Rotel Conundrum

[Gaston_Locanto]

Hello all, I've been lurking around here for a while, and have decided to finally make my debut

I've decided that it's about time a had a proper home theater set-up, and seeing how well regarded Rotel is, it seems only logical to pick them for my home. Firstly, is there much of a notable aural difference between the RSX-1065 and the RSP-1066/1075 combo? Many have stated that seperates is the way to go, but as my room is relatively small (about 3x4 meters), I wonder if the 1075 may be a tad powerfull. Having auditioned the 1065, the clerk informed me that the 1075 may indeed be too much, but I was wondering what everyone else here thinks. I am leaning towards the 1066/1075 combo, as my hi-fi dealer offers an upgrade program, and I wouldn't mind trading the 1066 for the delicious 1098 somewhere down the track :P

Also, I have a question on speakers. I already have a pair of B&W DM 600 S3 bookshelfs which I plan to use as my rears, and as my room is a bit small, I will be forgoing a sub, which leaves me to purchase a pair of front speakers and a centre. I have already listened to a pair of Whatamough P21 floorstanders (4ohms, 25-120 watts, 88db, 44Hz to 20 Khz) through the 1065, and I was very impressed with the authority and overall neutralness of the speakers. I had originally planned to go with these speakers, but it has recently come to my attention that Paradigm are carried here in Australia, and both the Moniter 9 and the Moniter 11 have caught my eye. Are the Paradigm's:

a)Good speakers?
b)A nice match for either the 1065 or the 1066/1075?
c)Too powerfull for my room (I'm mainly concerned about the Moniter 11)?
I plan to use the speakers in a Hi-Fi environment that is 50/50 movies and music. Also, the music I plan to put the speakers through is both very heavy and very detailed.

One final question (I promise). I've heard rumblings that the 1065 is due for an upgrade. Will this be purely aesthetic, or will it have more features, and when will this happen?

I apologise about the length of this topic, but I am a relative newcomer to the realm of home theater, so I hope you don't mind.
Thanking you in advance.

[GreggM]

Gaston,

Having gone through the same process, I understand all your questions. First. I do not think you would regret going seperates. For me I could have gotten plenty of power out of a receiver, yet I decided on seperates to get the very best quality out of my system for music as well as HT. Because you have a smaller room, you might want to consider purchasing another pair of B&W Bookshelf speakers. B&W and Rotel sound wonderful together. You would also want to purchase a sub, a sub will be important for not only HT but also music. I have had my system for just over 6 months and have never regreted the purchase.

Gregg

[WallaceBW]

Ok.. Here we go...

More power (Wattage) is a good thing 'to an extent'... The more power your amp has the better control your amp has over the movement of the drivers in your speakers. More power MAY allow you to play louder but is does not mandate it... Most speakers will sound better when used with an amp (or reciever) that is closer to the speakers power handling rating (RMS not Peak) than an amp with less power. As for the clerk's opinion, You most likely will not be utilizing the 1075 to it's volume potential. You will however be utilizing it's full control potential.

Rotel just recently upgraded the Video switching to 200MHZ. You can assure that you purchase one of these from the serial number of the unit. Look for:

That may be but all units with Serial numbers higher than 2341001 Will have the 200MHZ board...

I.E. FR010712341001001 <-- That is the format of my Serial

There has neen NO news of a direct replacement for the 1066... the 1098 is not replacing the 1066 but rather suplementing it and entering Rotel into a different price bracket.

Finally, Speakers are a matter of taste. I personally believe that a 1066/1075 combo is rather neutral thus allowing you to determine the sound of the system by selecting speakers and cables that add the coloration (or lack there of) that you prefer (warmth, neutrality, strong highs, etc) whatever you prefer. Try if possible to listen to the speakers in the same location and 'of course' with source material that you are familliar with.

Brian

Brian

[Madd]

The seperates are nice, but my friend just got that RSX 1065 and it is no slouch. It is a great receiver :LOL: With that said if you are looking at the Paradigm's, they are an "EXCELLENT" speaker. But for a small room I would look at the STUDIO series because they sound so much better the the monitors do. You would not need floor standers. The studio 20's sound incredible 8O Go with the Sudio 20's for the fronts, Studio CC center and some ADP 370 for the rears with a nice sub(PW2200) comes to mind :idea: . This is more then enough for your room size. It would be one great system!




Never argue with a fool,one may not know the difference!

