Rotel 1068

[boe]

I'm looking at the Rotel 1068 web page but it doesn't really have much detail. Does it have a headphone jack? How about a dolby headphone jack? Does it cover THX Ultra2?


If you own a 1068, what are your thoughts? Would you buy it again if you needed a preamp tomorrow?

Thanks

[malcky]

hi mate, no it doesnt have a headphone jack or anything to do with THX, however if i needed a new processor i would buy this again (i have only had it for 1 week) as i think the steering of sounds is very accurate and fills the whole room front to back and side to side much better than my old processor (roksan caspian dsp) did. Aslo i was very suprised as to how good dolby pro logic 2 actually is, there is so much more info coming from the rears compared to pro logic 1 on my roksan which only had pro logic 1.

cheers
malcky

[boe]

thanks for getting back to me

I guess I can wait to see what gets released next, the headphone jack would be a requirement and I would really like the unit to be fully THX 2

[jimmyp58]

All you'd need to buy is a headphone amp and plug it into your analog tape out.

[aud19]

And THX requirements, while they can be a helpful guide, are not the end all be all of HT. Lot's of companies, including Rotel, find it more useful to spend the money on the component itself than on THX certification. It's helpful to know that a unit meets standards but if something sounds good, or possibly even better, even though it's not "certified" why wouldn't you buy it?

Ditto on the headphone amp, you'll get better sound quality with a seperate one anyways.

Jason

[jimmyp58]

While I own the 1098 (for the moment until my next pre/pro arrives), the THX thing is/was no big deal for me. The 1098 sounded awesome no matter what; I am confident the 1068 does too. My new unit has all the THX certifications but it had absolutely no bearing on me upgrading to it. Matter of fact, of the four dealers I spoke to regarding either the new Anthem D1 or the Bryston SP 1.7, which I will be getting, NONE of them mentioned THX to me in their sales pitch; they all new I had a unit that didn't have it --- the point being is they didn't try to leverage a feature I didn't have with one that did. Rather, they focused on other enhancements to sell me on.

Jim

[boe]

jimmy,

Although the Anthem is out of my price range it really looks impressive on paper - what was your impression? Sometimes I make changes to my budget if the bang is there for the buck. BTW - do you mind sharing why you are upgrading?

[jimmyp58]

Without being overly cynical, why do you think I am upgrading? O.K., sorry for being a smarty-pants. It is the ever incurable bug called upgraditis. You know, the one where you are always trying to reach audio Nirvana but it is just a couple of fingers away. Well, I wanted to get one finger closer. It really is that simple. Nothing more, nothing less.

I auditioned the 1098 vs. Anthem Statement D1 at one sitting and the 1098 vs. Bryston SP 1.7 at another. Did I like the Statement D1? Sure. It is a very impressive unit. I listened to 2-channel, multi-channel audio, and movies. It sounded very impressive in all phases. That being said, I didn't notice a significant difference between the two. Actually, I left the demo somewhat perplexed and disappointed. On the other hand, I was totally wowed by the Bryston. Understand that I heard the Bryston once before and I was totally impressed with it then. It lacks some features that many find very meaningful on the 1098. So for the while, I kept my 1098. Over time, I realized that I didn't need some of the other features I was using with the 1098 and that I could essentially do a work-around with on the Bryston (digital recording and zone 2). So when we put our head together, click, the Bryston was it. Period.

I don't want this to get too far off as this is a Rotel forum and I don't want to detract from that. Perhaps Andrew or Jason may deem that it fits elsewhere and if so, no problem. Or if you want to PM me with more questions, that's fine too

Hope this helps....

Jim

[DrJRapp]

.

I auditioned the 1098 vs. Anthem Statement D1 at one sitting and the 1098 vs. Bryston SP 1.7 at another. Jim

Yesterday I got to audition the Anthem Statement AVM 30 and the D-1 alongside the Bryston SP 1.7 I need to bring down a Rotel piece to compare, but both of the Anthems performed extremely well. The Bryston I am sure sounds even more wonderful. but the dealer did not have it in the same room as the Anthems...so it wasn't set up with the same Paradigm Refgerence speakers, etc. The Bryston isn't in contention as far as I am concerned because it is nearly featureless. Doesn't even have an OSD.

[Adz]

Doc -

Curious, did you ask the dealer if they had an opinion or other thoughts on the 1.7 versus the Anthem? Too bad you couldn't hear them side by side in the same room - would they set that up for you? What list of features do you think you absolutely need before you would consider a pre/pro like the 1.7?

