1068 Availability

[gostan]

My Rotel dealer talked with his Rotel representative about the eta of the rsp-1068. While his rep advised him that a mid February delivery was expected, he also indicated that Rotel typically receives a shipping notice from overseas that the goods are in transit. Unfortunately, no such shipping notice has been received so a late February delivery may be in the offing.

I am thinking that based upon the known specs that the 1068 looks like a heck of a bargain compared to a 1098, especially if it has the identical dacs. The only real question is how patient I can be in waiting to hear more about the 1068.

[Jason Brown]

My dealer ordered one for me and says it's a week away. I'm not sure how accurate that is because it was ordered on January 14th, at which time I was told it was ten days away.

I failed the patience test though because I had timed the sale of my previous gear with the expected 24th of Jan. delivery date of my new 1068. I only made it about 2 weeks without a stereo before I cracked and wrote a check for the difference between the 1068 and 1098, which I brought home Saturday.

[gostan]

Jason:

I, too, may not be able to wait for the 1068, but I am going to spend a lot of time at friends' homes listening to music and pray that I can stay away from spending the extra dinero' on a 1098.

How do you like your 1098 and what did you use prior to the 1098?

Interestingly, the new 2004 Rotel catalog (which my dealer gave me today) states that the 1068 has "advanced microprocessors from Crystal Semiconductor handle Dolby Digital (complete with dynamic range adjustments". I wonder if the 1098 and 1068 use the same dacs? Another interesting point is that the 1056 and 1068 specs show Dolby Prologic IIx and the 1067 does not.

[Jason Brown]

I love my 1098! I'm still in awe over its performance, which up to this point has been with 2-channel music. The TFT screen is pretty much wasted in my situation, but I still think it's cool. The smart money definitely would have been on the 1068 for me, though. I was told by my dealer and have read elsewhere on the net that the DACs will be the same in the 1068.

Only a year ago I was running a Denon AVR-3803 receiver. It was nice, but when I added a Parasound 205W 2-channel amp to it, I finally realized it was time to do it right. I also had JBL Studio speakers, 4 Pioneer CD megachangers and a Pioneer DV-45A universal player, all of which have been upgraded to the absolute limit of my financial abilities.

I feel like I've achieved audio nirvana for now...at least as long as I can stay away from even better equipment.