1080 or 1075 for a 1055 receiver

[doodleboytoy]

Setting up a 5.1 system using a 1055 receiver. Which amp would do a better job - 1) the 1080 driving the fronts and the 1055 driving the center, surrounds and maybe in the future side surrounds (is that possible?). or 2) 1075 driving all five channels and maybe the 1055 driving the side surrounds in the future.

Which system will provide better sound for music? Ofcourse the 120 watt 1075 will better drive surrounds but how big will the difference be from the 75 watt 1055 for movies? Both will cost the same so its a tough choice.

Front speakers are B&W 804's and surrounds 601's

[eelco74]

This is no easy question,

but I suspect that the 1080 would give you the best stereo performance. It would free the 1055 of the main-channels. I use a 981 for fonts, and a 985MkII for the other channels.

a 1075 would improve the performance of the centre a bit, but probably the best thing you can do is get a 1080 and a 1075 from your dealer and try it at home.

[leeda2]

i agree... demo, demo, demo! however, i suspect that if you listen to a lot of 2ch music, the 1080 will provide better sound. also, isn't the 1080 less than the 1075? also, if your speakers are pretty efficient, you probably won't notice too much improvement for the surround channels between the 1055's power and the 1075.

lastly, remember that for home theater, the center channel is probably the most important and carries most of the load. just some things to consider during your "demo". good luck!

[Andrew Pratt]

I'd bet the 1075 and then bi amp your mains and power the center with the 5th channel...then use the 1055's amps to power the sides and rears. This gives you the most flexibility and lots of power to the mains.

[doodleboytoy]

Andrew! that is an excellent idea. Forgive my ignorance but if I bi-amp the 1055 to the 1075 then that would give me 75 watts + 125 watts = 200 watts too for my fronts right??? Plus I get 125 for my surrounds too except for my rear which will have only 75 watts from the 1055. WOW! Didn't know that was doable.

BTW - is it difficult to biamp? Do I need any special equipment or is it all in the wiring? Could I also biamp the center so that i get 200 watts too.

The reason I was heavily considering the 1080 is because I want at least 200 watts for my fronts. An audiophile friend told me to get the highest wattage i can afford for my fronts to maximize stereo. He said the rest will be acceptable with 75 watts since I do not listen to a lot of DVD-A or SACD.

Rotel is really flexible huh. I hope it wont be a nightmare to configure.

[doodleboytoy]

Andrew... wait a minute. I am kinda lost after reading your post again.

Can I bi-amp using the same amp? If I bi-amp the 1075 for my fronts that would give me 125 + 125 = 250 watts for the fronts right? And my center will have 125 and surrounds 75 from the 1055.

Would that outperform the 1080's solid 200 watts?

Others... any comments on this set-up? If I read it right and its doable then I think this will be my choice.

[Andrew Pratt]

Its not quite that simple. What you would do in a bi amp situation is add a splitter on the pre out for the front left and right channels so you now have two RCA jacks for each channel. You'd then run RCA's from here into 2 channels per speaker on the 1075. From there you'd run a pair of speaker cables for each speaker from these two amp channels to the front speakers. Now providing your speakers are bi amp capable you should have two sets of binding posts on them with a metal plate connecting the two together..simply remove this metal plate and connect the two speakers lines to the top and bottom connections. What this does is provide the tweeter and woofer with their own amplifers. Now there's a variety of factors to consider here and they'll all sum up to give you the sound you end up getting. Depending on the design of the crossovers and effiecinecy's of the drivers etc you'll end up with more power then a single channel going to the speaker but its not quite the same as a single more powerful amp...i.e. a bi amped speaker getting 100 * 2 won't be the same as a single 200 watt amp but it will usually still be better then a single 100 watt amp.

With your situation if music is where you really want to place the most importance the 1080 amp might be the best bet but since this isn't just a stereo system getting more power to the centre speaker will help clear up dialog and bi amped mains should get you pretty close to the 1080. I'd say if possible try both at home if possible but if not I really like the added flexibility the multi channel amps offer.

By the way don't forget that if you take the load off the 1055's internal amps there will be more current available for the remaining channels so if you're only using the 1055 to power the sides or rears you'll be getting more then 75 watts.

[doodleboytoy]

Thanks Andrew... you've been tons of help

Actually I reside in Manila, Philippines (but fellow Canadian too) and the dealers here does not allow auditioning at home and returning is really difficult. IT IS SO UNFAIR!!! :evil: Thus I really have to rely on research and objective comparison to choose my equipment. Imagine, I cannot even test my speakers using the same equipment @#^*%$#@

Anyway, I am using B&W 804's for my fronts and HTM2 center. I wonder if they can be bi-amp'ed. Does bi-amping require me to open up the speakers? I am a novice at this and that might not be too good hahaha. I;ll ask the dealer too.

If you have time... can you be kind enough to give me a more detailed instructions on how to bi-amp the Rotel gear? The rotel dealer here is an idiot and knows no better. They are Yamaha dealer too and are pushing that brand instead! duh! lol You can email me at doodleboytoy@yahoo.com Thanks


Thanks

[Andrew Pratt]

Does bi-amping require me to open up the speakers?

No you only need to remove the metal plate that connects the two sets of binding posts on the back of the speaker. As for hook up what you have now is a pre out that connects to the amplifer which as a speaker cable running to the speaker. The only difference when bi amping is that instead of one pre out you split it into two with an RCA splitter cable and then run two interconnects to two amp channels and then run two speaker cables to the speaker (remembering to remove the metal plate first)