Hi all
A long time ago I bought a RSP970 pre-amp and RB985 5x100 power-amp, which I have used for a while and been pretty happy with.
However the pre-amp didn't do do anything digital or proper 5.1 surround, so I decided to upgrade it. I found on ebay someone who was selling a package of the the RSP1066 and RMB1066 bundled together that was quite cheap. I asked and they said they would not break the bundle and only sell the pre-amp, but I figured upgrading my power-amp too would be good, so I got them both and planned to then sell the old pair.
However, in comparing the two systems side by side the new one (1066) doesn't seem to sound as good as the old one (985) for listening to music. I think that it is the power amp as I tried swapping the connections and the new pre sounded good with the old power-amp.
Is this possible/likely? At first I assumed that the new set would sound better because it's... well... "new". However, this did not seem the case.
Looking at some comments on this forum last night I started to think that maybe the fact that the 985 is 100wpc and the 1066 is 60wpc could be the cause. I am running speakers that I wouldn't think would need much power, and at fairly modest volume. The speakers are TDL RTL2's.
Can the power difference really make that much difference on smallish speakers at lowish volumes?
I tried bridging 4 of the channels into 2 on the 1066, and I think it sounded better, but by then it was late and I was tired and so I am not sure.
By bridging the 4 channels into 2, that only leaves 2 remaining channels for surround for movies, meaning no centre. Also comments I have read in this forum suggest that bridging compromises sound quality.
My "listening profile" of music/movies is probably 50/50, but I am not too fussed about sound quality of movies and want to concentrate on getting the 2ch music sounding good.
So, the questions I have are:
1. Is newer necessarily better, or is it quite possible that the 985 is just better for 2ch music than the 1066, and does the extra wattage really make that much difference?
2. Should I:
a. Keep the RB985 and sell the 1066 and have a centre channel?
b. Bridge the 1066 and sell the 985 and put up with no centre channel and possible sound quality compromise?
c. Sell both and buy something like the RMB1075 (5x120w) ?
d. Keep one, sell the other, and save up for a great-big-F-Off-2-channel like and RB1070 or RB1080, and then use two amps, one for front left/right and the other for surrounds/centre?
e. Any other ideas?
I realize that there is no right or wrong answer, particularly for Q2, but I wanted to get peoples opinions and ideas about what they might do in this situation.
Thanks
THO
A long time ago I bought a RSP970 pre-amp and RB985 5x100 power-amp, which I have used for a while and been pretty happy with.
However the pre-amp didn't do do anything digital or proper 5.1 surround, so I decided to upgrade it. I found on ebay someone who was selling a package of the the RSP1066 and RMB1066 bundled together that was quite cheap. I asked and they said they would not break the bundle and only sell the pre-amp, but I figured upgrading my power-amp too would be good, so I got them both and planned to then sell the old pair.
However, in comparing the two systems side by side the new one (1066) doesn't seem to sound as good as the old one (985) for listening to music. I think that it is the power amp as I tried swapping the connections and the new pre sounded good with the old power-amp.
Is this possible/likely? At first I assumed that the new set would sound better because it's... well... "new". However, this did not seem the case.
Looking at some comments on this forum last night I started to think that maybe the fact that the 985 is 100wpc and the 1066 is 60wpc could be the cause. I am running speakers that I wouldn't think would need much power, and at fairly modest volume. The speakers are TDL RTL2's.
Can the power difference really make that much difference on smallish speakers at lowish volumes?
I tried bridging 4 of the channels into 2 on the 1066, and I think it sounded better, but by then it was late and I was tired and so I am not sure.
By bridging the 4 channels into 2, that only leaves 2 remaining channels for surround for movies, meaning no centre. Also comments I have read in this forum suggest that bridging compromises sound quality.
My "listening profile" of music/movies is probably 50/50, but I am not too fussed about sound quality of movies and want to concentrate on getting the 2ch music sounding good.
So, the questions I have are:
1. Is newer necessarily better, or is it quite possible that the 985 is just better for 2ch music than the 1066, and does the extra wattage really make that much difference?
2. Should I:
a. Keep the RB985 and sell the 1066 and have a centre channel?
b. Bridge the 1066 and sell the 985 and put up with no centre channel and possible sound quality compromise?
c. Sell both and buy something like the RMB1075 (5x120w) ?
d. Keep one, sell the other, and save up for a great-big-F-Off-2-channel like and RB1070 or RB1080, and then use two amps, one for front left/right and the other for surrounds/centre?
e. Any other ideas?
I realize that there is no right or wrong answer, particularly for Q2, but I wanted to get peoples opinions and ideas about what they might do in this situation.
Thanks
THO
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