Finally got a RSX-1055

[stjoenewt]

After much searching, I had resigned myself to having to wait until I could spring for a new 1055. Then a couple of weeks ago, I seen a fairly new silver one on Audiogon that was within my reach, budget wise.

I got it about a week ago and after some use must say that this is one fine receiver. Everything works as advertised. My speakers sound better that I have ever heard them sound, although it seems I must turn the volume up pretty high for normal listening. I would think that's due to my room's accoustics rather than the receiver.

Now I am beginning to notice a distinct downside. I think I am now condemned to eternal upgrade damnation. I am getting critical of the source for audio, especially the variance between cable stations. For instance, last night I was watching a blues special on the local PBS station. I was really disappointed in the quality of the audio for this program. Other channels were much better. Can you spell Digital Cable? How about Satellite Dish? :roll:

BTW, the guy I purchased it from changed his mind and wanted to get a 1066 and 1075, so ROTEL gained in the exchange as well. Now that I'm a ROTEL owner, I'll be back often to pick up tips, like the bass management fix for the multi-channel input.




Mike

[Azeke]

Sorry double post.

Azeke

[Danbry39]

Glad to have you aboard stjoenewt. Congrats on the new addition to your home theater and, yes, that upgraditis bug bites hard, doesn't it?




Keith

[Kevin D]

Keep in mind digital cable will be the same quality audio and video on the channels you currently receive. The only thing digital will be the additional channels above that. Sat's are pretty good on everything (slightly lacking in video with it's compression) but usually good stereo sound on everything. You just might not get your locals. Check with the cable company, most have a lifeline cable package that only sends down channels 2-13 (usually the locals) for $5-$8 a month.

Kevin D.

[Azeke]

Stjoenewt,

Welcome to Club Rotel, however you should watch out for the upgraditis bug here :LOL:

You may want to visit the FAQ forum (located on the top right of the Forum) which may answer some of your inquiries and provide a fundamental knowledge base for your equipment.

Regards,

Azeke

[Azeke]

Yes, indeed it does Keith. I've been bitten quite a few times, which includes my wife :LOL:, but of course we all have our crosses to bear.

Regards,

Azeke

[Andrew Pratt]

Welcome to Club Rotel:T

[aud19]

Congrats and welcome!

Keepa a tight grip on your wallet, it has a way of getting loose after talking to people on here

J.R.




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[Greg K]

WELCOME!!!The 1055 is a nice unit,I've had mine for a couple of weeks now,and am very happy with it.Yeah, watch out for the "upgradeittis".I believe it was around the 2nd or third day I had mine that I caught the thread here about power cords ....Yeah! that what I need next
It just never ends....................

Greg

[stjoenewt]

Thanks to all for the welcome.

Azeke - I wasn't aware of the FAQ, I'll have to check it out

Kevin D. - I also wasn't aware of the digital cable limitation on their audio.

And to all, thanks for the good advise. Until I came here and gave ROTEL a listen, I wasn't even considering them. Now I feel I have a unit I can live with for quite a while, and still have flexibility with whatever direction I want to go, be it more amps, better speakers, better players, etc.




Mike

[Andrew Pratt]

Now I feel I have a unit I can live with for quite a while

I've said that before as well...then it hits...the uograde bug and to the best of my knowledge its a terminal disease

[aud19]

Thanks to all for the welcome.

Azeke - I wasn't aware of the FAQ, I'll have to check it out

Kevin D. - I also wasn't aware of the digital cable limitation on their audio.

And to all, thanks for the good advise. Until I came here and gave ROTEL a listen, I wasn't even considering them. Now I feel I have a unit I can live with for quite a while, and still have flexibility with whatever direction I want to go, be it more amps, better speakers, better players, etc.

Though marginal, the digital cable box I have anyways, does offer some improvement over regular cable. One, it has an S-video out which does give the tiniest bit better picture on analog channels. Two, actual digital channels (movie channels etc) are a fair bit clearer than the analog ones, though you then have to deal with the odd mpeg compression artifact. Dolby Digital is also available with digital cable (though not always present) I'm sure your service is dependent on the company as well. God I can't wait for HD cable!

