Rotel DVD Players

[wernert]

I have been browsing the forum and find it interesting that most of the Rotel systems (pictures posted) does not include a DVD player from Rotel. I see Denon, Pioneer, Sony, etc. The write-ups on the RDV1040 and RDV1060 available here in South Africa is excellent (rated at 5 stars). I am in the process of upgrading my NAD T550 dvd player, and would appreciate some feedback on this issue.

[eelco74]

I had a DVD-985 dvd player and a RCD-975 cd player. However with also two poweramps, a processor, a tapedeck. tuner and recordplayer I descided to fo for a multiplayer. I simply ran out of rackspace.

Altough the 1060 and 1050 are nice machines, and would nicely match my setup, they do not play SA-CD. And I own quite a lot of them, since SA-CD (at least in holland) releases are quite common now.

So of you are not into SA-CD, you can quite happily buy one. I found my 985 quite a nice machine (also reasolably fine as a CD player).

[Charl]

wernert

I'm a fellow South African (wow, there must be at least 4 of us in this forum by now!), and like you, I'm looking to buy a new DVD player.

I currently own the older Sony DVP-NS305 and I really want to upgrade to a Rotel machine. I've tentatively pre-booked one of the new RDV-1050 units which will be arriving in the country in about 2 weeks.

I also can't find any overwhelming evidence of the quality of the Rotel machines on the net, and I can't say I've seen any SA reviews either.

Everyone seems to be raving over the Denon machines, but they are ridiculously expensive here in SA. It seems the 2200 retails for almost double the cost of the RDV-1040 and the 2900 is again almost double the cost of the RDV-1060!

P.S. I had a good long look at the NAD T533 also, which is much cheaper and apparantly sounds pretty good. My local dealer in Durban prefers this over the Rotel, but that is obviously his personal opinion.
Unfortunately I've had quality problems with 2 of the last 4 NAD components I'v bought in the last 18 months, so I'm happy to go with the Rotel in stead.

So I will be getting a Rotel machine for now, based on the fact the rest of their products are of very high quality. And of course they look sooooo damn cool! :B

[ROb Aspeling]

Hey there fellow South Africans.

I have one of the first RDV-1060's that came into the country. I have no complaints whatsoever. It plays seemlessly and video and audio are both excellent. I used to like the Pioneer units but this knocks the socks off them.

[Bam!]

Hey there fellow South Africans.

I have one of the first RDV-1060's that came into the country. I have no complaints whatsoever. It plays seemlessly and video and audio are both excellent. I used to like the Pioneer units but this knocks the socks off them.

In what way ?

I am curious....

Sonically what does it do better ?
As for the pic.....what`s better...the blacks...the grain...?

Just curious...

Thanks

[lifeinabox]

I'm curious to know as well. Pioneer, in general, are known to be pretty top notch in the video area. I don't know what chipset the 1060 uses, but I wonder if suffers from the chroma bug.

I'm surprised Rotel DVD players don’t get much attention here in the US. I can't find any reviews of the newer models online or on any of the popular HT forums. I’m sure many folks, like me, are sick of having multiple players and wouldn’t mind a one-box solution that excels at both audio and video.

[ROb Aspeling]

Yes, I agree the Pioneer always had good video but it is as if the Rotels' colors are a lot more vibrant. There also seems to be less "noise" and jaggies. (I use a LCD projector running at 720p). The color migration also seems to be less than that of the Pioneer. I have not noticed an improvement in the black levels. As far as chroma bug goes, I can't comment.

As far as sound is concerned, I have noticed more detail as well as sounds that I never heard there before. The staging also seems much improved, more subtle but more defined.

[Mark_C.]

