upgrade time :please help with advise

[Crumpet]

hi all , im pretty new to this forum and was hoping you could all give me some advice

i currently have a Yamaha rx-v1000 intergrated running my B&W DM604 S2 mains, B&W LCR 6 center & B&W DM604 s2 rears.

as expected im not happy with the power the yamaha has to drive my speakers and am looking for a step up in spl, dynamics and all round sq.

i've decided to purchase the rotel 1095 power amp but i am concerned that the preout capabilities of the yamaha wont bring out all the goodness in the upgrade to the rotel so i was hoping you could give your advice on whether i should keep the yamaha or sell it and buy something like a rotel 1068 pre amp to go along side my 1095,

will the extra cost (some $1000 extra after i sell my yamaha) warrant the increase in sound quality, (i use my Room for 90% Ht , 10% music)

[kwojciec]

I went from Yamaha receiver to Rotel processor RSP 1066 and
amplifier RMB1075 about three years ago. The difference was huge.
Surprisingly the advantage was much more music oriented then HT.
I think that you will not regret the move and that 1068 + 1095 is
a great introduction into separates

kwojciec

[DanR]

The 1068 will not let you down. You will forget the extra $1000 soon after purchase.

[Paul H]

I went from Yamaha receiver to Rotel processor RSP 1066 and
amplifier RMB1075 about three years ago. The difference was huge.
Surprisingly the advantage was much more music oriented then HT.
I think that you will not regret the move and that 1068 + 1095 is
a great introduction into separates

kwojciec

Just out of curiousity which Yamaha receiver was it?

Paul

[wywong]

I went from Denon 3803 which is even a much better receiver than the Yamaha RXV1000 to Rotel 1068/1075 combination and the sound difference is hugh. You will not regret the upgrade except that you might be looking for speaker upgrade soon as the B&W 604 will become your weakness link if you move up to the Rotel 1098/1095 combination.

[JDH]

I used to own a Yamaha RX-V3000 (which was better than the RX-V1000 by a long way). I then Purchased the RB-1080 and RMB-1075 poweramps and used the Yamaha RX-V3000 as a pre-amp. I still wanted better sound and also other features so I purchased the RSP-1066 to replace the Yamaha RX-V3000.

In my case however at the time the sale of the Yamaha RX-V3000 more than covered the cost of the new RSP-1066. I think you will find the RSP-1068 will be well worth the extra cost. However unless your getting a better deal by buying the two components together why not buy the Rotel RMB-1095 now, and if your not happy with the improvement then consider selling the Yamaha RX-V1000 and buy the Rotel RSP-1068 at that stage.

Thats the process I took anyway.

[Lefteris]

MY opinion is that if you DO get 1000$ from the yamaha, go for it. Otherwise, buy the power amp first, then try your reciever for a while and decide what to do. Eitherway, don't get too hasty when buying anything.

* * * By the way, have you heard any other amps? Here's a list (I'll have the 604s3 shortly and the LCR600, and the 602S3s, so I'm making the same move as you):

Anthem MCA 50
Adcom 7700
ATI 2005
Aragon 2005
Parasound A52
NAD (I can't remember the model I was looking at)
. . . . . .

And there's always the solution of buying a much better reciever, that will probably come cheaper. Demo a good reciever, like the new pioneer VSX-AX5Ai-S. The thing that you'll get more from such a reciever, is the room equalization, and the i-link connection capability. So, think it over....

Cheers

(Maybe we'll go together and buy the same amp, and have a discount )

[Crumpet]

lefteris , where are you located ??

also as for my 604's bring the weakest link , i firmly disagree , i love my 604's and have never complained of there sound qaulity or sound levels, as you know im quite happy with my current sound qulity its just sometimes my yamha turns off due to lack of power and if anything the 604's are going to sound better with the 200wpc rather than the current 100wpc (which is more like 70wpc) of the yamaha.

[PewterTA]

Here's how I upgraded...

I had the Yammy Rx-v1400, bought the RMB-1095 like you want to do. As soon as I hooked it up to my system, I noticed immediate improvements. Sound stage will really open up for you and you will definitely hear things in music (and even in HT, but harder to find in HT) that you never heard with the Yamaha.

