RB-1080 problems

[JonJeffman]

Hi there,
I'm looking for some info from anyone who's been having issues with the RB-1080 (seems like a number of posts about them overheating or blowing fuses in the left channel).

I just won one off Ebay (was actually looking for a 990 or 991 just because of these problems, but got a good price) and the seller said that if I have any problems with it in the first week he'll give me a full refund. It was from a store that went bankrupt but he didn't know if it was a demo or an open box return or what, but that it was in working order.

So, what seems to trigger these problems, or what sort of 'torture tests' would you recommend I try in the 1st week to make sure it's not a dud? I have a RC-970BX preamp, just a CD player for source, and a few speakers at my disposal. I have some old AR-94R floorstanders, but one of them is missing one of the bass drivers, so the R/L speakers wouldn't have the same impedance, some Pro-Linear PL5.6T floorstanders (8 ohm), some Pro-Linear PL5.4B bookshelf (8 ohm), or I could take it over to my brother's place and try some others if needed.

Is it just a combo of loudness and time that sets these off? Any particular type of music (i.e. should I track down something bass-heavy)? Any other tests I should try other than just playing them (i.e. send music to it but don't actually hook up any speakers, etc...)?

Thanks for the advice

[BassThatHz]

Play it loud for at least 20mins or until it gets hot.
Cycle it on and off multiple times in a row.

Use these songs:
Bassotronics - Cruzin Through The Nights
DJ BillyE - Beats 4 My Van
Bass Mekanik - Star trip

That's about all you should need.

[BWLover]

play anything electronic or hard heavy rock like Marylin Manson. and ya 20 mins should do it. but it could take up to an hour (at least in my experience)

[Aussie Geoff]

The blowing fuses issue was fixed in the last couple of years production and mostly applied to 220 and 240V models... If you are unlucky enough to have one with the issue that is in your countries warantree period - Rotel make the minor mod to fix it for free...

Oveheating tends to be a bias issue and again is very rare and easily fixed at the Rotel Service cente by adjusting down the class A/B bias (takes 5 minutes)...

Again generally not a problem in the last few years production...

[BWLover]

you can call rotel with the serial number to find out if the amp had any servicing and also to find out when it was made

[JonJeffman]

Thanks for all the advice - I'll test it out when it arrives & see if it's been serviced. I'm starting to get excited Now I just need to save up for some good speakers.

[brodricj]

Now I just need to save up for some good speakers.

Good news is you don't have to save up much. Have a look at http://cgi.ebay.com/NO-RESERVE-Defin...3%3A1|294%3A50 :

The RB 1080 just loves these speakers, you'll be mighty impressed.

[JonJeffman]

Good news is you don't have to save up much. Have a look at http://cgi.ebay.com/NO-RESERVE-Defin...3%3A1|294%3A50 :

The RB 1080 just loves these speakers, you'll be mighty impressed.

Problem is they only ship to US, and I'm in Canada (I haven't actually heard of this brand before). In general I want to buy used equipment but for the speakers I'm hoping to find some locally cause the shipping becomes so expensive.

I've seen a pair of Paradigm Monitor 9 V1 or V2, that have peaked my interest but they're pretty beat up and on one of them you can see that the drivers have been removed at some point cause the paint's chipped off the screws (not sure why this was done though). I'm going to take a listen sometime this week. I know the monitor line is the cheaper line of Paradigm's but I haven't heard anything bad about Paradigm yet so it's worth a listen.

[brodricj]

..I'm in Canada...

Lucky you, look no further than someone selling these:http://www.focusaudio.com/index1.htm :
Made in Canada, you can't go wrong.
p.s. here's a lead:

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/135351-focus_audio__fs_7_signature_loudspeakers/

[DL86]

I have the latest revision of the rb-1080 and I still get blown fuse issues, although not recently. Just need to keep a couple of spare fuses handy and its the left channel that goes out. The fuses on mine have blown twice over the past 3 or 4 years, no issues first 3 years but after that it crept in, the fuse's that blow is the internal fuses for the left channel not the externally accessible fuse.

[JonJeffman]

I have the latest revision of the rb-1080 and I still get blown fuse issues, although not recently. Just need to keep a couple of spare fuses handy and its the left channel that goes out. The fuses on mine have blown twice over the past 3 or 4 years, no issues first 3 years but after that it crept in, the fuse's that blow is the internal fuses for the left channel not the externally accessible fuse.

I'm not sure of the differences between a Canadian model and an Australian model, but I contacted Rotel to see if this amp had ever been serviced and when it was made, etc... and was told that the earlier version had 6.3A fuses and the latest version has 8A 'Slo-Blo' type fuses with a time delay. Not sure if there's other differences between the versions, but maybe if you keep blowing fuses make sure you're using the 8A slo-blo ones.

I haven't actually had a chance to hook my 1080 up yet cause I've been out of town, but I removed the cover to blow out some styrofoam bits that had fallen in and noticed that the R & L fuses don't look the same. One had a zig-zag element and the other was a straight element. So I don't know if this one has been blowing fuses or not. I'll get a chance to hook it up tomorrow.

[leej]

I purchased a demo 1080, from a local dealer in Houston. They said that it had low usage, but who knows. It continued to blow the fuse on the left channel, which was the 8a, slow blow fuses. The originals were the Zig-Zag fuses, on both left and right. These were hard to find, so I wound up replacing with something, else, after the second failure. After about 4-5 times in a few weeks, I was told that they would send it to Rotel for repair. When I took it in, they had a replacment, saving shipping cost, even though it's under warranty. This thing's heavy and it saved me about 35-40 bucks. Thanks to the good-guys here, I now have a 1080 that's run many hours and driven hard without blowing a fuse. I'm pleased.

[BWLover]

very happy for you. I undertand the frustration one can have for this amp. but glad you got it sorted out. the amp is amazing. when it works. lol

[Opus007]

Glad to hear it all worked out for you. :T