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To some that may seem like a presumptious title, but after spending about an hour now with the 1077 running 2 channel, it may be closer to the truth than many can imagine. The 1077 has real b---s and one doesn't need a wheelbarrow to cart it around either! While real critical listening will have to wait awhile until I get some hours of breakin under the belt, from the very first few moments after I hit the power button, it was obvious to me that this jewel was worth the wait.
Let me step back a moment and take you step by step thru the setup process. The full sized Rotel box was sitting on the floor when I picked it up to move it to the family room. It felt uncanny...real light. My mind is accustomed to full Rotel boxes being back breakers. I opened both layers of boxes and lifted out this really odd looking device that had the footprint of a 1080 but is only 3" tall. Honestly, it looks more like a Satelite dish receiver than an amplifier. It felt really solid however, not hollow and flimsy like a cheap DVD player, which is sort of what I was expecting after my experience with my Panasonic XR25. So, for those of you who think that Rotel should be charging prices along the lines of a cheap Panny receiver, please take note...it isn't built like a cheap Panny receiver, it's built more like a Krell KAV Showcase, but it's still priced like a Rotel.....well, maybe a 21st century Rotel at least. As I placed her in position on my equipment rack, I noticed how much of the internal wiring and circuit boards can be seen through the case ventilation holes. The 1077 appears packed! How else could they get this low a profile?
Now, about the sound. It's definitly Rotel, clean, clear and musical. However, it has much more of the mid and low end weight of the Krell Showcase or a Halo A51. I swear there is low bass coming from my Klipsch RF7s that I've never heard when they were powered by the RMB 1075 or the RB1080. I cranked her up for a rendition of the "Stars and Stripes" played by the Boston Pops to a level that could be heard by just about the entire neighborhood, and, incidentally, brought complaints from my kids upstairs for drowning out their Rap, which they always play at insane (and distorted) levels. At those levels I didn't experience any "compression" of the sound as I would expect from an amp sporting only 100wpc.
Right now the soundstage seems a bit flat front to back and also a bit narrow. However, I really think that I need to give her some run in time before I pick that apart.
I'll be back!!!!
Let me step back a moment and take you step by step thru the setup process. The full sized Rotel box was sitting on the floor when I picked it up to move it to the family room. It felt uncanny...real light. My mind is accustomed to full Rotel boxes being back breakers. I opened both layers of boxes and lifted out this really odd looking device that had the footprint of a 1080 but is only 3" tall. Honestly, it looks more like a Satelite dish receiver than an amplifier. It felt really solid however, not hollow and flimsy like a cheap DVD player, which is sort of what I was expecting after my experience with my Panasonic XR25. So, for those of you who think that Rotel should be charging prices along the lines of a cheap Panny receiver, please take note...it isn't built like a cheap Panny receiver, it's built more like a Krell KAV Showcase, but it's still priced like a Rotel.....well, maybe a 21st century Rotel at least. As I placed her in position on my equipment rack, I noticed how much of the internal wiring and circuit boards can be seen through the case ventilation holes. The 1077 appears packed! How else could they get this low a profile?
Now, about the sound. It's definitly Rotel, clean, clear and musical. However, it has much more of the mid and low end weight of the Krell Showcase or a Halo A51. I swear there is low bass coming from my Klipsch RF7s that I've never heard when they were powered by the RMB 1075 or the RB1080. I cranked her up for a rendition of the "Stars and Stripes" played by the Boston Pops to a level that could be heard by just about the entire neighborhood, and, incidentally, brought complaints from my kids upstairs for drowning out their Rap, which they always play at insane (and distorted) levels. At those levels I didn't experience any "compression" of the sound as I would expect from an amp sporting only 100wpc.
Right now the soundstage seems a bit flat front to back and also a bit narrow. However, I really think that I need to give her some run in time before I pick that apart.
I'll be back!!!!
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