Under the hood of a RB-1080, RSP-1098 & RMB-1075

[Claude D D]

Thougth you guys might want to see what a RB-1080 looks like under the hood.RSP-1098 and RMP-1075 pics are posted further down this thread. :T

[Cracking Oboe]

Wow!!

That looks even better than I expected. First rate! Thanks for the Pics.

Cracking

[ds22030]

Really...wow! Those are pretty beefy components! I knew there had to bee some good stuff in there since it's so heavy!

[KathyMason]

Thanks for sharing the pictures! I was curious how it looked inside, as I have the RB-1090 and I can see by the pictures that the RB-1080 has an excellent build too! I enjoyed getting to see the inside and thanks again for sharing!!!!

[RickF]

Where are the infamous fuses located?

[Stoney]

Great looking unit, but what's with the tape holding the wires on to the panel? Did they run out of tie mounts and wire ties?

[DrJRapp]

Nice shots. I've got some mediocre pics of the insides of my 1098 if anyone wants to see them. It's very impressive.

[gregoree]

Put 'em up Jerry. I'd be very interested.

Greg

[Claude D D]

Where are the infamous fuses located?

The fuse holder is on the back of the 1080 on the right side.You don't have to remove the top to replace the fuse.I've owned 2 RB-1080's and have seen many sold through our store and have yet to have to replace a fuse.Here in western Canada there doesn't seem to be any "infamous" fuses associated with the 1080's. :T

[RebelMan]

Claude, nice pics of the 1080, got any of the 1068 too? Jerry, ditto on Greg's request.

[Kevin D]

The fuse holder is on the back of the 1080 on the right side.You don't have to remove the top to replace the fuse.I've owned 2 RB-1080's and have seen many sold through our store and have yet to have to replace a fuse.Here in western Canada there doesn't seem to be any "infamous" fuses associated with the 1080's. :T

AFAIK, the fuses that blow are not the ones easily replaced in the back of the unit. If they were I don't think it would be as big of issue.

Kevin D.

[Glen B]

Its a nice amp, no doubt about it. However, like the Parasound amps, there's a lot of point to point wiring snaking all over the place. Compare and contrast with the clean Classe and Levinson internals.


Parasound: http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/pr...1&ImageIndex=2

Levinson: http://www.marklevinson.com/image_library/436OH_lo.jpg

[junior77blue]

At least we now know where some of the money is going towards with the classe & ML....

[Wolfenstein 2k2]

Nice shots. I've got some mediocre pics of the insides of my 1098 if anyone wants to see them. It's very impressive.

I´ve some nice "under the hood" pics as well. Not a RB-1080, but at least Rotel...





...and a naked RMB-1075... :B

[NewBuyer]

Its a nice amp, no doubt about it. However, like the Parasound amps, there's a lot of point to point wiring snaking all over the place. Compare and contrast with the clean Classe and Levinson internals...

This is a very interesting point. I'm curious now: Does having point-to-point wiring make any difference to the performance of the units? Does it only affect looks and nothing more?

[DrJRapp]

I´ve some nice "under the hood" pics as well. Not a RB-1080, but at least Rotel...

Thanks guy, your shots are much better than mine. Too bad you don't have any shots with the shielding still in place, since I don't either.

I was waiting till the 1080 chatter slowed down before hijacking the thread with 1098 pics. I say your timing was good.

[DrJRapp]

This is a very interesting point. I'm curious now: Does having point-to-point wiring make any difference to the performance of the units? Does it only affect looks and nothing more?

There is one school of thought in Hi-Fi that says P to P is superior to large printed circuit boards and other bus-bar type wiring. As a design engineer, I'm not shure myself that a cleaner looking interior makes for a cleaner sounding piece of gear, just one that's easier to work on.

[Wolfenstein 2k2]

Thanks guy, your shots are much better than mine. Too bad you don't have any shots with the shielding still in place, since I don't either.

I was waiting till the 1080 chatter slowed down before hijacking the thread with 1098 pics. I say your timing was good.

I took those pics during the installation of the metal shield plate for the digital board last year. My 1098 came without it as it was one of the first models delivered by Rotel. And yes, I don´t have any pics with the shielding installed on the digital board. The board looks better without it anyway .

Concerning the 1075, I was just anxious to see the "inner life", so I took off the hood :T

[Claude D D]

What,nobody get ambitious yet and tear the lid off their RB-1090 or RMB-1095 yet????

[greggz]

Here is a pic that Secrets of Home Theater took of the RMB-1095



And here is one of the RMB-1095 from Audioholics

[lvhung]

4 more caps

Compare the 2 pictures of inside look
Easily found out RB 1080 has 4 more capaciors
Why 1095 doen't have ?

bye :T

[RebelMan]

Anyone have a picture of the 1068?

[DrJRapp]

Compare the 2 pictures of inside look
Easily found out RB 1080 has 4 more capaciors
Why 1095 doen't have ?

bye :T

The 1095s caps are probably hiding under the big green PSB.

[lvhung]

Great I ll buy the 1095 :T

[StefanColson]

Levinson stuff has the most impressive looking insides I've ever seen. Some of the amps have caps in them the size of coke bottles...

[Kevin97225]

The Rotel RB-1090 is very impressive inside too, 8 coke pop can size capacitors, as well as two very large transformers. A real joy to see the quality built inside these!

[riwi]

Slightly older but still Rotel RSP1066 insides :

[KathyMason]

I've been curious what a Rotel RC-1070 pre-amp looks like on the inside, but I've yet to see one, even a search on the internet, no pictures of the inside.

[lvhung]

1068 inside not impressive as 1098

[Kevin97225]

Here's what it looks like inside a RC-1090. Sorry, don't have a pic of the RC-1070 but I'm almost certain someone on here does have one and can post it for you! :T

[maddog]

Do you void the warranty when you pop the top off a Rotel?

[Wolfenstein 2k2]

Do you void the warranty when you pop the top off a Rotel?

Provided that the screws are sealed (two screws at the bottom of my 1075 are sealed with some greenish plasticine), you do void your warranty as there is no possibility to open the device without damaging the sealing.

Concerning the 1098, there was no such sealing and Rotel assured me that the warranty will be untouched when I open the top cover in order to modify the digital board (see pictures above).

[Kevin97225]

I have 8 different Rotel equipment and none have the greenish plasticine on the screws on the outside, but does have it in the inside on some of the circuit boards and transformers. Talking with tech support about a question I had, he had me take a look on the inside to read a number in order for him to answer my question correctly, no harm was done and it didn't void warranty, just don't touch anything inside when you take a peak.

[Kevin97225]

If you do have the greenish plasticine on the outside screws, then do not open it unless you get the ok from Rotel to make sure you don't void your warranty.

[lvhung]

On website Rotel they say 1095 has 2 toroidal transfomers
Why do I see one ?

[mjb]

Because they are mounted one above the other

[Wolfenstein 2k2]

Because they are mounted one above the other

Well, as far as I know that is only true for the RMB-1095.


However, as for the RB-1090 the two transformers are mounted one after another. Unfortunately, the capacitors cover them.

[Kevin97225]

That picture of the Rotel RB-1090 is the original design, the larger one. The revised version is slightly smaller height wise. The original speaker terminals weren't all that nice but the revised version included very nice professional 5-way speaker terminals. The revised version (new RB-1090 today) also mount the transformers opposite from each other, one in front, and one in back. It is no longer mounted side by side. The newer revised version made some nice changes here and there that I like better than the original. Both RB-1090's that own are the new revised version.

The original RB-1080 only included one set of speaker terminals but now the new revised version includes two for bi-wire or second set of speakers. The RB-1090 always had the second set.