Rotel RB-1090 vs RB-1080

[BWLover]

i have a 1080 and was thinking of getting a 1090 used. i like the look of having the amp in between the speakers and the 1080 is small. what are the pros and cons of the 2 amps. general info and whatnot. thanks

[Aussie Geoff]

If you like the RB-1080 you'll love the RB-1090. I've had both and the RB-1090 is tonally like the RB-1080 but with more control, especially over more demanding loads. Really the RB-1090 second hand is a bargain and still highly sort after. There are few speakers it can't drive well.

[PewterTA]

I agree, if you like the 1080, the 1090 is the icing on the cake. It definitely has a quickness and accuracy feel to it. It's almost like with the 1080 the speakers seem to control the amp, but with the 1090 you know the amp has full control over the speakers.

I made the jump to it and would never consider going back!

[BWLover]

Thanks. My biggest problem with the 1080 is this, I listen to a very wide genre of music and sometimes I like to escape into psy trance. Now from what my rep told me the artists I'm listening to have very dynamic and heavy bass. I play it it loud and after about 90 mins the amp shuts down. It's hot as shit. Itonly does this when I listen to oforia and atomic pulse. He said get a cooling fan, I say get a 1090 and use the 1080 for rears or biamp my centre.

[wkhanna]

I agree 100%.
It's called 'head room', & the 1090 has a ton.

I have been using Dan's (PewterTA's) for a few months while he gets its new 'crib' in order.

This is the only amp I have put in my system that made a truly noticeable and significant improvement in the overall sound quality.

When Dan takes his amp home :cry: , I will be replacing it with my own 1090 ASAP.

[PewterTA]

Yeah, just make sure to get it all in black because Bill thinks it sounds better that way. :lol:

[Kreyfish]

Yeah, just make sure to get it all in black because Bill thinks it sounds better that way. :lol:

Not true! Every audiophile worth his salt knows that blue LEDs sound better than red ones... :W

But seriously, I have both of these amps in my system along with a 1095 and I love them all. I started with the 1080 powering my front towers and the 1095 doing duties on the centre and four surrounds and was quite content for some time.

However, I kept reading about the 1090 (big mistake) and spent much time pondering how it would sound powering the fronts for both HT and stereo, so when I heard they were to be discontinued, I pulled the trigger.

When I first hooked it up, I didn't notice much difference at moderate volume levels but was still more than happy with the way it matched the 1095 in the rack. My front towers are quite efficient at 93 dB/w, so I was only using a small percentage of available power.

It was after a few weeks that I had the chance to give it some berries on a dynamic music piece that the vast headroom came into it's own. Now I could clearly hear tighter and deeper bass, better articulation and a more gradual decay. Simply put, it just sounded better.

Any concerns I had about the mismatched power levels for surround work were put to rest as adjusting speaker levels on the RSP1098 soon had them matched perfectly.

I agree that the 1080 runs hot, but the 1090 barely raises a sweat. I have six 125mm (5") fans plumbed into the amp cabinet with 2 fans on each amp (one fan aimed at each output transistor heatsink) so even the 1080 never goes into thermal protection, but even without them the 1090 stayed cool.

Using the 1090 has has allowed me to biamp the centre with the 1080, which now gives me a powerful, seemless front stage.

My advice would be to grab a 1090 when you can. Over here, they are getting increasingly hard to find as people are hanging onto them.

Pull the trigger! :T

[bigburner]

Thanks. My biggest problem with the 1080 is this, I listen to a very wide genre of music and sometimes I like to escape into psy trance. Now from what my rep told me the artists I'm listening to have very dynamic and heavy bass. I play it it loud and after about 90 mins the amp shuts down. It's hot as shit. Itonly does this when I listen to oforia and atomic pulse. He said get a cooling fan, I say get a 1090 and use the 1080 for rears or biamp my centre.

Hi BWLover,

You might like to consider a subwoofer to give your 1080 more headroom and provide the heavy bass that you enjoy.

Nigel.

[BWLover]

I do plan on getting a couple subs but I still want to run the fronts full frequency. Anybody got any info on ASW610XP?