rsp 1066 vs rsp 1098

[the wog]

i have an rsp 1066 running in 7.1 mode with a 1080 pwr amp as well as a 1095 pwr amp. movies, sounds awesome, 2 channel... hmmmm leaves a lot to be desired. i have tried other speakers, players, pwr amps, and cables all to pretty much no avail so obviously my problem lies in the pre. when i go from the variable out of my cd player directly into the inputs of the 1080 it sounds magic. has anyone out there done the upgrade to the 1098 and found any difference in the audio quality in 2 ch? specs do nothing for me, ive made that mistake before. specs are great if your a salesman to make sales but have nothing to do with real music. im just not sure whether to spend the bucks and take the plunge or do i just get rid of the 1066 and get something like the nad pre or even the integra reaserch.

just on another note.. why is it the the top flight rotel amps have balanced inputs however thier surround processors dont? i know a lot of their 2 ch stuff have balanced outpus so i suppose that explains why the 1080 has balanced inputs but that doesnt explain why the 1095 pwr amp (which is 5 x 200 w) has balanced ins...... answers anyone??

[jimmyp58]

Have you tried any of the Bryston power amps? I'd suggest a 4B SST. Find a dealer that will let you take their demo home. Hook it up and you won't believe the difference. Yeah, it's costly but it is well worth the $$$.

Jim

[DrJRapp]

"when i go from the variable out of my cd player directly into the inputs of the 1080 it sounds magic"

Elias,
Are you using the digital outputs of your CD into the 1066 or have you tried using the ANALOG outputs of your CD player into the 1066? When I did this with mine (using quality interconnects of course) the 2 channel sound went from being somewhat electronic in nature to being more smooth and natural. My theory on this is that the DACs in my CD player are better quality (at least different quality) then those in the 1066. Try it...you too may like it.

[Aussie Geoff]

Hi,

You can indeed get pretty good sound from the RSP-1066 in Analog. Certainly the RSP-1066 beats any Denon or Integra I've heard in Stereo.

However try the RSP-1068 or RSP-1098 and run that in both Analog and Digital and for stereo it just runs rings around the RSP-1066. Do a search of the forum on some early RSP-1098 users experiences who had upgraded from the RSP-1066 - the better stereo was a universal observation. From memory our Forum moderator Andrew Pratt "jaws dropped" at the improvement in stereo. My symptoms were this grin that just wont go away…

Take home a loaner and try for yourself...

Geoff

[the wog]

i tried that but i must admit the dacs in my player are not te greatest... great for their time... but prob a bit old hat by now. i am using the old denon dcd 1420.. i bought it aprox 13 yrs ago??? still kicking and i love it because of the build quality that it has. but it doesnt sound much better going analog in(through the processor), i could almost say that it sounds worse... but in saying that it sounds far superior when routed directly to the power amp.. i guess my speakers have a habbit of letting you know when something doesnt sound the greatest.. i am running tannoy saturn s10 up front, if you are familiar with them, you will know what i mean

[the wog]

geoff,

i was tempted by the integra reaserch.. not the standard integra stuff. its a almost ridiculously priced preamp weighing in at 15 kg or so.... but it interested me as it provides balanced outputs where nothing else does untill i start looking at krell, lexicon etc which is just way over the budget. i might just take home a 1098 and try but i just dont want to end up thinking what a waste thats all.
cheers

[the wog]

jim,

well i would need 7 channels of it...... i have a 7.1 theatre at home... ouch... there goes the credit card........

[Aussie Geoff]

Hi,

I know the Integra Research processor you mean - 7.1 and very customisable (different cards etc). A very different sound to the Rotel. I'd listen to it and the RSP-1098 and decide which sound you like. You may also want to consider the Parasound Halo C2 - again a different sound.

In the mean time - a better CD Player or High end DVD with good CD capabilities would be a good start for your stereo regardless. I upgraded a 4 year old one and it was way better - so 14 years....

Geoff

[the wog]

geoff,

i am in the process of getting my hands on the new rotel, the integra and the nad to do a bit of a comparison between them for a week or so.. ill keep you posted

cheers

[jimmyp58]

Nothing wrong with keeping your 1095 for center/surrounds. Replace the 1080 with the 4B SST if it makes an improvement. It would be a good combo.

Jim

[Ross Smith]

I recently got a replacement 1066 for a faulty 976, initially I was impressed with the smoothness of the sound in D/D and DTS when playing music DVD's compared to my older 976 (and also RSP 980 with Dennon D/D decoder).
But now I have started listening to my CD's I find the sound is too smooth and lacking treble bite in the top end the bass is huge, but the sound is too mushy and lacking detail for me. I have really good Audioquest interconnects and speaker wire and a Rotel RCD 970 CD player.
So I'm either going to sell the 1066 and go back to the RSP 980/ Dennon set up or buy a good audio only pre-amp and stick that in line for stereo listening.
It seems like a lot of companies are going for this innoffensive warm and cuddly safe sound but to me thats wrong if you wanted that sound you would buy a cheaper all in one product from K-Mart.

[pbarata]

Ross,

Having such a good CD player as yours, you should use the analog out to send the audio signal to RSP-1066 and use the pure analog bypass mode (2 channel) for listening. In my case, the resulting sound from the digital to analog conversion using 1066 DAC’s is really bad when compared with the conversion done inside the CD player.

[Ross Smith]

Hi Pedro,
When I isten to my CD player I only use anologue interconnects as you stated this sounds heaps better than digital.I would love to know if the new 1068 is a bit brighter sound as I wouldn't mind selling mine and getting that. My old RSP 976 was far brighter but it had a faulty DSP board and wouldn't lock onto a digital signal.I really thought that the 1066 would have the same tonal qualities its just that little too smooth sounding for my tastes. I have only had the 1066 for two weeks maybe I'll get use to this new sound.

[Aussie Geoff]

Ross,

If the RSP-1068 is anything like the RSP-1098 (which everyone says it is ) then it has a significiantly more detailed / clearer sound than the RSP-1066. if you want "brightness" there is always the HF Contour control that can subtly give you 1 - 6 fn more HT brightness...

Geoff

[Ross Smith]

Thanks Geoff for that information on the 1068, I thought while my processor is still near new and before Interdyn release the new model in Aust I would try and sell mine for $A1200 and get the 1068. (thats if the new model retails for $A2200)
It's not that I don't like the 1066 as it's made my DVD music discs more listenable in D/D with it's smooth sound but on CD it sounds a bit bloated in the mid bass and the top end is rolled off. One thing it's not fatiguing listening to it my other two processors had me wishing I had a EQ switch to stop the brightness but my old RSP 980 was a lot clearer in stereo. I'll do some more listening and I'll experiment with different interconnects. I do know about the tone controls, at present the treble is on +4 bass -4 for stereo listening, I was pleasantly suprised that these tone controls also affect ths center channel