rotel amps to suit rf5s

[Noddy347]

Hi everyone great forum you have here, it will keep me busy for a while reading. Anyway first post and i want something.lol

I have a 1056 receiver 75w x 5 and its powering klipsch rf5 and matching centre and rears. I want to buy a preamp and i have been looking at either the rb 1070 and 1080.

Will either of these amps have fatiguing highs at highish sound levels with these speakers?

Also would the 1070 130 wrms be a reasonable match with these speakers or should i really be looking at the 1080 200 wrms?

One more thing. Could i use a different brand preamp in my setup or would that be perceptible when watching dvds?

thanks,

Matt.

[htsteve]

Matt,

First of all, nice setup. Secondly, upgraditis is a wonderful thing. :T

In your post, you mention wanting to buy a pre-amp, then go on an list a couple of stereo amps and talk about watts. I'm going to assume you are asking for amp advice first.

The RF5's are nice towers. While I like Rotel receivers, I'm not sure the 75 quality watts per channel will really bring out the best in them. The cone drivers are pretty big.

I think the two amps you mentioned will give the RF5's the current they would appreciate. I'm not an expert on Klipsch, but generally as you add power, the overall sound is smoother, more detailed and you can play louder with less distortion. I think this would reduce the fatigue factor you mentioned.

You also mentioned watching DVD's. What is your main goal, 2 channel or HT? Or is it a mixture of both?

The Rotel 1075 amp has 120 x 5 channels. It would help out all 5 speakers including the mains. If you want to really get a beast, find a good used 1095 (200 * 5).

As for a different pre-amp in your set-up, it all depends on what the other pre-amp might be and how current it is. If it is on the same general level as the Rotel reciever, then I'm not sure you would get a major jump. I'm generally not a fan of mixing the amp and pre-amp. They could each have their 'sound' and it might not integrate well. Units from the same vendor work well together.

Also, the more current pre-amps (and receivers also) can decode the HD audio formats now. These are the audio tracks on Blu-ray's. If you are thinking of going BR, this should definitely be in your thinking. The uncompressed audio on BR is awesome. Rotel has just released some units (2 receivers and a pre-amp) that do this processing (along with HDMI processing, etc.). They are on Rotel's website.



Hope this helps.

[Noddy347]

Matt,

First of all, nice setup. Secondly, upgraditis is a wonderful thing. :T

In your post, you mention wanting to buy a pre-amp, then go on an list a couple of stereo amps and talk about watts. I'm going to assume you are asking for amp advice first.

The RF5's are nice towers. While I like Rotel receivers, I'm not sure the 75 quality watts per channel will really bring out the best in them. The cone drivers are pretty big.

I think the two amps you mentioned will give the RF5's the current they would appreciate. I'm not an expert on Klipsch, but generally as you add power, the overall sound is smoother, more detailed and you can play louder with less distortion. I think this would reduce the fatigue factor you mentioned.

You also mentioned watching DVD's. What is your main goal, 2 channel or HT? Or is it a mixture of both?

The Rotel 1075 amp has 120 x 5 channels. It would help out all 5 speakers including the mains. If you want to really get a beast, find a good used 1095 (200 * 5).

As for a different pre-amp in your set-up, it all depends on what the other pre-amp might be and how current it is. If it is on the same general level as the Rotel reciever, then I'm not sure you would get a major jump. I'm generally not a fan of mixing the amp and pre-amp. They could each have their 'sound' and it might not integrate well. Units from the same vendor work well together.

Also, the more current pre-amps (and receivers also) can decode the HD audio formats now. These are the audio tracks on Blu-ray's. If you are thinking of going BR, this should definitely be in your thinking. The uncompressed audio on BR is awesome. Rotel has just released some units (2 receivers and a pre-amp) that do this processing (along with HDMI processing, etc.). They are on Rotel's website.



Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply. I have recently installed two ceiling speakers in my HT so i can potentially run 7.1 now.

