2 1070's or 1075?

[probeski]

Hi, I am interested in getting Polk Lsi9 for fronts, Lsi7 for rears and Lsi centre for a 5.1 system. I will also be using a Denon 3806 (when available) as the receiver. I want to add Rotel amps but don't know which amps will be best for me. Rotel are are available in Austrlalia at relatively good prices as opposed to many others; there are not an overwhelming amount of amps available in Australia (240V) - especially in the 3 channel variety. I will be listening to both HT and stereo music with the speakers set as small and crossed over with a HSU VTF-3 MK2 sub. The Polk's are 4 ohm speakers and rated to 200W p/ch (the 1070 will apparently output 200W p/ch at 4 ohm...perfect).
I was thinking of getting two RB-1070's and using one amp for the Front left and right and one amp for the centre (can try biamp also) and use the 3806 for the surrounds. This setup should be better than a multi-channel amp for stereo.
Otherwise I could get a 1075 and run all 5 channels with the Rotel, except my stereo listening will probably not sound as good and having all 5 channels driven in my large living room, I might be slightly underpowered; at 88db the Polk's are not very efficient neither.
Does anyone like my idea for the two 1070s? The price difference between the options mentioned are negligible to me, any thoughts are welcome, thanks :unsure:.

[aud19]

Neither, I'd get one 1080 (or one of the new 2-ch digitals) to run the mains, let the 3806 run the rest and upgrade to the 1075 (or 1077 etc) later Any reason you're not looking at the 1056...?

[PewterTA]

I agree get the 1080 or go for the 1095 if you are going rotel... the Polk's will thank you for the extra power.

Or you could look at the 1077 and be completely done with having to worry about an amp driving those speakers, plus room for two more surrounds....

[probeski]

My room is not exactly an ideal Home Theatre room and the 3806 will feature Audyssey MultEQxt Room EQ and Setup. If the 1070 truly outputs 200W into 4 ohm then why would I need any more power (the Lsi's are rated to 200W)? One thing I can think of is that my living room is quite large at 9000 cubic feet, but then again my listening position will be in close proximity to the speakers. In '1070 or 1080... with a twist!' it says that the 1070 should be a good match for the Lsi's if they are run as small (which I am happy to do with my HSU), do you agree? I thought I'll get better stereo quality with the 1070 compared to the 1075 or the 1095. The consensus seems to be that the 3806 will be fine for the surrounds and I don't see too much of an issue/problem with this. I'm mostly concerned with stereo quality, timbre matching the fronts and centre and having ample power, can you explain in more detail why two 1070's would not be a good choice?
The 1080 will leave my centre unmatched and I'm not sure I want that, although I could get a 1080 for the mains (having plenty of power for music) and have a 1070 biamped for the centre... do you think the 1080 and 1070 will be timbre matched for HT (this is a big concern for me)?
The new 1077 might be a good choice if it turns out not too expensive that is.

[mariachi]

Probeski,

I previously had the 1070 for my fronts and the 1075 for the rest of the speakers. While some my disagree to what I'm about to say, I could tell there was a sonic mismatch between the sound of my fronts to the center channel. Perhaps my ears are more sensitive than others. The 1070 sounded much better thant the 1075. So, going by what you stated, I would go with the two 1070's as you were thinking. Going with a sole 1080 would most likely make your fronts sound great, but having the 3806 run everything else would make the center channel sound different than the fronts. IMHO...

-Vic

[aud19]

Mariachi... my guess would be that the sonic difference likely had more to do with your speaker and/or it's position than the amps

Probeski, you can never have too much power I still vote for one 1080 or 1077 :yesnod: You were going to have some sort of sonic mismatch between the centre/mains using the the 3806 to power the centre regardless if you go with the 1080 or 1070. The sonic difference between the 1070/1080 will be minimal to none other than the 1080 having more headroom, tighter bass etc with the 1080

[mariachi]

[QUOTE=aud19]Mariachi... my guess would be that the sonic difference likely had more to do with your speaker and/or it's position than the amps

QUOTE]


Aud19,

No. I ran all 5 channels with the 1075 and the soundfield did not change. It was cohesive. I ran the front two with the 1070 and the 1075 powering the rest and I could notice a sonic mismatch. Of course, the fronts sounded way better than the rest with the 1070. Yes, all the speaker levels were calibrated with a SPL when I did the switch. This eventually led me to part with the rotels, as I couldn't get same 1070 sound for all 5 channels. So now I have a Halo running all 5 channels and I get a cohesive soundfield from all channels as well as a sonic improvement that the 1075 could not provide me.

-Vic

[probeski]

I never intended to power the centre with the Denon, just the surrounds. I am considering a 1080 and a 1070 though and wonder how well these will match. Will they will show a mismatch like Mariachi noticed with the 1075 and 1070 for the centre or will they in fact blend nicely like you reckon they will Aud19, I suppose I'll need to do some auditioning, but I wouldn't mind any more opinions about this (i wish Rotel made a true 3 channel).
Otherwise I'll go for two 1070's (I'm still not even too sure I'll even lack power with this setup anyway) or a 1077 ($??) or 1095 ($$$). I am curious whether I'll sacrifice some stereo quality with the the 1095 like with the 1075 as compared to the stereo amp offerings.

[Kevin D]

(i wish Rotel made a true 3 channel).

Be on the look out for a used RB-993.. It's a three channel version of the 991, which is basically a 1080 in a different case. 200w x 3..

Kevin D.

[probeski]

I read some articles and and found out that even though the 1070 for example will put out 200W at 4 ohm, the current will be drained twice as much compared to 8 ohm; I also learnt that it's the output current that actually moves the speaker cones and so it's the limiting factor in most amps. It therefore seems that it's not fair to think as 200W at 4 ohm to be a substantial amount (like you would with 8 ohm); so then is it true that there won't be that much of an increase in performance from the 1070 into 4 ohm's compared to 8?

Aby reason why the 1077 is being recommended when it has a questionable 100W p/ch, does the fact that it's digital mean it wil deliver more power since it's not losing it to heat?