Rotel 1560 vs 1570.1575 for B&W 804S in living room theatre

[MTRX]

I know that separates are always better choice and do sound better. And that with 1575 I get 250w instead of 100w. But my question is this:

Do I really need this extra power for my B&W 804s? I will be using this setup for watching TV, movies and listening to music. Currently I have B&K 200.2 (200w) power amp with B&K processor.

[mjb]

How big is your room, and how far away are you sitting?
Unless your living room is huge, and/or you like listening incredibly loud, you will probably not need the extra power during normal TV viewing. The difference is approximately equivalent to sitting 1 meter closer to the front speakers!

[MTRX]

How big is your room, and how far away are you sitting?
Unless your living room is huge, and/or you like listening incredibly loud, you will probably not need the extra power during normal TV viewing. The difference is approximately equivalent to sitting 1 meter closer to the front speakers!

We have an open floor design, so our living and dining and kitchen are all together. I'd say it is about 20 x 40.

I have noticed based on the pictures in "Pictures of your Rotel Set-up" post that majority of people that have B&W 804s and even less powerful speakers have separates and usually 1575. So I'm afraid if I go for 1560 I'd make a mistake.

[htsteve]

MTRX,

Your dilemma is a classic one. Receiver vs. separates.

You have a large room with an open layout. Lots of space for sound to move around and leak out. Especially in the bass region.

Also, the 800 series is really designed with separates in mind.

Will the 804S sound good on the 1560? Yes. Will separates really allow the 804S to perform as designed. Absolutely. Especially in bass and soundstage.

If you have the budget to get the separates, do it. You will have an immediate improvement in sound quality.

Also, once you get to separates, you do not have to rebuy things later. Let's say you have a receiver and later some new sound processing comes out and you want it. If you get another reciever, you are rebuying the amps, tuner, etc,

If you have separates, you keep the amp and simply update the processor.


Hope this helps.

[Frank Helmling]

Unless your living room is huge, and/or you like listening incredibly loud, you will probably not need the extra power during normal TV viewing!

That's it! For every "normal" activity (even looking "ironman" on excessive levels) the 1560 offers enough power.

But if you are, for example, in your 20's and want to impress your friends at some opportunities ("wow man, hohoho shit....") you will need the extra power to drive the 804's bass drivers at full range.

I would advice you the RSX 1560!

[MTRX]

MTRX,

Your dilemma is a classic one. Receiver vs. separates.

You have a large room with an open layout. Lots of space for sound to move around and leak out. Especially in the bass region.

Also, the 800 series is really designed with separates in mind.

Will the 804S sound good on the 1560? Yes. Will separates really allow the 804S to perform as designed. Absolutely. Especially in bass and soundstage.

If you have the budget to get the separates, do it. You will have an immediate improvement in sound quality.

Also, once you get to separates, you do not have to rebuy things later. Let's say you have a receiver and later some new sound processing comes out and you want it. If you get another reciever, you are rebuying the amps, tuner, etc,

If you have separates, you keep the amp and simply update the processor.


Hope this helps.

htsteve, I agree with you about upgrading in the guture. So even though I have ASW850 which outputs amazing bass, I should still be concerned about bass from my 804S?

Currently I have B&K separates with 200w per channel. I wonder if switching to 1560 is going to improve the sound?

Good thing is I can always buy 1575 and connect it to my 1560.

[MTRX]

That's it! For every "normal" activity (even looking "ironman" on excessive levels) the 1560 offers enough power.

But if you are, for example, in your 20's and want to impress your friends at some opportunities ("wow man, hohoho shit....") you will need the extra power to drive the 804's bass drivers at full range.

I would advice you the RSX 1560!

Frank Helmling, I like your point of view I'm way over this period of time when I wanted to impress someone, at this point the only person that needs to be impressed is myself

Problem is that I know myself, now I'm thinking that yeah, I guess 1560 is going to do the job, but later I may think that hey, you don't have the ideal setup... Reason why I really wanted to go with $1560 is because I was offered to buy a year old one, in amazing condition for $1600... I think this is a great price for this unit, especially that I will still have 4 years of warranty.

Let me ask you this guys, assuming that I can get 1560 for $1600, what would be the "reasonable" extra different that I should pay for 1570/1575 combo? I'm thinking that if I can get this combo for $2500 (pre-owned) then I should go for it, otherwise I should stick with 1560? Or I'm thinking wrong?

[MTRX]

I finally got my 1560! Should be receiving it some time next week. Very exited. Now, I figured that this receiver has 7 amps in it, so is it possible to biamp my front using 2 amps for each front speaker? And if it is, do I gain anything from this?