The idea of buying a pre-amp was to improve my 2ch listening by adding some extra power to the front mains.

I tend to agree with you that the 75 watts per channel doesn't do the rf5's justice.

You have now got me thinking about going for a high powered 5 ch amp now as it would improve both the 2ch and 5ch expereince.

I think i'll stick with the Rotel brand, like you mentioned it may sound unbalanced using another brand amp.

[Noddy347]

Which amp would everyone go for with the RF5's?

I have the matching centre and rear RF speakers as well.


The choice is the rmb 1075 or rmb 1095...

[soundhound]

If I were spending your money, it would be the 1095.
If I were spending my own it would be the RB-1080 which from experience handles the RF 7's (similar to the RF 5's) very well.
Then I would grab the RMB-1075 for center and surround duty.
The RB-1080 had noticable headroom improvements over the RB-1070 I used (for 2 channel).
I still own my RMB-1075, and won't part with due to the bang for the buck.
It sees daily use for the video side of things (all tv viewing,movies, ps3...), driving my RF-7's, RC-7 center, and RB-75 surrounds and does so quite well (with reserve oomph in the bank).

Good luck, and have fun......

[Noddy347]

If I were spending your money, it would be the 1095.
If I were spending my own it would be the RB-1080 which from experience handles the RF 7's (similar to the RF 5's) very well.
Then I would grab the RMB-1075 for center and surround duty.
The RB-1080 had noticable headroom improvements over the RB-1070 I used (for 2 channel).
I still own my RMB-1075, and won't part with due to the bang for the buck.
It sees daily use for the video side of things (all tv viewing,movies, ps3...), driving my RF-7's, RC-7 center, and RB-75 surrounds and does so quite well (with reserve oomph in the bank).

Good luck, and have fun......

Can you tell me why you would choose this option over just running the 1095?

[soundhound]

For "HT" (all video-surround formats ) the 1075 is plenty, and can be had reasonably cheap, leaving me extra money for other goodies. It would do fine on your 5's. Mine does fine on the 7's which are higher sensitivity than the 5's, but, can be more demanding in the "busy" passages of video tracks or TV.

The 1080 would give 7.1 capability vs 5.1, and give me nice 2 channel detail to boot.
I prefer not to have 3 extra channels tagging along for the ride when listening to music.
2 channel is an obsession all its own, and I have alot higher expectations on that side of it.

It all comes back to what you are after, how loud you listen, the types of music you listen to, room size..........

Again, enjoy the ride..

[Ted]

Matt,

While I have very minimal experience with the set up you are talking about, I think it is a good one.

While I was waiting for my B&W's to come in, I had my brand new Rotel 1072, 1070, and 1080 just sitting around so I hooked it all up for the fun of it and was taken back by how much better my RF5's sounded! Whether there is a break-in for equipment or not, they were truly much better sounding than when driven by my Yamaha receiver (about $1500 new, so not a real cheap one).

Of course, you already have a Rotel receiver, so it may not be as drastic of upgrade for you, but I though the 1080/RF5 combo was a good one.

Good Luck!

[Noddy347]

Well i hope you guys are right lol I went and ordered the two amps instead of the 1095. I do like two channel music as well but i want my movie watching experience to be much improved to. Fingers crossed i can get both.
My room size is 23 feet by 15 feet and 8 feet high.

I noticed the damping factor on the 1075 is 180 compared to the 1095's 400.

Should have them installed by the end of the week.

[soundhound]

I noticed the damping factor on the 1075 is 180 compared to the 1095's 400.

Don't get to caught up in the #'s game, they all have merrit but............

Let us know when everything is in and set up, I am curious what you think.

[Noddy347]

Ok guys the amps have been in a week or so and the quick answer is i'm happy with the improvement. The 1080 for the mains was definately the way to go, it and the 1075 do an excellent job of the mutichannel sound to.

I do have a couple of questions about two channel improvement which i'll go into at a later date.

Thanks for your advice gents, much appreciated. I'll throw a couple of pics up soon to.