RB-1090 - Is it a good upgrade or should I have waited?

[Jamil]

Folks,

Yesterday I upgraded my front channel power by getting the RB-1090. The upgrade was from RB-1080. After I made my purchase and brought it home, I called another dealer to check up on the availability of RMB-1095 to upgrade (from RMB-1075) my surrond/center setup as well. This other dealer told me that RB-1090 is no longer being produced by Rotel and is discontinued but my new unit will still have its 5 year warranty. The question now is did I make a mistake in upgrading? Should I have waited for Rotel to bring out the replacement "BIG" amp? I read a couple of posts talking about RB-1091 and RB-1092. Of course the latter will be more money but do not know how better it will be from the 1090. Any ideas will be appreciated. If the next generation amp is worth waiting for than I might as well pack up the RB-1090 and put it up for sale right away. BTW, my Dynaudio's fronts love more power than what they were getting before I am also going to hold off upgrading to RMB-1095. Do not want to find out that too is not going to be in Rotel's plans at least till the end of this year.
Thanks.

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Regards
Nasser

[Jamil]

Anyone who can assist with my query?
Thanks.

--
Nasser

[Andrew Pratt]

The new model will be a digital amp not an analog so no IMO you made a good call picking it up now. The digital amps may well turn out to be good but there will always be a strong market for the analog amps...just as there is for the even older tube amps.

[Jamil]

Thank you Andrew. Your response is inline with my thoughts. I am not sold on the digital amps yet. I may shift gears in the future though Plus the fact that it will be Rotel's first attempt at coming out with digital amps, I much rather wait and see how it turns out in the consumer market.

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Nasser

P.S. I think I am going to go ahead and get the RMB-1095 as well. This upgrade bug is evil!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jeff]

Did you keep your 1080? When I upgraded the my front amp I moved my 1080 to the rear surrounds. If you still have it, keep it and purchase another 1080 (used) to use as your center speaker amp. You will no longer need a 1095 and you'll be better off than using a 1095.

[EAmin]

Did you keep your 1080? When I upgraded the my front amp I moved my 1080 to the rear surrounds. If you still have it, keep it and purchase another 1080 (used) to use as your center speaker amp. You will no longer need a 1095 and you'll be better off than using a 1095.

My .02. I would get a 5-channel amp (1095 or 1075). You never know if you'll do 7.1. I recently added another two speakers for a 7.2 setup. Sounds awesome! It was nice to benefit from those extra channels when needed. Plus with so many amps, you'll need to have a lot of rack space and enough ventilation to keep 'em all cool. I have a 1090 and 1095 --- both eat up a lot of room.

[Jamil]

Jeff,

I still have the 1080. So at this point I have the 1090, 1080 and 1075.

I was thinking going with the following:
- 1090 for the fronts
- 1080 for the center
- 1075 for the surrounds

I want to give as much juice as I can to the center for HT (movies) or do you still think it will be a benefit of selling the 1075 and getting another 1080 for the surrounds as well? I can very well sell both the 1080 and 1075 and get a 1095 and then it will only be 2 amps in my system as opposed to 3. The speakers that I have cannot be bi-wired though otherwise I could use the spare channels until I decide to go 7.1

Thanks.

--
Nasser

[Jamil]

EAmin,

Now the dilemma becomes,

Is a 1080/1075 combo better than one 1095
or
2 1080's are better than one 1095
to power the center and surrounds?

Let me know what you think.
Thanks.

--
Nasser

[EAmin]

EAmin,

Now the dilemma becomes,

Is a 1080/1075 combo better than one 1095
or
2 1080's are better than one 1095
to power the center and surrounds?

Let me know what you think.
Thanks.

--
Nasser

I missed the fact that you owned a 1075. I think Jeff's suggestion is a good one. 1095 is a great amp too. Sorry I'm not much help.

[booktrunk]

Are you running 5 or 7 speakers.

If it's 5 then another 1080 is fine now but what happens when you want to upgrade to 7.1

Go on, got for the 1095 and you can bi-amp the centre then OK you can do that anyway if you keep the 1075 for the rears.

Awww hell i'm just jealous

Steff

[BlazeMaster]

Jamil, seeing that you're from San Jose also, it's safe for me to assume that you either bought it from San Francisco Stereo or Century Stereo? You're aware that SF Stereo has an upgrade policy that, within a year of purchase, anything that's bought from them (except displays or monitors) can be traded in for full credit towards something better (just as long the MSRP is twice as much). They also have a anual sale during the February time frame that can be combined with the upgrade program. So if you did buy it from them, then good for you, because you can trade up your 1075 or your newly purchased 1090 for something better (more expensive) later. They do carry some really nice electronics there, Krells, Marantz, Rotel, Music Fidelity and Meridian. Go check them out, if you haven't already done so, there's a store in Mountain View. Very nice people and I much rather deal with them than the guys from Century Stereo. I'm 25 year AV lover, when I go to Century, they always treat me like I don't know anything about audio and won't buy anything, little do they know that I give all my business to SF Stereo.

