Rotel DVD Players-Video Only

[Ken Smith]

This is my 1st post here at Club Rotel, I hope I can get some answers. I'm tired of all the players coming out of China (low quality) and I thought I'd give Rotel a try. I went to my local dealer about 1 1/2 years ago to audition the RDV 1080 he steered me towards the Denon 3800, which I bought w/o demoing the Rotel. Big mistake. Although the 3800 has a great picture, it's had it's problems.
I'm mainly interested in the picture quality of the 3 Rotel players. What are the differences? Would i be paying more just for the DVD-A withe the 1080 & 1060? How do these players stack up against my Denon 3800? TIA for any responce.
Ken

[will1066]

Plot twist: Rotel is also made in China.

[Lex]

Will, your such a spoil sport.

Ken, the unfortunate fact of truth is, more and more of our electronics come out of China or Tiawan or the other similar countries with cheap labor costs. The fact is, Japan's cost of building stuff has went up just as the US has. Their economy and pay scale may not be that different from ours now. So, the glory days of Japan Inc for electronics are about gone. Yes, a lot of the companies are still based there, but they moved their production just as we have.

Also, welcome to the forum!

Lex




Cable Guy DVD Collection

[Kevin D]

The way I see it (though I have no experience, just going off of specs).

1080: Out of production, too expensive for performance
1060: Top dog.
1050: 1040 plus DVD-A
1040: Base player, not quite same video performance the 1060.

Again, just opinion based on no experience at all. I'll have my 1040 soon and see how the quality is. Even though the 1060 probably does has better video performance than the 1040, I chose the 1040 because it actually had a few features that would come in handy that the 1060 didn't have. Spend time with both manuals and see which one does more of what you would like. 1050 vs 1040, you're just paying more for DVD-A.

Good luck,

Kevin D.

[skipm]

Ken-

What kind of problems are you seeing with the 3800? The reason I ask is some of the earlier units had the chroma bug and were prone to skipping and locking up. If you are experiencing these issues the chroma bug can be fixed with a firmware upgrade supplied by Denon or your dealer and the skipping and lockups can be fixed by a trip back to Denon for repair. Is your unit still under warrenty? If I were you I would look into this first since it costs nothing. The reason I suggest going this route is that once fixed, the 3800 displays one the best pictures bar none, especially for film. It has a Silicon Image video DAC which is very highly regarded. I don't think Rotel has said whose video DAC they use but if it isn't a SI or Faroudja then it's not going to be as good. Also, if you do decide to get a new player and sell the 3800 you will probably get asked by those interested whether or not it locks up or has the firmware upgrade.

Nothing against Rotel, or anyone else's player for that matter. Just trying to help you make an informed decision. Good luck and let us know if you have anymore questions.

-Skip

[Ken Smith]

skipm,
My 3800 used to lockup/skip/freeze. I got the firmware fix and it still wasn't operating right so I sent it in for the laser replacement. I can't put my finger on it but the picture still isn't up to par. I know it has the superior chip and not sure what Rotel uses but I thought I'd check & see what else was out there.
It's not only that these players come out of China and we're supporting a communist country. The quality of this stuff isn't up to the prices that electronics companies are asking.
Maybe I should go back to fishing......

[skipm]

Ken-

Sounds like you've done all the right stuff as far as getting your 3800 fixed. What display are you using? The reason I ask is that according to Secret's, which is probably the defacto standard when it comes to DVD player video performance gives the 3800 an 88. The highest rateed player, the new Denon 5900, received a 91 rating. Your 3800, with deinterlacing set to Mode 1, and video set to Film, should be one of the best performing DVD players around. The only test it failed to pass was Y|C delay and that is fixable as well. Depending on the display some folks swear it's 480p performance is second to none.

The Rotel RDV-1060 has gotten some good reviews in a couple of European magazines but no one has put it on the bench yet that I have seen. See if your dealer will let you take one home to demo. That way you can do a side-by-side comparison with the 3800. I would be interested in your findings.

I don't want to turn this into a political discussion except to say most, if not all, mass market electronics are now assembled in China and SE Asia. The development and design are still usually performed in the home country. Because a component is assembled in SE Asia does this make it have lesser quality? One only has to compare Sony ES components made 5 years ago to the current ones to see it's the design, not the assembly that matters.

If you are still interested in a DVD player with good video performance and conforms to your political leanings, take a look at some of the boutigue manufacturers such as Krell, Arcam, Linn, Lexicon, Classe, and Meridian. Have your checkbook ready.

Good luck on your quest. I went on a similiar search myself for a DVD player with the best video performance (that I could afford!) last year so I know what you are going through.

-Skip

[george king]

this is an interesting topic, and one that does concern me. I am in the market for a new dvd player. I know that the audio will be great, as that is what Rotel is known for.

However, what is the video performance like (i am interested in the 1040, as I already have a SACD player). What chipset does it use. The manuals do not provide any information. Someone over at AVS forum claimed the 1060 uses the ESS chipset that is in the Denon 5900. Does anyone know if this is true? Does anyone have any way to find out.

Thanks a bunch.

[Matt Zielinski]

Hi you all First post on this forum.

I almost got Denon player for new year, but dicided to find out more about Rotel players. No one has any information on those players, They do look good in store and my dealer has highly recomended it. But for now I'm awating arrival of RDV-1050 to see if someone will bench mark it VS Denon or Pioneer.




Matt
Room 11x22x7.5
Rotel-1098/1075/1050
Sony-KF50WE610/DVP-S7700
ExpressVu Dish and HD cable Box
B&W speakers: CDM 9NT; HTM7; CDM SNT

[skipm]

Matt-

Welcome to the Club! We know that the RDV-1060 uses a ESS Vibrato MPEG/DVD-Audio decoder. Denon's new flagship DVD player, the 5900 also uses a ESS Vibrato MPEG/DVD-Audio decoder. Is it the same one? I don't know since there appears to be 4 different ESS Vibrato decoders. Plus, we don't know which deinterlacer Rotel uses. The 1060 is a very, very good DVD-Audio player and a very good DVD-Video player is the general consensus. Add in the build quality and Rotel's reputation for standing behind its products and you have one very good all around player.

Since the 1050 and 1040 will cost less some trade-offs had to be made somewhere. Where is anybodys guess We should be getting some reports here soon on the new units since a couple of the regulars have them on order.

Stay tuned!

-Skip

[Mats]

Bad news for RDV 1040 in Switzerland ...

Not imported :evil: :evil:

any news ?? for others country ???

pffff..

Amitiés
Lionel de Genève

[Ken Smith]

I've checked a few places and found out that Parasound is going to start mfg. dvd players. I received an E-mail from the President of Parasound stating that this was true. He didn't state any specs. but said it would be worth the wait. I just hope they aren't made in China. I'm trying to stay away from imports & it's not easy, but it's time to take a stand.