Rotel RB-1080 + Rotel 1056 + B&W 602s3's?

[shah]

I just got myself to get a Rotel 1056 receiver. Stepped up from a Yamaha RX-V750 receiver. Heard a Big jump in sound quality. What do you think? Anyway.. I have a couple of questions about adding a 2 channel amp to my Rotel 1056. I had originally thought about adding a Rotel RB-1070 but reading from some of the posts in the club Rotel forum, it seems like the RB-1080 is more favoured. Can you explain why is that? Also, by adding the 1080, wouldn't I be raising the volume level of the two front speakers ( B&W 602 s3's ) in a ht setup, thus throwing the system out of balance? Would the RB-1080 be too powerful for the B&W 602 s3's? What do you think?

The reason I got my self to work up to the Rotel / B&W setup is that I love quality sound ( what I can afford) Is adding the RB-1080 for 2 channel stereo + sub listening and HT going to give significant improvement in sound quality over the Rotel 1056's own amps? What about the RB-1070 as a match for Rotel 1056 and B&W 602 s3's?

Thanks for reading and I would appreciate any advice you may have.

Shah

Rotel 1056 Receiver
B&W 602 s3 fronts
B&W LCR60 center
Polk audio r40 towers surrounds
monster cable speaker wires, non branded interconnects for components
Sony CD player (mfg 1992)
KLH dvd player

[soundhound]

Shah, I too came to Rotel from Yamaha and know what a difference this makes. As far as an amps gain, when you calibrate you will offset with +/- db settings for those channels on the higher powered amp, so it is a balanced blend. A seperate power amp will improve what you have. I currently have 1070's for mains, and like them. For curiosity sake I am going to bring home a 1080 this weekend and see what all the fuss is about. I have very efficiant speakers, personally I think the 1070 is a sweet little amp, maybe underated. Can't comment on the B&W's you have, but I have owned power hungry speaks in the past (Infinity RS 2.5) and do know that you do not want to be under powered, as you don't get the full effect plus it tends to work things a little harder than need be.

[PewterTA]

I also moved to Rotel from Yamaha (RX-v1400 - which I still have and love). I have the RB-1080 running my rear DM602s3s in my 7.1 surround set. It will easily power them and yes, it is a slight bit too much power...but can you ever really have too much!? Anyways, the RB-1080 rules the 602s with an iron fist (as they say). It will be a perfect combination. I have not really heard the 1056 so I can't say how much better the 1080 will be, but if I had to take a guess, it'll be a bit better. I would say they will sound pretty similar (after all it's both Rotel gear). But my guess where you will really notice it is a little in the sound stage (imaging) and in the realm of bass control. I bet the bass will really tighten up and come off very quick and very powerful.

The closest analogy I can come up with is it will be like dropping in a supercharger into your car, where it will still drive very much the same, but you will notice a little more power to it.

And like SoundHound said, once you calibrate it, all the speakers should sound identical, and you won't notice any difference in volume between speakers. But you will gain that "explosiveness" to the soundtrack and music that really wasn't there with the 1056. Not to say the 1056 is bad at all, but I think you'll notice a difference.

Another gain will also be now that the 1056 doesn't have to push 75watts to each of the two front speakers, it will use that to push the center and rear speakers all that much better!

So, all your speakers will benefit from the added RB-1080 added to your system. The only thing I can't tell you is if it's a justified upgrade, you need to take it home, hook it up, calibrate it, and listen for a couple hours... Definitely give the 1080 a couple of hours/days to break in and warm up, I didn't think there was a big difference with my 1080 until it got about 60+ hours on it, then I really started to notice how good stuff sounded.

[Asterduc]

Hi Shah,
Welcome to the club.

Same situation with me, and yes, me also had a yamaha receiver, motorbike, basgytar and even a tennis racket (the first they ever made, in graphite, must be back in 19___76).

My 1056 was great in the beginning. After some weeks I wanted to go one step further and purchased the RB-1080. No much difference when I switched from 1056 front to 1080 front. I was disappointed that I had to put it on the same volume level as before (with the on-board amps). So don't be afraid for different db level. After some days I found the 1080 giving a little bid more on all aspects, it is just a step forward to high-end sound (more clear thus more room around the sound, tighter but deeper bas, less stress in the higher region if you don't play it too loud ) and yes it has more dynamic, but it is not loader in my opinion. My next step? RB-1090!!! that"s a fact.

RB-1070: seen the experience I have with the RB-1080, I wouldn't choose for the RB-1070 if you want to have a better sound and not just 2 extra channels. But apologise if I am wrong on this, I HAVE NOT listen to the RB-1070. I only assume that it is lower in music quality than the RB-1080 and therfore ...

Good luck.