[Jamil]

BlazeMaster,

Your assumption is correct. All my gear (except for the 1090) was purchased from SF Stereo in Mt. View. I also agree about the excellent treatment customers receive at that store. Now CS is a whole another story. Maybe they get a lot of foot traffic based on their location but still why assume that anyone walking into your store does not know anything about AV and is not going to buy anything
I do know about the upgrade plan at SF Stereo and may upgrade my 1075 for the 1095. The question is would it matter that all speakers are powered by different amps in my setup? Would I have real "imaging" problems like some other posts in this forum talk about. I do not have to go to 1095 if it is only going to power the surrounds and I think 1075 would be OK. What do you say? This question is open to others in the forum as well. BTW, I am not looking to go to 7.1 anytime soon.
Thanks.

--
Nasser

P.S. Will you be showing up at SF Stereo in Mt. View next Tuesday (05/17) for their Special Event? Krell's founder/chief engineer Dan D'Agostino and VP Bill McKiegan will be there to talk about the new stuff from their company. I think you need to call the store and RSVP to reserve a spot.

[Jeff]

Nasser, I would agree with your post on using the 1075 as surround and the 1080 for the center. Upgrading to a 1095 would be of little benefit. I won't be a betterment over the 1080 for the center. Thus you would be using it for 2 surround speakers. This would be a poor use of a fairly decent amp.

I'm not sure what your running as a pre/pro, but if you must spend $2,000 consider the Rotel 1068. You'd get a much better bang for the buck provided your running a lesser surround receiver...

Jeff

[Jamil]

Jeff,

Thanks. I have the 1068 as my pre/pro Now does that change your response of sticking with the 1075 and using it for the surround? Also if I use the 1080 simply for the center I will only use one of its channels, correct? Bi-amping was mentioned but I need another amp to bi-amp it. I also read a recommendation to use a similar amp for that purpose. Now if upgrading to the 1095 is not going to benefit me if I use it only for the surrounds then I guess staying put with the current gear is the way to go for now. I wish this upgrade itch goes away soon

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Nasser

[BlazeMaster]

No Jamil, I won't be going to the special event, but I'd like the free prize that they're giving out. I just got a used HTM7 speaker from the Pawn shop here, and going to be getting a good cheap sub, trade in my 603s for 704s and trade in my LCR600 for a 1075 amp. This is my first step into mid-fi or hi-fi. So far I'm liking the HTM7 alot, can't quite do any A/B comparison because my LCR600 is in the shop for replacing a dented tweeter.
Just out of curiosity, do you get treated the same way when you go to CS? Maybe it's just me, but I refuse to give them any business, because the way they treated me.
BTW: since we're so close to each other, if you have any of the Rotel stuff that you want to find a new home for, be sure to let me know. Thanks.

[Jamil]

BlazeMaster,

Do you think I am going there for the wine & cheese? That free prize is something. Hope I win it and then I guess one of my amps will be looking for a new home Don't worry I will keep you in mind before putting up any of the Rotel stuff at the Pawn Shop. As far as CS is concerned my feelings about their customer service is similar to yours. I only went there because of 1 salesperson. His name is Doug Ko. He used to be at LaserLand Home Theater when I started getting into AV. Bought my Pioneer Elite stuff with his help. When that store closed early part of this year he moved onto SF Stereo (Mt. View location). I met him there as well when I went to purchase my Dynaudio speakers and the Rotel gear. Last month I was in Saratoga and found him at CS with their shirt on. This past Saturday I bought my 1090 there. For some strange reason my business follows him but I can assure you if he was not working at that store they would never had my business. BTW, SF Stereo will still be my preferred store for AV gear. I may pay them a visit this week to discuss the upgrade to 1095 but it is looking highly unlikely based on what the forum members have suggested. I guess I should save up and then go for the Marantz universal player DV9500 before the year ends unless Rotel comes out with something comparable. Rotel are you listening? We need to see a quality universal player from you! Talk to you later.

