VERY dissapointed in Rotel

[jprzybylski]

For the past 4 months I have been trying to get my 1066 fixed. I have an unacceptable amount of delay that happens whenever I play a movie or listen to a CD.

I was told by Rotel that I should document everything, submit it to their technical department and they would get back to me.

I did this.

Months went by without a word from Rotel. I finally contacted them and within a matter of 48 hours they contacted my dealer and said that not enough people have this problem for Rotel to address it.

This tells me two things.

1) People besides myself have complained about this signal delay problem (Just search this forum)

2) Rotel doesn't care enough to fix it.

So what did I do? I returned the unit and got a Lexicon instead, which is by far a more reliable, well-built unit, although slightly more expensive.

I would caution anyone about this signal delay before purchasing a 1066.

Bye, Rotel!

[Scarp]

A lexicon mc1??? thats not slightly more expensive but a lot more expensive.

Also, apparantly you are the only one experiencing this problem. My 1066 works without a problem.

Your dealer should have been more helpfull by offering to exchange the unit, since its not normal to have such a delay. I assume you tried different equipment and different (digital) cables.

Good luck with your lexicon. According to a review of an MC12 I ever read, it doesnt have anymore high-tech electronic components that a normal alarmclock, except for the processors

[bigkid]

Bad luck JP, can't say I have ever encountered the problem myself - my 1066 is very 'lickity split!"

Allan

[jprzybylski]

MC-1's are $2,000 now since they've been replaced with the MC-8.

As a previous Lexicon owner, I can tell you the sound quality of the MC-1 blows the 1066 away. Add to that CUSTOMIZABLE volume presets, CUSTOMIZABLE volume on and mute-level adjustments, superb BASS management, A/V sync. delay, Speaker levels in feet AND for the center channel, and -- BEST of all, NO delay WHAT-SO-EVER and it's clear that for $500 more (Actually my dealer did an even swap-out due to the problem I had) and I came out a clear winner in this scenario.

Oh, and -- this was my second 1066 unit. And my salesman heard my problem firsthand and relayed this TO Rotel to no avail.

For clarification, I have a Denon DVD-3800 DVD player (With fixed laser pickup and updated firmware) and a tributaries gold coax cable feeding the digital signal. NO problems with my other hardware.

I also tested this delay problem with my friends $299 JVC receiver connected to my equipment. NO delays or clicks when run through a receiver less than 1/4 the price of the Rotel.

I am not the only person who had this problem. Do a search for signal delay on this forum and feast your eyes on the results. Perhaps most users don't care about this delay, but I do. I expect more from a $1500 piece of equipment.

[Mike Hayes]

I haven't noticed a signal delay with my 1066 - I've had it for about 1.5 with no problems so far.

[Matt Sprouls]

I also have the delay problem from time to time on my 1055.
I get very quite pops also when changing sources.
A couple of times I have had trouble when the Rx changes to DTS, I loose sound until I stop and restart the DVD.

I just dumped a 2002 VW Passat 4motion so this Rotel seems like a dream.

[Scarp]

To bad that the lexicon MC1 looks like an '80s VCR. Anyway, good luck with your Lexicon.

[Andrew Pratt]

send me an email and I'll put you in touch with someone that will help you.

[Lex]

jprzybylski, can you please sign your posts with a first name to call you by? You can add it to your signature and not worry with it. It would be much easier to call you by.

I certainly understand your frustration and your desire for other equipment after what you see as a problem that was brushed off as a non-issue. It may well be an issue. Maybe you got brushed, maybe you didn't. I wasn't there. I agree that first the dealer or Rotel should have allowed you to compare your unit with another.

I'll save comment on whether the Lexicon is built better. That's a judgement call and not really an issue of Club Rotel. I haven't reviewed the Rotels, so I am not in a position to comment.

Scarp, please be careful slamming equipment that is also part of a club here, not to mention my equipment. I think you were a little to offensive on the defensive.

As far as my personal response to your comments as a Lexicon user?

The Alarm clock comment is so rediculous as to not even deserve comment.

I personally always like the MC-1 look. Actually, I've not seen to many VCRs with glass fronts like a McIntosh Scarp.

Gentlemen, please let's watch the slams of equipment. If it doesn't do the job for you, say so, say your disappointed and move on.

Everyone will not be satisfied with one piece of gear any more than 1 flavor of ice cream. That's why Baskin Robbins sells 28 flavors or some such.

Lex

[wng]

I believe it's 31 flavors, Lex. :LOL:

[Andrew Pratt]

Joe from talking with Rotel about your situation it seems they're all very familar with you and your problem. Apparently they've swapped out your model for another unit though that seems not to have resolved your complaint. Its unfortunate that your situation wasn't able to be resolved but to say that Rotel didn't care or try isn't accurate or fair. They do admit that they weren't able to make you happy but it wasn't for not trying. As always there's two sides to every story I just wanted to make sure our membership didn't come away feeling like Rotel didn't care or didn't try to help.