[srb]

Now, I figured that this receiver has 7 amps in it, so is it possible to biamp my front using 2 amps for each front speaker? And if it is, do I gain anything from this?

If you are just using 5.1 channels, in the Default Setup you can Redirect the Center Back amplifier channels to the Front L/R to bi-amp the front speakers.

I have found that a single more powerful stereo amp usually trumps two smaller stereo amps used for bi-amping, i.e. a 250W/channel stereo amp will give better results than 2 - 125W/channel stereo amps used in a passive bi-amp configuration.

In a smaller two-way speaker with a midbass and tweeter, because the majority of the power is used by the midbass driver, the results of bi-amping can sometimes be questionable. But with a speaker such as the B&W 804 (if I'm not mistaken) the bi-amp terminals separate the woofers from the midrange/tweeter, and I think you would have a potentially greater improvement from bi-amping them than you would get with a smaller two-way whose bi-amp terminals separate the midbass and the tweeter.

B&W also cites increased stereo imaging and detail resolution from bi-wiring (and bi-amping). Since you have the extra channels at your disposal I would say to definitely give it a try after first becoming familiar with the sound in the single amp configuration. And although B&W also mentions a possible advantage in selecting different wire types for each, you don't need any special wire to try this, just standard wire of a suitable gauge with low capacitance.

Steve

[MTRX]

If you are just using 5.1 channels, in the Default Setup you can Redirect the Center Back amplifier channels to the Front L/R to bi-amp the front speakers.

I have found that a single more powerful stereo amp usually trumps two smaller stereo amps used for bi-amping, i.e. a 250W/channel stereo amp will give better results than 2 - 125W/channel stereo amps used in a passive bi-amp configuration.

In a smaller two-way speaker with a midbass and tweeter, because the majority of the power is used by the midbass driver, the results of bi-amping can sometimes be questionable. But with a speaker such as the B&W 804 (if I'm not mistaken) the bi-amp terminals separate the woofers from the midrange/tweeter, and I think you would have a potentially greater improvement from bi-amping them than you would get with a smaller two-way whose bi-amp terminals separate the midbass and the tweeter.

B&W also cites increased stereo imaging and detail resolution from bi-wiring (and bi-amping). Since you have the extra channels at your disposal I would say to definitely give it a try after first becoming familiar with the sound in the single amp configuration. And although B&W also mentions a possible advantage in selecting different wire types for each, you don't need any special wire to try this, just standard wire of a suitable gauge with low capacitance.

Steve

Thanks srb! Does it matter if I use Center back amp for bass and front amp for mid/tweater? Or the other way around or it doesn't matter?

Another question is, I'm planning to listen to music (fed by Sonos) in stereo, is the an option to keep bi-amping active in stereo and not have center and surround speakers on?

[srb]

Thanks srb! Does it matter if I use Center back amp for bass and front amp for mid/tweater? Or the other way around or it doesn't matter?

I would probably connect the Front amplifiers to the woofers and the Back amplifiers to the mid/tweeters. The receiver is rated at 100W/channel @ 8 ohms for all 7 amplifier channels, so it probably doesn't make any difference, but not knowing how the internal power supplies are configured or shared between the amplifier modules, I would play it safe and run the larger load (bass) off of the Front channels.

Another question is, I'm planning to listen to music (fed by Sonos) in stereo, is the an option to keep bi-amping active in stereo and not have center and surround speakers on?

Once you have redirected the Back L/R amplifier channels to the Front L/R channels for bi-amplification, the front speakers will be bi-amplified whether you are playing 2 channel PCM stereo or engaging the center or the center and surrounds by selecting one of the Dolby or DTS 3 or 5 channel modes.

Steve

[grit]

Thanks srb! Does it matter if I use Center back amp for bass and front amp for mid/tweater? Or the other way around or it doesn't matter?

Another question is, I'm planning to listen to music (fed by Sonos) in stereo, is the an option to keep bi-amping active in stereo and not have center and surround speakers on?

Just wanted to jump in real quick for a few reasons. I have a 1560 myself and am awaiting a pair of 804 diamonds. I also use a Sonos to access all of my .flac music stored on a windows home server. I've found the 1560 to be a great receiver.

Aside from upgrading my speakers, the best improvement I ever got from any new piece of equipment was to add an external DAC and connect the Sonos to it. I personally went with a Bryston BDA-1 and cannot recommend it enough. The next time get the upgrade bug, consider a new DAC.