Is a Rotel RSX-1550 a sonic upgrade over the RSX-1057?

[hockey_101]

I currently have the 1057 but came across a 1550 for a good price and am thinking about buying it but I am wondering if there will be a noticeable upgrade in the sound quality I receive from the 1550? I listen to mainly music in a 2.1 CH setup.

Thank you.

[madmac]

I currently have the 1057 but came across a 1550 for a good price and am thinking about buying it but I am wondering if there will be a noticeable upgrade in the sound quality I receive from the 1550? I listen to mainly music in a 2.1 CH setup.

Thank you.

If you are listening to mainly 2ch stereo and only with an analog device then I would say no, you will not get any sonic upgrade. However, if you are listening to digital sources such as DD-HD or DTS-HD via HDMI then yes, you 1057 does not have the ability to decode lossless audio but the 1550 does.

I am curious why you bought an A/V receiver (and now thinking about buying another one??!!) when you are mainly a 2CH listener ? You would be better served looking at some of Rotel's 2CH amps and would likely get better 2CH performance with them.

[hockey_101]

Thank you for the response. So the newer amps in the 1550 wouldnt sound nicer than the previous model?
I am looking for an AV receiver because I'm currently running 2 setups and I like having the option of upgrading one of them and using the better of the two receivers for the other room. I run a 5.1 in my family room and a 2.1 in a dedicated media room. Both of the setups run B&W 600 series speakers with a Rotel 1057 and a Pioneer elite. I plan on getting rid of the pioneer and moving the 1057 to my family room and a newer receiver to my media room because that's where I mainly listen to music.

[madmac]

Yes that is correct. Using the 1550 as a 2 channel playback amp would not result in any major sonic upgrade over the 1057. What you should do though is buy the 1550 and put that unit in your 5.1 playback room and keep the 1057 for your 2ch setup.

Have you tried your 1057 playing music in 5 channel stereo? The results are quite impressive. So impressive that I listen to most of my music in that setting with my 1057!! It's totally immersive !