New Rotel owner, need opinions.

[dozol]

Hello everybody,

I am fairly new to Rotel madness. I just wanted to introduce myself and maybe get some opinions on my system.

Well I live in chicago area and am 23.

I currently own Rotel RCD 1070, RC 1070 and RB 1070
All units are connected with Audioquest Coral and Copperhead interconnect cables.
Speakers are KEF iq7 with Audioquest type 6 speaker cables.

You guys think this is a good setup?
I am thinking about getting different speaker cables because type 6 are very stiff.

I was just wandering what people think about my setup.

Thanks in advance

dominik :T

[htsteve]

dominik,

Welcome!

As for your system, it sounds like an very nice 2 channel system. You have quite nice components.

If you are thinking of different speakers, is there something about the current speakers that you think is missing?

Also do you have a sub?

[PewterTA]

It's a nice setup. Is there room to improve. Yep. Course even when you get to the proverbial "top of the mountain," all you find up there is that there's more climbing to do. That's the one bad thing with this hobby. You'll always find some way to improve your system.

The toughest thing is to just sit back and enjoy what you have. If you hear something that's far better, then you know what direction to go. Until you hear that "amazing life changing" difference though... wait and listen to other's systems to find out what you think you might be missing or what you really enjoy.

But over all enjoy YOUR system, it's not really important what everyone else thinks.

[Ken49r]

Hello everybody,
I am thinking about getting different speaker cables because type 6 are very stiff.

Hi,

Not sure what you mean by "stiff" if that is referring to the sound quality, but being in Chicago you should have a few audio dealers you could borrow different cables an demo them in your setup. I have noticed changes in my system w/ different cables, both speaker and IC's. Try something better and if it doesn't make a big enough improvement, focus on a different piece in your system to upgrade next.

[srb]

Hello everybody,
Speakers are KEF iq7 with Audioquest type 6 speaker cables.
I am thinking about getting different speaker cables because type 6 are very stiff.

If you are thinking of different speakers, is there something about the current speakers that you think is missing?

He is thinking of different speaker cables.

Not sure what you mean by "stiff" if that is referring to the sound quality,....

Dominik, I assume because the Audioquest Type 6 are solid core, that you are referring to the physical stiffness of the cable, is that correct?

The components you have chosen appear to represent a well balanced system, and with your 90dB speakers, the 130W/ch Rotel sounds like a good match.

I personally don't find huge differences in sound between speaker cables, but others do, and I will concede that there are subtle differences. For that reason, I will second the recommendation to see if you can demo a set from a local shop to make sure you like them. It is often hard to get a store to let you home demo equipment, but cables are usually fairly easy in that respect.

But if you like the sound you are getting, and you're not moving the speakers or amplifier around alot, is physical stiffness of speaker cable really much of a problem?

I would recommend that you read a bit about speaker placement, and see if you can fine tune the sound by experimenting with distance apart, distance from the walls and toe in angle.

Next, I would read up on room acoustic treatments, and perhaps consider some absorbtion panels, diffusion panels or bass traps, depending on what the room might need. Commercially, these pieces are generally not inexpensive, but they can also be constructed by the do-it-yourselfer. Google "DIY acoustic treatment" or "DIY acoustic panel".

Enjoy your system!

Steve

[Ken49r]

I personally don't find huge differences in sound between speaker cables, but others do, and I will concede that there are subtle differences. For that reason, I will second the recommendation to see if you can demo a set from a local shop to make sure you like them. It is often hard to get a store to let you home demo equipment, but cables are usually fairly easy in that respect.

I read an article yesterday that Kimber Kable encourages it's dealers to allow in home auditions. If you have a dealer in your area try them.

There are lot's of variables to improveing your sound. I too got positive results with room treatment and speaker placement. A couple sound panels and drapes for absorbtion, plants for diffusion.

Nate Mansfield, Sales Manager for Kimber Kable

The most interesting thing about your question was the concept of auditioning cables. This is where we really put our sales and marketing on display. Our products are meant to be auditioned. Our dealers encourage a person to take the product home and let the music do the selling.

http://www.avrev.com/home-theater-feature-articles/audio-related-articles/silver-cable-overview-kimber-kable-3.html

[Alaric]

Welcome to HTGuide-the best audio forum I know of! You'll find a lot of good people here , with a lot of knowledge and experience. :T As for cables , the FAQ and rules can be a big help http://www.htguide.com/forum/announc...nouncementid=5
Worth a look. Hope you enjoy the forum as much as we enjoy new members.

[dozol]

Thanks for all replies !

Speaker cables are hard to move around and sometimes get disconnected from the speakers. That is probably because there are no banana plugs or spade or anything, just a bare twisted cable.

I will try to post a picture
before and after



Overall, I really like the sound.
And here are my babies.



I hope you like pictures, If i am breaking any forum rules just let me know.

[BWzes03]

Welcome to the forum! Beware of 'upgradeitis' , its very contagious, and its a degenerative 'disease' (for your wallet that is) ;-)
I started out pretty humble as well, coming from a Pioneer 5.1 receiver and Pioneer 5.1 speaker set to now two seperate systems: dedicated stereo system in the livingroom and a dedicated HomeTheater (7.1) in the attic ....

As for your system, it certainly looks to be a well thoughtout system, being a fan of seperates myself, I'm glad you opted for the RC-1070/RB-1070 combo. The performance of this system will certainly outperform the RA-1062 (or newer) ...

Also, like previous posters have pointed out, experiment with placement, toe-in and also spikes ! These make no small difference !