Now here's where I had the problem, the Yamaha's (at least for the 1400) preouts are OK. I felt I lost a good bit of the sound that I really liked from the Yamaha. I'm pretty much contributing that to the pre-outs. Now it could have been that I wasn't used to the Rotel amp/hadn't "broken-in" as they say. I was only with it for about two weeks this way. However, I did notice that sound had a LOT more punch to it, it just all came across soooooo effortlessly it was almost creepy. Big action scenes in movies, were BIG in sound, didn't sound strained or anything like when you don't have the juice to push the speakers properly. I then got a deal on the 1098 and RT-1080, RB-1080 for 7.1 that I couldn't pass up. Needless to say, the sound from this new setup I've found is on the Yamaha level of quality (after some adjustments), but night and day better. I never listened to music with my Yamaha (well would listen some) nor even when I got the 1095, but I did start listening more. With the 1098/1095/1080 combo, I've almost listened to ALL of my collection over again. I can't believe how I just want to keep hearing more and more music. I've even started borrowing my friend's CDs to listen to stuff. The Rotel sound from the 1098 truly put me to where I want to be. I will probably upgrade the 1095 to the Earthquake Cinenova 5 (or 7), but at this point I didn't have the money for it as I think the 1098 and Cinenova will be a perfect match.

So long story short... Get the amp, listen to it for a month or so, see how you like it (make sure to get quality interconnects). I'm betting you'll be pretty darn happy with it. Had I not gotten a great deal on the other Rotel stuff, I'd still be using the 1400 and be completely happy with it...

I will warn you if you like the really bright sound of the yamaha, the rotel amp will tame that a little bit (which I is probably what I had a tough time getting used to -- and probably had needed more time before I really liked it had I not upgraded). So you will have a feeling like you are missing out on the clarity/detail/high end of your sound. However, this is completely untrue, you will actually gain clarity and detail, it just won't be overexagerated like the yamaha does (which makes it a bright receiver).

As of now, almost a month and a half with my Rotel gear, and I STILL can't force myself to sell the Yamaha... It's a great receiver, and goes to show how close it is to being a hi-fi unit (though it's not). But it also goes to show the difference in sound quality of the Rotel gear (albeit for a price hike over the Yamaha).

So get the amp, try it, if you don't like it, sell it and you'll get pretty darn close to the price you paid if you don't like it. Check out the return policy as well, you might be able to use it for about 2 or 3 weeks and return it if you don't like it, then no harm done...

[Crumpet]

thanks for the helpful reply , i think ill ask the place i am going to purchase the amp from that i want a in home demo first.
you see i am actually tossing up between the 1095 and a local brand called elektra in australia is renouned for besting the rotel , parasound ,& sunfire grand.
i think ill ask the salesman to bring both to my home i will give him a deposit beforehand , i will then make my decision and purchase either the trotel or the elektra

[JDH]

thanks for the helpful reply , i think ill ask the place i am going to purchase the amp from that i want a in home demo first.
you see i am actually tossing up between the 1095 and a local brand called elektra in australia is renouned for besting the rotel , parasound ,& sunfire grand.
i think ill ask the salesman to bring both to my home i will give him a deposit beforehand , i will then make my decision and purchase either the trotel or the elektra

I've owned both the Elektra 6ch amp (purchased secondhand for $1400 AUS) about 2 years ago. If you do go Elektra you should spend the extra and get the 7ch version to have some redundancy for a future zone 2 area or fulll 7.1 setup or just a spare couple of amps incase one fails.

Honestly, I couldn't imagine you would be disapointed with either the Rotel or Elektra power amp. The only real downside with Elektra is that it is a small company so you may have more trouble with service down the track, sound wise I found it on par with the Rotel RB-1080 whcih isn't bad considering it is a multi-channel mainly designed for home threatre. I think Elektra also make a higher end 2ch version which would be even better than the multi channel amplifier.

[Crumpet]

well actually , they only make the 7 ch now at elektra but i have a contact whos close with the creator of elektra and he is goint o make me a 5ch (i know you say go for the 7ch but i cannot afford one (around $3200 new) , the 5 ch will be quite alot cheaper and the rotel looks like it will set me back around 2.5k

will let you know how i go