Rotel RB-1090's Power Cord

[jteoh1]

Hi,

I just picked up a demo RB-1090 amp from a local dealer; it came with what appeared to be a standard U.S. 110V cord. It is a 14AWG32C gauge cord with pentagonal shape end (wall side). I had a loaner from another dealer recently that had a higher grade cord with a rounded end.

Could someone confirm if I was given a wrong cord?

I have bi-wired the 1090 with a pair of B&W Nautilus 802s, the sound seems thin on the low frequency end. Not sure if it is the power cord, the unbalanced interconnects, or this demo unit just needs some break-in period... It just sounded a lot better at the dealer show room with N802s. I'm using Denon 5803 as pre/pro and Sony NS755V DVD/CD player with monster cables and interconnects.

Thanks for your help.

John

[DanR]

I used to have a 1090 and the 14AWG cord you are describing sounds right. I also tried a $100 specialty cord and it made no difference. I also have the 802's and the bass was thin at low to moderate listening levels. It seemed I had to crank it up to hear the bass. It was very disappointing! Break-in won't do much.

[DanR]

Once I hooked up my CJ 2300A the difference was amazing. Bass response even at low levels was breathtaking or heartpounding- you pick which adjective you prefer. After that I tried my Jeff Rowland Model 2 and realized what the difference is between $2k and $6k!!!

[soundhound]

John, what was the dealer using for a preamp? I whole heartedly agree about the line cord not making a difference as manufacturers tend to supply components that will make their gear shine, it's good for sales. As far as break in all 3 of my Rotel components started a little on the tight or "clinical" side if you will and after hours of use they tend to "relax", open up and show you what they are made of. I went from a Yamaha reciever as a pre through my RMB-1075 and when I went to my 1st Rotel Pre (RSP-980) the difference was astounding. I now have a well seasoned RSP-1068 and it couldn't be better at the price point.

[jteoh1]

Electronics to feed B&W N802s

I found both Dan and soundhound's observations not only helpful, but they are reaffirming at the same time. I'm going to evaluate Conrad Johnson, Jeff Rowland and McIntosh next. I was surprised to learn that the JR Model 2 was only rated at 75 wpc. I guess there is so much more to it than the wattage rating in considering at a good strong amp. More current into low impedance, power bandwidth, and so on play an important role to driving difficult speakers like the N802s.

BTW, have you any experience with McIntosh MC602 (2-channel 600wpc) or MC402 (2-channel 400wpc) amp in driving N802s?

I truly think it is time I got rid of my Denon 5803 receiver as pre/pro. I'm going to eval the Rotel RSP-1098 and RSP-1068 with the Rotel RB-1090.

At the dealer show room, the RB-1090 was connected Ayers stereo pre-amp and Ayers CD player. The combo seemed to drive N802s with lots of air, power, and musicality with tremendous details. However, the RB-1090 seemed to be on a somewhat harsh side in the mid and high frequency response. I really enjoyed the nice clean and powerful bass response though. Overall, I think the Bryston 4B SST tamed the N802s a bit and not as detailed and musical as the RB-1090.

I also auditioned the Classe CA-2200 with N802S. The CA-2200 seemed a bit warm, recessed and less detail for my taste. To my ears, the Ayers 150W amp lacks the dynamics, fast response and bass slam although it seemed to tame the N802s overall.

Thanks,
John

[Kevin97225]

Yes, the RB-1090 comes with standard stock cord. It works well. I've tried replacing it with a couple of
expensive ones but heard no difference at all, so I'm using the stock cord with both RB-1090's now and
it sounds great.

I used to have the B&W N803 and biwired with the RB-1090 and the sound was excellent with good bass, but
the B&W N803 always was a bit short on bass proformace for me than most other speakers I've owned but
it's something that some B&W users have complained about with the B&W N803 and N804's. I did originally
listen to the RB-1090 on the B&W N800 & N802 and it definetly didn't lack any bass that my N803 did.

I found myself mostly using my Klipsch RF-7 reference speakers (biwired with RB-1090 too)
so I sold the B&W N803 and bought another
set of Klipsch RF-7, and it's superb with the Rotel RB-1090. The Rotel RB-1090 definetly doesn't lack
any bass, nor thin with this combo. The bass is very tight, deep, with slamming force that stunds me.
The RB-1090 sounded great with the B&W N802 when I heard it at the dealers with the bass being deep,
tight, and with that excellent superb mid range that B&W is famous for.

The RB-1090 does need some break-in period. It was a little bright and harsh when I first started
using mine (brand new) and bass was lacking, but after a few days of running many hours each day, the RB-1090
became very smooth, sudden deep bass, and all signs of bright and harsh completely disappeared, and became
even more detailed.

I am using the Rotel RC-1090 pre-amp and Rotel RCD-1072 CD player with the Rotel RB-1090 amp and
the sound is amazing with this combo with the Klipsch speakers. I do have a Sony CD player and when
I use it, the sound becomes much brighter and sound becomes more narrow and thin.
The bass isn't lacking even on low volumes on my system, even some of the reviews say that Rotel got
that part right, that it sounds great even at low volumes.

Maybe the difference is in the equipment combo? I know all the Rotel equipment together is doing
a great job with giving excellent sound. Rotel did a great job between each unit paring.