Help me choose a Rotel system

[spacey]

All,

Thanks to those who responded to my previous post. I've decided to purchase Rotel. We auditioned the RSX-1065 today and really enjoyed it. My options are:

RSX-1065 - dealer price $US 1895
RSX-1055 + RB-1070 - total dealer price $US 1845

Music reproduction is more important than theater. Will probably include DVD-A/SACD when more combo players are available. My system will be 5.1. Might consider 6/7.1 in the future but definitely not a priority. Reason for considering 1070 is to get the additional power for main speakers (thanks to Gianni for idea). Room is a rather large family room with 18ft. ceiling. Speakers are:

Front R/L - B&W N804 - power reqmt. 50-200W
Center - B&W HTM2 - power reqmt. 50-120W
Surround - B&W N805 - power reqmt. 50-120W

Is sacrificing the center/surround power for more main power a reasonable trade? I'd appreciate your thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of each solution.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Pete

[Madd]

Heres one : RSX 1055 & RMB 1075 = $2K, total of 10 channels!Use the RSX 1055 for Center backs. Just a thought




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

[gianni]

I'm sure you are going to get plenty of suggestions here at Club Rotel. While you are waiting for everyone to reply you might try visiting eCoustics.com and take a look at the receiver review on the Denon 4802. The reviewer spent considerable time testing this receiver with an external amplfier.

The 4802 has a good amp section for a receiver and this comparison should provide some relevant information. Ideally you would listen to the different combos but this should give you some good insights. As this article will demonstrate, if music is your priority the separate amp is probably the way to go--at least for the mains. You just need to decide what level of performance you want for the remaining speakers. I'm not familiar enough with B&W speakers to offer any tips on this however there are many B&W fans here and they will most likely chime in.

I have an SACD player and I'm putting the multi channel music push on hold for now. I just don't see that many good recordings for surround music. Very few are very well done--they seem to be going for gee whiz rather than using the extra speakers to recreate the ambiance of the original venues. I don't think sitting in the middle of the band is so realistic. So, I'm listening to my SACD's in 2 CH for now. Besides to get the most from surround you need to be sitting in the sweet spot--which I don't always do. On top of that the typical 5.1 speaker setup is not the most ideal for surround music. For now I'm satisfied with 5.1 HT and 2 Ch music.