[Andrew Pratt]

that's a very small room! The paradigm speakers are quite good but the larger monitor's aren't as good a buy as say the studio 20's esp in a room the size of yours. I usually recomend seperates where possible but in this case it might be way overkill...a comprimise might be to say pick up the 1055 receiver which is very close in sound to the 1066 and then add a nice 2 channel amp to power the mains. I'd do this only if 2 channel music was important to you...if this is just a movie room then the 1055 will easily do all you need it to in that small room

[wng]

Hey Gaston,

I also have a small room, just slightly bigger than yours. I went with the separates combo and front floorstanding speakers, as I was hungry for a no-compromises setup. I'm with WallaceBW; I don't believe it's overkill. I'm playing at below-average volumes and it's enough to fill my room. My speakers' power handling matches the amp's rating. I'm likely not driving my equipment hard at all, and probably saving a bit on electricity. Quality over quantity, I guess.

I would recommend eventually going with a small to average sub for movies in your setup, though.

[wng]

Hey Gaston,

I also have a small room, just slightly bigger than yours. I went with the separates combo and front floorstanding speakers, as I was hungry for a no-compromises setup. I'm with WallaceBW; I don't believe it's overkill. I'm playing at below-average volumes and it's enough to fill my room. My speakers' power handling matches the amp's rating. I'm likely not driving my equipment hard at all, and probably saving a bit on electricity. Quality over quantity, I guess.

I would eventually going with a small to average sub for movies in your setup, though.

[Lex]

receiver vs separates. That's an issue in and of itself. But I personally maintain, separates will generally yield better sound, even if, in a small room. Granted, comfortable volumes will be reached sooner in a small room, but the quality of it is what counts, regardless of volume level.

Lex




Cable Guy DVD Collection

[fhidayat]

Gaston,
I have the 1065 and I did audition of the 1066/1075 combo. IMHO, the diff between the two setup was minimal. It is more of convenience and space issues for me in choosing one over the other.




:banana:

[Entice]

I have a small room aswell. Didnt stop me opting for the 1095 though. I think that planning for the future is an important thing to me. I may be wrong, but, I dont see technology in power amps changing all that rapidly, and chances are, my room will change before i will be changing the power amp. I don't think I've heard anyone complaining of having too much power.

Re the decision of no sub. I would be taking some very, very deep consideration over this. Irrespective of room size, I think that your audio experience would vastly improve with a sub. Doesn't need to be a huge stadium sub, or even anything greaer than a single 10" driver. Consider this especially if you go for mini-monitors. Moreso if you intend to have any use as HT.

Next bit. This is what I don't understand with most of the guys here. Granted, a lot of people may have incrementally built up their systems as they could afford them, and purchased what they could afford at the time, but doesn't this lead to mismatched drivers and tonal charachteristics of each monitor? Wouldn't it be ideal to have the same speaker at each post? complete match of each driver? Bearing this in mind, I'd be going for the B&W's if I were you. Otherwise consider using what you have in a remote room, and getting a different 5.1 setup. Again, funds may be limiting.

Now, that all said and done...
if you still want to keep the speakers you have, don't want a sub, and don't mind having different speaker characteristics at the front, Take a look at the Subsonics. Yes they are made in Australia, and yes, they are great. They have a neat feature of adjusting Bass output. I think they have a website aswell. Other things that I'd be listening to would be Sonique, Legend (2 very good, well priced Aussie brands), and of course, my personal fav's, Dynaudio (no, these aren't Aussies). Granted, the Paradigm brand is good, (i have a pair of these aswell..3se's from a while back), but in my opinion, overpriced here in Australia (in comparison. I'm sure this is not the case in Canada). If you get a chance, try out the local product. You will be suprised.

[WallaceBW]

Regarding the speaker matching issue (Timbre matching):

The optimal setup would be to use identical speakers for all 5 or 7 speakers (5.1 and 7.1) and not placing the center channel on it's side. Thus obtaining an identical timbre match all the way arround the room. (of course all speakers would have been made with parts of the same production run to further limit variations.

Best Compromise: Which-ever speakers you do choose insure that all of the mid-range drivers and tweeters are the same for all 5 or 7 speakers. Example:

• ***Main speakers contain (1 Tweeter type 111, 1 Midrange type 222 and 1 woofer 333 in a three way configuration)
  ***Center contains (1 Tweeter type 111, 2 Midrange type 222 in a horizontal two way configuration)
  ***Surrounds contain (1 Tweeter type 111, 1 Midrange type 222 on a two way config)
  ***Sub(s) contain (1 sub-woofer type 444 in a one way (lowpass) configuration)

Second Best compromise: Front sound stage maintains timbre match. EX:

• ***Main speakers contain (1 Tweeter type 111, 1 Midrange type 222 and 1 woofer 333 in a three way configuration)
  ***Center contains (1 Tweeter type 111, 2 Midrange type 222 in a horizontal two way configuration)
  ***Surrounds contain (1 Tweeter type aaa, 1 Midrange type bbb on a two way config)
  ***Sub(s) contain (1 sub-woofer type 444 in a one way (lowpass) configuration)

Less than Ideal:
Buy speakers without this information and hope for the best.

Hoped that helped...
Brian