Adding RB-1070 to 1055 receiver

[RandyH]

I have a 1055 receiver. I have moved to new home with a larger HT room. I'm thinking I would like a little extra power...and along these lines I am considering adding a Rotel RB-1070 two channel amp to power my main speakers (Gallo Due'). Will the addition of this amp give the the extra power and headroom I am looking for? I plan to keep a 5.1 surround setup, so I will not be using the extra amp to add surround speakers...just give a little more power to my existing setup. Whats your opinion? Anyone running a 1055 with the RB-1070...or any other external amp for that matter?

Would appreciate hearing your opinions...suggestions....experiences...

Thanks

Randy

[sdecker]

I have a 1055 paired with a 1070 and a 985mkII amp. Sounds great. You will notice a difference between the 1055's amps and the 1070 amps, especially with music. Go for it.

Earle

[TonyPTX]

I've got a similar concern myself. I am planning on purchasing a rb-1070 or 1080 amp in the future and was worried about the difference in gain between the amps (specifically around 5.1 or 7.1 setup). If I choose an amp with more power than what the RSX-1055 can put out on the center and surrounds, will I have an unbalanced soundstage between the speakers run by the 1055 and the front left/right run by an external amp?




"Those that don't know, don't know they don't know."

[RandyH]

I thought about the possible volume disparity between the mains and the surrounds also, but I figured I could balance it all out with the speaker config/test tone settings in the receiver.

Randy

[sdecker]

I thought about the possible volume disparity between the mains and the surrounds also, but I figured I could balance it all out with the speaker config/test tone settings in the receiver.

Randy

Randy,

I have no problems with volume disparity, you can easily match the surround speakers output to the front speakers output. FWIW, I use Klipsch speakers.

Earle

[mickyboy]

i have both 985mk1 and 981powers with denon 3802, i myself do not notice that much benifit 985 vs 981 for sterio or av but it might be a better idea in my view to purchase a 985 and use this to power center and biamp the front speakers with 985 and use 1055 to power the remaining channels, i got better results biamping fronts for sterio with 985 than adding in my case 981

[RandyH]

If I may add to my original question.....Regarding my plans to add a RB-1070 to run with my 1055. I understand that this should improve stereo performance but will it really have much impact on HT performance? Will dedicating the 1070 to handle the L/R mains actually "free up" more power for the receiver to distribute to the other channels? If I wanted beef up my system for multi-channel use would I possibly be better off trading the 1055 for a 1065?

Randy

[sdecker]

Randy,

When I added the 1070 to my system I was unable hear a difference regarding HT, I do use Klipsch speakers though, so your experiences may vary. With music there was a definate improvement when I added the 1070, what made this suprising was that I was using a 985mkII to power my HT. The 1070 is a much better amp than the 985mkII, imho, not taking anything away from the 985mkII. I have no complaints with either amp. Using the 1070 to power the R/L speakers should help the 1055 powering the other speakers.

I believe the 1065 has a much better power source than the 1055, so if you are planning to just get a 1070 for the mains, the 1065 maybe a better choice for you. If you plan on adding a 5 channel amp do the road, get the 1055. Preamp wise its the same and much cheaper.

Now I just use the 1055 as a preamp, and I love it! :P

Earle

[Andrew Pratt]

A lot will depend on the sensetivity of your speakers but for HT I'd lean towards you not really hearing a difference...esp if you run your mains as smalls. The differences would show up more if you had low sensetive speakers and running them as large for music. Now that's not to say there won't be benefits from adding a power amp for HT just that it may not be as benefitial as you think. The best advice I can give you is to first see how well the 1055 does by itself in the new room then see if your dealer will let you borrow the amp for the night...you'll know pretty quickly if the differences justify the cost. Also how loud do you listen to movies? If its near reference level that would help justify the new amp vs listening at a more moderate volume.