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Nasser

[BlazeMaster]

Yea, I know exactly whom you're talking about. Doug is great, I bought a Boltz DVD rack from him when he was working at LaserLand. I kinda saw that store going out of business eventually. They were doing more business with renting and selling DVDs and movies instead of selling their AV equipments. Which was kinda sad, they had great equipments there and loved their demo setups as well. I did see him at SF Stereo as well, Derek the manager at SF Stereo told me Doug knows the owner of SF Stereo, maybe that's why he's able to move on so quickly.
Regarding the special events, I think it's really cool that SF stereo throws events like that, but with my budget, I don't go to SF stereo whenever I want, know what I mean? I go there when I actually have some $$... I think everyone that I've talked to at SF was good to me, so it's my favorite store also. Were you there when they had that special B&W event which debuted the new 800s series? I think they're giving away a free pair of 805S that day. I wish I was there, had to work that day.
Have you seen or heard of any of the new upconverting Denon Universal DVD players? The Denon 5910 and 3910 are getting great reviews and are labeled as some of the best DVD players that money can buy in their price ranges. The 5910 has a really high end video processor. I just sold my older Denon DVD player and have a 2910 on the way. That should tie me over until the HD DVD players hit the market and have any of the flaws worked out.

[booktrunk]

Jeff,

Thanks. I have the 1068 as my pre/pro Now does that change your response of sticking with the 1075 and using it for the surround? Also if I use the 1080 simply for the center I will only use one of its channels, correct? Bi-amping was mentioned but I need another amp to bi-amp it.
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Nasser

Why do you need a second AMP to bi-amp... The 1080 has 2 channels. You would just use the left channel to say run the HF and the right channel to run the LF.

You run a cable from the pre-out on the 1068 into a splitter in either of the two inputs on the amp and run another from this to the other input on the amp. Or buy a special cable with two outputs from the one input.

Steff

[Jamil]

Steff,

I am not sure it was that easy. I went with the literal meaning of "bi-amp" (2-amp). Is this something you have tried or anyone on the forum for that matter with the 1080? Maybe I need to read up some more Appreciate the suggestion though.
Thanks.

--
Nasser

[Marcel B]

Jamil,

if I read one of your reply's correctly you can't bi-wire your speakers.
Then bi-amping is out of the question.
(I'm using a 981 bi-amped for my center and another one for the front speakers; works ver well with much extra clarity and power from the center.)

Marcel B

[Jamil]

Marcel,

Thanks. That is why I scratched my head a little when I saw Steff's response. It is likely that she missed that part (no bi-wire option is available on my speakers) in my earlier post (#7).

--
Nasser

[Jamil]

BlazeMaster,

Now you know where to find Doug No, unfortunately I missed the B&W special event at SF Stereo. I was out of town My subwoofer gets delivered tomorrow so I will have to wait on the DVD player. I saw the Denon 5910. It sure is built like a tank. Denon does make some good stuff. That 2910 is a super unit in its price range. I still recommend checking out the Marantz DV9500. SF Stereo has one on display. You need to hear its audio performance. Sometimes DVD player manufacturers are so concerned about the video quality that the audio side takes a back seat. We all know how good Rotel 1072 is in analog mode. Marantz universal player is on par if not better in straight 2 channel (no pre/pro DACs in the middle). Later...

--
Nasser

[BlazeMaster]

I know...I'm sure the 2910 is not the best player for its audio attributes...but it just gives me another reason to find a dedicated 2ch. or multichannel music player like the 1072 in the future. The 2910 will be enough for me for the time being. Thanks.

[Jeff]

Nasser, I'm glad to hear you have a 1068 pre/pro. With your speaker not being a candidate for bi-amping, continue with the 1075. Save your money for other audio equipiment. IMO the 1095 wouldn't do much justice only powering your rear surrounds.

What type of speakers are you using?

Jeff

[Mark_C.]

So, I guess I'm going to have some competition for that Krell integrated that SF Stereo is giving away next Tuesday. See you guys there.

[Jamil]

Hey Jeff,

I guess I will stay put with what I have, and I agree it will be wate of $1K to upgrade to 1095 simply to power the surrounds. Do you see any problem with me running only a single channel of the 1080 for the center? The speakers are from Dynaudio. These things gobble up amp juice like anything being 4 ohms. The fronts are 72SE's, the surrounds are 52SE's and the center is the 122C. The subwoofer (James Loudspeaker EMB-1200) arrives tomorrow. I can't wait to see what it can do for music. The setup at this time is only doing audio via 1072. Later I will think about bringing in the video part only if I can get it past my better half
Thanks.

--
Nasser

[Jamil]

Mark,

Competition! That Krell has my name written all over it Looking forward to meet someone from this forum at SF Stereo next Tuesday.

--
Nasser

[Jeff]

Nasser, the 1080 should do fine on one channel. I had that powering my B&W Nautilus 802's until I upgraded the amp to Proceed.

I to have a 1072 cd player. With a good to great pair of interconnect that unit will sing! :T

The new sub sounds exciting. I remember my excitment when I finally upgraded to my Paradigm Reference
Servo-15. Ah yes, that was a happy day.

Good luck on the Krell.

Jeff