rotel v. parasound separates

[tmwalsh]

I posted this on the parasound site but no takers so far...any Rotel-ians care to weigh in?
Looking to upgrade from avr to separates. For various reasons I've narrowed it down to: NewClassic 5125/7100 combo or Rotel 1075/1098. Potential to bump amps up to 5250 or 1095 but for argument sakes, lets keep it to the above two.
What I'd like to hear about is personal experience with the combos. I realize the NewClassic is relatively new but I've seen plenty of posts by others so someone must have bought. I know there are some obvious differences is pre-pros (rotel has balanced ins, tft screen) but beyond that, I'm not a tekkie to know where any meaningful differences lie.
My needs are to run a modest 5.1 setup now, with capability to send audio to second zone. The 7100 seems to have the latest and greatest software; have newer rotel units been upgraded? I like that both can do component out to monitor. Handling future 7.1 is desired.
TV is mits 55 rptv, speakers are von schweiker vr2 up front, lcr 15 center, and vr1 rears; Mirage Substrata 1000 for sub. The potential to create a dedicated space in the basement is there so I'd like to future-proof to the extent possible. Have not run this on Rotel thread yet, thought I'd start here first.
Is this decision "lexus vs. infinity" or are there inherent differences between the two? Thanks for your input.

[Tamas]

You need to listen for yourself and decide which sounds better to you. At this stage of components it is like Lexus and Infinity - both are luxury vehicles - which do you prefer.

Both systems would sound very nice. Good luck and Enjoy the journey.

Regards, Tom

[Clepto]

If you plan on using for HT, you might want to hold off on either until new audio codecs are supported, as well as full HDMI 1.3 video/audio support.

[tmwalsh]

Thanks Clepto. Do you mean HD audio versions (DTS-HD, etc)? I was talking with someone else today about that very thing. Seems like you either stand on the sidelines and watch the whole thing go by, or you jump in and then find out the next day something new and wonderful is hitting the shelf.
It never ends......
I'm more inclined jump in and enjoy it while I can.

[Clepto]

Well, the trend for HD DVD / BD is to have the decoding done on the PLAYER. A paradigm shift in thinking, but it makes more sense in a way...

HDMI 1.1 can accept decoded PCM channels, so I'd aim for something with HDMI 1.1 as a minimum, and with all the potential chances coming down the pipe, it might be worth the wait for 1.3. Player can decode, send the PCM multichannel audio to the pre/pro.

So if you have a HDMI 1.1 audio connection, then if your pre/pro can't decode DTS-HD or whatever, you can still get a player to do the decoding, and it'll be cheaper to replace a player than a pre/pro. BM might not be possible this route though, and might have to be controlled through the player.

Dolby TrueHD, at least on HD DVD or BD, will be 7.1 discrete lossless, though Dolby supports more channels, the optical format specs have limited the number of channels. While it might support 13 channels, I can't imagien using that many speakers in my setup (;