As for going with the Lexicon congratulation's! Its a really good product and I hope you find it does everything you need. As Lex mentions there's plenty of options out there for you to choose from...if there wasn't it would be a pretty boring hobby wouldn't it

[Danbry39]

Thanks for the post Andrew. Given Rotel's customer service, I certainly didn't want to believe that they'd just ignore a customer's concerns/complaints about any of their products.

jprzybylski,

Sorry to hear things didn't go right with your Rotel. Glad to see you're happy with the Lexicon, which I hear is a GREAT unit, although I'm not sure it has the analog connects for DVD-A or SACD, which is becoming more important to me personally. As far as HT though, I don't think any company has a finer reputation than the Lexicon.




Keith

[gshisme]

jprzybylski,

Sorry to hear of your ordeal with Rotel. I had a problem with a poppping sound emitting from the 1066 processor..will not get into details on this thread.. but I stayed in constant contact with my dealer and a Rotel rep trying remedies to fix the problem untill they were exhausted with no fix. No problem...just exchanged it for a new unit. New unit is just fine and dandy! My point here is COMMUNICATION! There seemed to be a lack of in your case. To bad cause the Rotel gives one hell of a bang for the buck. Enjoy your Lexy. It should get you to where you want to go. Just that I feel the Rotel could have done the same for a whole lot less.

Greg




suds, suds, and more suds

[Scarp]

Scarp, please be careful slamming equipment that is also part of a club here, not to mention my equipment. I think you were a little to offensive on the defensive.

As far as my personal response to your comments as a Lexicon user?

The Alarm clock comment is so rediculous as to not even deserve comment.

I personally always like the MC-1 look. Actually, I've not seen to many VCRs with glass fronts like a McIntosh Scarp.

My apologies if my posts offended someone, I didn't mean it that bad. Personal taste on looks is as it says personal. I do very much like the looks of the mc8 and mc12, but not the one on the mc1.

The quote about the components came from a very good audio magazine. What they meant to say was that most of the components are not more high-end than a general alarmclock (just the general electrical components), however the sound quality of such equipment comes from the quality of the software thats inside. However this is true for most equipment.

So, I didn't mean it as a slam. Lexicon is very good, so I wish him all the luck with his equipment. Its unfortunate that the situation wasn't resolved, but I can imagine him getting mad/annoyed by it.

[Scarp]

Sorry to hear things didn't go right with your Rotel. Glad to see you're happy with the Lexicon, which I hear is a GREAT unit, although I'm not sure it has the analog connects for DVD-A or SACD, which is becoming more important to me personally. As far as HT though, I don't think any company has a finer reputation than the Lexicon.

The mc-1 does have a 5.1 analog input. Any equipment in this price range should have that. If there is bass management on them I do not know. Some brands choose not to do that on the multichannel analog input (e.g. tagmclaren).

[Lex]

Thanks Scarp, much better.

Let's take the dos and don'ts of Lexicon to that club. I'll post something over there when I think of it, but not now...

And ok, it's 31 flavors. But I like vanilla anyway, so who cares. :twisted: That does ring a bell now though. ding ding ding.

Lex

[jprzybylski]

First off -- my first name is Joe. :-)

Andrew, thanks for your follow-ups, and Lex, too.

With all due respect to Rotel, they've made a great sounding unit in the 1066 but I have a dedicated Home Theater setup. I don't use it for music, it is simply for movies and HDTV. So my gripe about missing the first few seconds of a track is valid - I wouldn't want to go to a movie and miss a few seconds of the audio. Picture going to see Star Wars and missing the first few seconds of the 20th Century Fox fanfare. Eh. Kind of dissapointing.

Andrew -- I don't know how much I have to thank "Rotel" for giving me a new unit. It was returned within 15 days to my dealer who replaced it. It has nothing to do with Rotel, anyone can exchange their player within 15 days of purchase. There's really nothing Rotel can do about it.

The fact that my second unit did the same thing was the problem. Months went by without so much as an email. I had to call, and call, and call, and call, and email, and email before I got a reply. Which wasn't -- we can't find a solution. It wasn't -- "Sorry you're having problems like this." The response to my dealer was that not enough people have this problem to warrant Rotel to investigate. Even though I had sent them Links to this, and other, forums detailing a signal delay problem.

But all of this is neither here nor there. I would've traded up to the 1098 if I had better service from Rotel. But since they didn't treat me in a way that I feel a customer that spends thousands of dollars with a company should treat its consumer, I won't purchase anything Rotel again.

[zeppelin]

Yeah! Joe your the man, you said it.

[Andrew Pratt]

I'm sorry you didn't feel the service you got was up to par Joe. Its unfortunate since the vast majority of the rest of us have had fantastic service from them including all the firmware edits we've requested. I'm not sure what's going on with the delays you were having and I know its something Rotel's been trying to work out for a while now. Good luck with the lexicon and feel free to use the club harman

[jprzybylski]

Thanks Zeppelin!

Andrew -- Thank you, too. I truly do wish things would've worked out differntly with the 1066. You know how exciting it is to get a new piece of gear, and when it lets you down. It's... Well... A real let-down. :-)

I'll be sure to check out Club Harman. Didn't even know there was one, so thanks for the info.

[Aeromos]

Hey Joe,

I'm also considering buying Rotel. I'm wondering however from whom did you get the info from about Rotel not finding enough people with the same problems to warrant further investigation. Was it given to you directly from Rotel? Or was it given to you by your dealer saying that's what Rotel said, and if so did they show you any actual e-mail from Rotel stating this?




Aeromos
Enjoy life, it's too short to waste!!
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