J.R.




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[aud19]

Thanks to all for the welcome.

Azeke - I wasn't aware of the FAQ, I'll have to check it out

Kevin D. - I also wasn't aware of the digital cable limitation on their audio.

And to all, thanks for the good advise. Until I came here and gave ROTEL a listen, I wasn't even considering them. Now I feel I have a unit I can live with for quite a while, and still have flexibility with whatever direction I want to go, be it more amps, better speakers, better players, etc.

Though marginal, the digital cable box I have anyways, does offer some improvement over regular cable. One, it has an S-video out which does give the tiniest bit better picture on analog channels. Two, actual digital channels (movie channels etc) are a fair bit clearer than the analog ones, though you then have to deal with the odd mpeg compression artifact. Dolby Digital is also available with digital cable (though not always present) I'm sure your service is dependent on the company as well. God I can't wait for HD cable!

J.R.




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[Randallino]

I just got my 1055 also. Very nice indeed... going form a mass market receiver to the Rotel, I didn't realize how much I was missing in the way sound, stagging.........etc. :dance:

[stjoenewt]

Andrew,

Well hopefully I'll replace everything else before I change the 1055. I think the terminal part comes in when I suggest to my wife that I need more gear. :bash:

JR,

I live kind of out in the sticks, so I don't think the cable company will be upgrading to HD service anytime soon. I'm not even sure that digital is available, although I keep hearing promises.

Randallino,

I was set on a mass merchandise unit unitl I did an A/B test with ROTEL and the competition. I got into the "features" thing and when I stopped to consider how many of those "features" I would really use versus the same money spent on things I would used all the time, the choice became clear. IMO the 1055 sounded better and sound is really what a receiver is meant to provide.




Mike

[sikoniko]

Thanks to all for the welcome.

Azeke - I wasn't aware of the FAQ, I'll have to check it out

Kevin D. - I also wasn't aware of the digital cable limitation on their audio.

And to all, thanks for the good advise. Until I came here and gave ROTEL a listen, I wasn't even considering them. Now I feel I have a unit I can live with for quite a while, and still have flexibility with whatever direction I want to go, be it more amps, better speakers, better players, etc.

Though marginal, the digital cable box I have anyways, does offer some improvement over regular cable. One, it has an S-video out which does give the tiniest bit better picture on analog channels. Two, actual digital channels (movie channels etc) are a fair bit clearer than the analog ones, though you then have to deal with the odd mpeg compression artifact. Dolby Digital is also available with digital cable (though not always present) I'm sure your service is dependent on the company as well. God I can't wait for HD cable!

J.R.

I dont know what cable you have, but my cable box is a motorola 5100. it has component video and an optical link for DD.

the picture quality is usually one extreme to the next for me. HD stuff looks great, however, SD looks like crap IMO.

It is kind of annoying how sometimes there is a lip synch problem. I don't know if this is because of how the rotel handles the signal, or how cable is sending the signal. i dont remember this issue w/ my old receiver though.

[aud19]

Don't know my model off the top of my head (I'm at work) but it is a motorola of some sort. I don't have HD cable yet so hence the S-vid only output. Mine also has a digital coax not optical. HD stuff better look great otherwise what are you paying for?! As for analog channels, it is dependent on the channel, some look decent to good and some just look like crap. Part of the reason your analog channels might look more crappy is that you've got HD to compare them to. My Civic doesn't look too bad parked next to your average car, I've got some nice wheels etc on it. However parked next to say a Ferrari or a Porsche or something...it starts to look more like an old junker...lol

J.R.




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[4_everyman]

What a relief to know that i'm not the only RSX-1055 owner to pick up the bug! After i got my Rotel, i realized that my CD and DVD players needed upgrading so i went with a Denon DVD-2900. Then i was getting annoyed with the inconvenience of VHS which meant that i had to get a TiVO.