[jimmyp58]

Jerry:

I know we've exchange some e-mails over this so I won't go into the feature thing this go around but I didn't get the impression from your explanation that you actually listened to the Bryston 1.7 or am I misunderstanding what you are trying to explain. From my understanding the dealer had all three machines you wanted to listen to (AVM-30, D1, and 1.7) with the D1 & AVM-30 in one room paired up with some Paradigm Reference speakers and the Bryston in another not being connected to these speakers. You listened to this setup and did a comparison (sounded great too) but you inferred (again unless I am reading this wrong) that "the Bryston I am sure sounds even more wonderful...". I guess I could also interpret this is you listened to the 1.7 and you surmise that it may sound better than the Anthems but it is tough to say because you couldn't compare because they weren't in the same room and used different speakers.

Anyway, it's good to see that you liked the Bryston as well as the Anthems. It is too bad that you couldn't have done a blinded a/b due to the Bryston being in another room. And I know the features mean a lot to you so I know you'd never buy that Bryston unit. Sounds like you'll probably go the route of one of the Anthems and that will be a big upgrade from the Rotel 1066. And like I've said before, the Bryston isn't for everyone especially for the enthusiast that needs/wants a ton of features beyond sonic brilliance.

Jim

[boe]

Anthem Statement

I saw a member mention that in group purchases 5 or more, they might be able to get the Anthem for half list. If this is the case, I'd be willing to exceed my $2K budget.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=8261

[DrJRapp]

Jerry:

I guess I could also interpret this is you listened to the 1.7 and you surmise that it may sound better than the Anthems but it is tough to say because you couldn't compare because they weren't in the same room and used different speakers.
Jim

You got that right! The dealer's salesman didn't try very hard with the Bryston because I had already clued him to the fact that I did not care for the Bryston's lack of features. The unit I listened to was used (not that that makes any difference), plus I only listened briefly to some 2 channel played through Vienna Acoustics speakers that to me sounded thin. Perhaps they sounded so thin and lifeless since I have become more acustomed to listening to multi-channel through very dynamic speakers nowadays. Perhaps the Bryston can sound really top notch, however, I drive a Jaguar instead of a Corvette, not because the Vette is bad, but because I want the Features of a Jaguar, not the speed of a Vette...get my drift???

[DrJRapp]

I saw a member mention that in group purchases 5 or more, they might be able to get the Anthem for half list. If this is the case, I'd be willing to exceed my $2K budget.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=8261

If that can happen , let me know by pm or email, I may ante-in.

[boe]

I would have been doubtful about doing this years ago but I ordered my Mits 65813 in December through yahoo and saved a fortune over what local dealers wanted. I made an offer to the local guys but they thought I was nuts - I guess the lowered commission they would have made wasn't worth their effort of swiping my credit card and asking for my address.

I love my Mits

[jimmyp58]

I got your drift on this a while ago. No matter how good the Bryston sounds, even if in a blinded test using your equipment less the pre/pro, if you discovered it sounded better than the Anthem you still wouldn't buy it. That was the to each his own story I was telling you a short time back. And you know what, I am happy for you that you find the D1 sexier than the 1.7 because of all the features (and that it sounds very good too) but that is where it ends. Would I ever close the door on owning a D1? Heck no because I am always looking for a better sounding system --- it's my happiest hobby. But we definitely differ in that you want a great sounding system that is feature rich, regardless of how many of the features you won't use because most folks rarely use all the features their system has to offer, and looks good too where as I will always search for a sonically better solution for my listening pleasures and if it looks nice, great (not that it has zero features but you get my drift).

As good as the D1 sounded on the Paradigm References, it'll probably sound even better on your Klipsch References. Maybe that is the reason my D1 audition didn't sound too good, they had the Def Techs hooked up. In hindsight I should have had them hook up the B&Ws or Paradigm References. Maybe then I would have discovered it sounded better than it did. Oh well...

Jim

[RisingPhoenix]

Can i ask one question about my newly arrived 1068 (Nice to have finally finished (most) of the system now)...

Is it on a wish list/furture upgrades to change distance steps (ie: 0.1 meter increments) in the next software version?

Regards,

Steve

[Aussie Geoff]

Rising Phoenix,

Yes - this is on the wishlist.... HERE

Geoff

[Drew_W]

Lot's of companies, including Rotel, find it more useful to spend the money on the component itself than on THX certification.

A whole bunch of their amps carry THX logos though...