Heard the RB1090 and RB1091 side by side...

[Joey_V]

Today, I just got back from hearing the 1090 and 1091/1092 amps duke it out with the BW802D... side by side. I must say, I preferred the RB1090 by a good margin. I thought that the 1090 took better control of the 802D in ALL aspects, from the bass to the diamond tweeter. The 1090 had greater stage depth and better vocal control.... less sibilance with the same amount of resolution.

Both were good, but the 1091/2 was a little more on the sibilant side and its soundstage depth was lacking relative to the 1090. The 1090 is definitely the REAL deal to these ears. Better than the Krell 400xi, Musical Fidelity integrated A5, and better than any amp under $3K new, except maybe the Bryston 4BSST... though it is hard to say with complete certainty since I havent compared them side-by-side (with exception of the Krell).

However, when compared to the 1091/2... the RB1090 is easily the better amp in my book. ;x(

Hail the RB1090, truly Rotel's REFERENCE amp.

My .02.

[Joey_V]

I'm going to expound on my earlier post so as to better convey my opinion of the two Rotels.

Overall Sonic Presentation/Soundstage:
The Rotel 1090 was a little warmer while the 1091 monos felt somewhat leaner... but what drew my attention was the improved soundstage depth that the 1090 provided. The 1091 was deep and wide, but not to the same degree. The 1090 was so good at presenting the subtleties of the song that it was easier to discern where the singer was relative to the drums towards the back.
Score:
1090 - 90
1091 - 85

Vocal Presentation:
The Vocals on the 1090 was better defined to my ears - and more controlled. There wasnt as much sibilance (or artificial sibilance as I'd like to call it) as there was when the 1091 was playing through the BW 802D. The vocals came out nice and resolute. Right down the middle, floating at about a 5-6 ft height... just right there as if Dave Matthews was singing right in the room.
Score:
1090 - 95
1091 - 85

Highs:
Both were very resolute and transparent with regards to the top end. However, I felt that the 1090 had better control of the high's energy. Sibilance was down to a minimum while the 1091 monos presented a more "non-controlled" top end where sibilance ran a bit rampant - or atleast more than I would've liked. The 1091 may seem a little airier, but I think this is artificial. The 1090 was 98% of its way there but I felt that the last 2% is negligible considering the 1091 was a good 75% of the 1090 in terms of upper end control/sibilance control.
1090 - 90
1091 - 88

Midrange:
The midrange was almost the same, both amps pumped out with great dynamics. Both easily tackled transient loads and it was hard to discern which had better midrange with these ears. Both amps were able to present acoustic guitar in its rawest form, sharp plucks with a sense of clarity as each string was strum. It was a great experience.
1090 - 90
1091 - 90

Bass:
Astounding bass from both amps. It was hard for me to pick which did the bass better, although both had me checking the BW sub to make sure it was off. There was tremendous bass with a ton of delicacy. Very well done on the part of both amps.
1090 - 95
1091 - 95

Relative Rating:
RB1090 - 92 (relative average)
RB1091 - 88.6

I just put the scores up to show a more tangible difference between the two amps. It's not meant to scale up to anything else I've heard in comparison... I just picked arbitrary numbers to quantitatively represent what I heard.

Final Comments:
If nothing at all, this review should point to you that through my ears, the 1090 was definitely playing with greater synergy coupled with the BW802D than did the RB1091 monoblocks.

All in all, I'm getting the RB1090 for my next Rotel purchase. :T

[DrJRapp]

Was the listening session at a dealer? How long had the 1091 and 1092been set up and running? The reason I ask that is that when I tested the 1077 it was very silibant for about 200 hrs and then that edge wore off almost magically. You may want to go back and relisten after those amps break in a bit.

[Joey_V]

Ah.. hello fellow Summit owner!

They had the newer Rotels for a month in the elite audio demo room... so I think it should be at the point after break in.

[MoonSpin]

Nice review, put into words! I compared the RB-1092 and the RB-1090 at home around mid March and your review comes very close to how I felt with those two amps. You've done a much better job at describing things than I could into words as it got comfusing for me to put into words. Thanks for sharing. I feel very lucky to have my RB-1090 as I enjoy it very much, it's a great Rotel amp. :T ;x(

[ShadowZA]

Great review, Joey_V :T

[Joey_V]

Great review, Joey_V :T

Thanks shadow!

[RebelMan]

Nice review Joey. It would seem that the 1091's may fair better than what I found to be true with the 1092 with respect to bass output. Regardless, I concur that the RB-1090 is heads above, IMO.

[MoonSpin]

The Rotel RB-1092 still sounded good to me, I just like the RB-1090 better and I already have the RB-1090. The RB-1092 by far didn't sound bad, just a little different in sound than the RB-1090 that I'm so used to enjoying now. So I'm just wanting to make it clear to people that it sounds good, go and have a listen. Rotel does well with their products and this difference can just boil down to choice of sound between the Class D amp and A/B amps that one prefer over the other. :W

[Joey_V]

The Rotel RB-1092 still sounded good to me, I just like the RB-1090 better and I already have the RB-1090. The RB-1092 by far didn't sound bad, just a little different in sound than the RB-1090 that I'm so used to enjoying now. So I'm just wanting to make it clear to people that it sounds good, go and have a listen. Rotel does well with their products and this difference can just boil down to choice of sound between the Class D amp and A/B amps that one prefer over the other. :W

Definitely agree... the 1091/2 is not a bad amp by any stretch of the imagination. Like you, I just preferred the 1090.

[miner]

I will say this again, the selling point on the RB1092 to me was size/weight. IF I could have put a 1090 on my shelf I may have ended up with the analog amp. When I auditioned the 1092 I just knew this amp would fit my bill. Plus my N804 love the power. A 'nw' speaker compared to when it was driven by teh RB-1070.