After several weeks of critical listening with the RSX-1055/DVD-2900 combination, i came to the conclusion that my speaker setup (five NHT SuperZeros) were just not gonna do anymore. I just picked up five new Polk speakers (RTi150s-mains, FXi50s-surrounds, and a CSi40-center).

My 11 year-old Sony TV is now showing signs of age. Guess it's time to venture into the world of projectors...

I'm one of the lucky ones. My wife is also a music lover and she's a vinyl junkie, so i don't have to do too many fancy steps to convince her that these upgrades are "necessary".

Rgds,
--Pete

[will1066]

You're a lucky man, 4_everyman.

[Danbry39]

Yep, 4_everyman, I went through a similar thing. Wanted a DVD player, wouldn't play with my old receiver, bought a new receiver, wouldn't play with my old TV, bought a new TV, and on and on. But, if you ask me, it's all been worth it. Then comes the rationalizing to the significant others: "Sure, the new speakers cost a bundle, but just think of how much we'll save by not going to the movies."

We need a 12 step program.




Keith

[aud19]

I think our shared addiction may require more than a 12 step program Danbry .... Maybe 20 or 30 step 8O ...lol

Here's a list of what I've bought / uprgaded in just the last year - year and 1/2:

-Bought Energy XL150's and XLC100 for small secondary system using an old Pioneer Dolby Pro Logic receiver.
-Went from Yamaha RX-V1 to RX-Z1 (for free! ) and sold RX-Z1 (thanks to help from here I might add ). Will soon be purchasing 1066 and 1075 with that cash.
-Upgraded Toshiba DVD player to Denon 1600 DVD-V / DVD-A player.
-Upgraded 29" RCA TV to 51" Hitachi F500 (Can you say BIG change! :P ).
-Upgraded Cerwin Vega's for Energy C-9's front, C-C3 center and C-5's rear. Again, BIG change!
-Purchased two APC 1250W Power conditioner/filters.
-Purchased Belden 89259 cable and Vampire 5X CB RCA's for IC's

I think that's it.... 8O

Looking at that list I'm actually amazed my girlfriend / future wife still talks to me, let alone lives with me...lol

I think I may need help :LOL:

J.R.




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[SpOoNmAn]

-Upgraded Cerwyn Vega's for Energy C-9's front, C-C3 center and C-5's rear. Again, BIG change!

J.R.

LOL, thats a HUGE change indeed! I'm trying to get my brother away from those hideous things. Not an easy job when the person in question thinks Cerwin Vega is gods gift to speakers 8O




Life is short, Play it LOUD!

[aud19]

Okay...lol, it was a HUGE change. I do have to say they aren't hideous speakers though. While they don't offer the refinement of other speaker companies , such as Energy and many others, they do serve a purpose in their marketplace. While they're not all that good, they're not all that bad either. Besides they're great for house parties...lol

Now that I've said that... Damnit, get him some real speakers!

J.R.




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[SpOoNmAn]

Okay...lol, it was a HUGE change. I do have to say they aren't hideous speakers though. While they don't offer the refinement of other speaker companies , such as Energy and many others, they do serve a purpose in their marketplace. While they're not all that good, they're not all that bad either. Besides they're great for house parties...lol

Now that I've said that... Damnit, get him some real speakers!

J.R.

LOL, house parties, hence the reason they have the term "basement speakers" attached to them.

No thanks. I think I'd rather go with Sony or KLH for speakers...

...scratch that. I'd rather sing in the shower :LOL:




Life is short, Play it LOUD!

[aud19]

What can I say? Like everything else, A/V as hobby is a learning experience. (Unfortunately not a cheap one however :x ) I'm happy to say though that I'm almost satisfied with my equipment now. Short of putting together my IC's and getting the Rotel gear (got my cheque today for my Yammie! ) I've got almost everything I could ask for. The only other thing I'm waiting for (and thankfully it's a couple years down the road) is a HD capable DVD-A/V combo SACD player with DVI and hopefully some sort of digital connection for the DVD-A and SACD. Other than that I'm happy (I think.... ops: )

J.R.




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