adding a 1070 to the 1055 is always a good addition.
Good calibration won't make the 1070 powered speakers sound louder.

Scarp, I have a question regarding the above.

When using different powered amps, calibration is needed to achieve an equivalent sound level for each of the 5 speakers in a surround setup. This makes sense.

But when listening to 2-channel, using only the higher powered 1070 amp, how is the full potential (ie power) of this amp then realized? Is additional calibration needed when switching back to listening to 2-channel?

Thanks

2 or multichannel usage doesn't matter to the 1070. It doesn't know about the other amps. So once calibration is done for all speakers, they should have about the same loudness. No additional calibration is needed for two channel operation, since you just use the 1070 and the two front channels are also calibrated.

You calibrate once with a good decibell meter and with a good test dvd or with the internal noise signals. After that only redo your calibration when the situation changes or maybe once a year to make sure its still correct (if you have new speakers, it might be usefull to recalibrate after a month usage).

[Glenn]

Sorry if I am missing the obvious, but I am still not quite certain on how the full power of the 1070 is used once it has been calibrated.

For example, say I had only a 2 channel set-up, just the 1070. To get to, again just an example, 85 db I would turn the volume knob up to half-way. This is my reference point.

Now I integrate the 1070 into a 5 channel setup and do my calibrations, so all speakers produce relative equivalent volumes. To do this, my calibrations would include reducing the power going to the 2 main speakers connected to the more powerful 1070 amp, correct?

At this point, after all the calibrations have been done, when I listen to only 2 channel, would I now have to turn the main volume knob up farther, to say three quarters of the way up, to get the same 85 db volume level compared with the original 2 channel reference point setup in the example?

Thanks again.