Trying to decide... help!

[Aven]

Hello Everyone, and Happy New Year!

I'm slowly (but surely) building my music/theater (50/50) system up... I've got the speakers I want (B&W cdm 7nt, cdm 1nt, asw 300). This years goal will be to start building up the componet side...

To start I would like a solid pre and a solid amp. I only want a 5.1 system with good 2 channel capabilities. I'm thinking a rsp1066 or 68 with a RMB1075 or RB985.

I know I want a rsp1066 or 68 for the pro logic 2. The advantages seem huge compared to pro 1 on older models.

That said the questions I have are with the amps... I know the 1075 has 20 more watts per channel... Besides that what are it's advantages over the 985? Is the power "cleaner"? I'm buying used so the 985 is much more attractive from a price point side...and frankly I like the "no grill" look of it more... Eventually this amp will only handle my surrounds as I will get a 2 channel amp for the fronts so the lower rating doesn't concern me.... Has anyone seen a set up like this (1066 with a 985)??? How did it look?

Thanks for your advice!

Aven

[lmib]

Hi Aven,

I haven't seen a setup like yours, but I had a RB 03 for my back surround in my setup of RSX 1055, RDV 1050 and a RCD 1072. There are also no 'grills' in my system but the RB 03 has a plain front, so the endings also do not stand out of the front the same as the RB985 looks like.
I had it in a Rack at the bottom and over it the RDV 1050, then in the middle the RSX 1055 and over it the RCD 1072. At the top there was a Yamaha DVD S 2300 which I used very seldom, cause the RCD 1072 sounds so much better.

The plain front of the RB 03 looked not bad in this rack, cause I made it especially for this components, but the components of the 10 series looked so much better. I would have changed the RB 03 for a RB 1050 but I stopped my plans, when I read about the RMB 1077.

Anyway, since my son is really active and tries to climb up my rack I had to remove all and have only the DVD, the 1055 and the CD on the top of a Highboard and there is no place for the RB 03 anymore.

I tried to put the RB 03 ontop of the CD or DVD Player, but this looked really ugly. The or DVD ontop of the RB 03 looked also not good, so I decided to stay with my 5.0 setup still my son is older. Addtionaly my back surround Speaker wasn't also in save conditions unreachable for my son, so I have to wait a bit till I can go for 6.0 again.
Probably I will think about a RMB 1077 again and biamp my Center also.

From the sound side I would say there should be an improvement between the RB985 and the RMB 1075.
There are also problems known, when your fuses in your house aren't strong enoungh for the RB 985, you should change them for stronger ones. You should search for this in the forum before you make your decision.

You should go for the RMB 1075.

The Pre should be similar like the amps but, you have to know if you need PL2X or if PL2 is okay for you. For me PL2 is enough, cause I have no space and needs for 2 back surrouds I probably would go for a sencond center but this is also possible with the RSP 1066.

Keep us informed about your decision.

Ciaó lmib

[soundhound]

Aven, the 1075 and RSP-1068 are both great choices. For the money the 1075 is truely hard to beat. I have moved deeper into 2 channel and won't part with my 1075 just because. For the investment it could set in a closet for a couple of years and......
The 1068 again at its price point is a dandy. Its a straight forward, bang for the buck processor that does a great job. 2 channel certainly isn't bad with it either.