Excuse me for crashing the party, but my dealer still has RDV-1080s in the showroom. I said: "Of course, they're being sold at a substantial discount.'' He said: "Make me an offer.''
Anyone have experience with the RDV-1080? How does it compare with the RDV-1050, 1060? Wasn't the U.S. list somewhere around $899 for the 1080 when it was current? Thanks

[Pez]

I picked up the RDV-1040 about 2 months ago. I did notice some improvements over the cheap Sony DVD player I had as far as color and sound. However, considering its price I was expecting more, espeically since its not a DVDA or SACD player. I was looking at a Denon 2200 or 2900 but since I dont listen to music (and multi-channel music for that matter) that often I couldnt justify the extra cost of the Denon DVD players. My biggest dissapointment is with the layer change, I was expecting it to go away with the 1040 but still notice it on some movies. The sony I had was terrible with that. Would I buy it again for the price I paid (10% off retail), probably not but I do like how it looks with my rack of Rotel gear (amp, pre/pro, tuner). There is something to be said about aesthetcs.

[aarsoe]

I have the 1080 DVD player, and even if the unit was very good at the time I purchased it, technology have certainly evolved since then.
The sound is very good, both used as DVD-Audio player and as CD player - however the picture looks outdated compared to newer players today.
Unless you can get a really good deal, I would take a newer generation player, if you are looking for the best possible picture.
To put it in perspective, I tried a Philips 963SA and even if I did not purchase it, it had a picture that was much clearer and crisper that my 1080.
And the 963 was sold at a fraction of the cost of the 1080.
However the remote sucked.. :M

[Charl]

Pez, I'm in that exact same boat. I have a 2-year old entry level Sony machine and I'm very keen to upgrade to the Rotel RDV-1050.

I know the 1050 is supposedly a step up from the 1040, but based on your findings I might consider keeping the Sony and rather spend the money on an additional power amp (RB-1080) to get more 'bang for my buck'.

I'm curious - what other equipment do you use? This might also have an impact on the 'difference' you can or can't hear and see.

[lifeinabox]

Thanks for all the feedback.

Again, I would think the Rotel DVD appeal would be sort of a best of both worlds where audio is just as important as video.

Otherwise, as some have pointed out, other brands provide a better bang for the buck and the latest technology (DVI/HDMI, for example) for dedicated video.

I agree with Pez's point that aesthetics plays into this. Having a DVD/CD player to match my 1055 would be nice.

[Pez]

Charl - check out my sig and click on the link. But in case you dont feel like doing that my equipment is:

Rotel RSP-1068, RMB-1075, RDV-1040, and RT-1080 (not pictured yet)
Speakers: B&W 705's, HTM7 and Def Tef BP2X's for surrounds, SVS PC+ 20-39
TV: Mits 48-411 (I think)

Like I mentioned before, I really wanted the Denon 2200 or 2900 but the added cost of the player and additional cables for multi-channel music would have been more than I wanted to spend. Especially for something I dont listen to very often (music). My HT usage is probaly 95% movies and 5% music, if that. I am dying to hear Dark Side of the Moon on SACD but spending that much for one disc is crazy. My tastes in music are exremely limited.

The 1040 was definately a step up from the Sony but the one feature I was really looking for, getting rid of the delay during a layer change, the rotel sometimes has a delay. Its not as pronounced as the Sony but still there (however I hadnt noticed the layer change in the last 3 movies I watched, go figure). In hindsight the Sony was a decent unit but with the level of equipment I have getting better I wanted something more in line with the rest of my componenets. I should note that I also needed a progressive scan player as I got an HDTV recently.

Denon is coming out with some new players soon, might be worth waiting for as they generally get great reviews. But I would still check out the 1050 and try it out if possible. However considering the price it doesnt even do SACD. You could get a universal for less money if thats important to you. One thing that shouldnt be overlooked is the Rotel build quality, I think its excellent and I plan to have the 1040 for a long time.

But I said it before and I will say again, the rack of rotel equipment looks very nice. In fact, I typically dont like silver compnonets but Rotel knows how to do it right. Even though my wife lets me get what I want (no WAF for me to worry about) I am more obsessed with how things look than she is and I'm not afriad to admit that.

[aud19]

Pez, layer changes can be done different ways on the software end and is somewhat media dependant. Also some movies "mask" the change better by having it in the middle of a fade to black etc.

Jason

[Pez]

Pez, layer changes can be done different ways on the software end and is somewhat media dependant.

I wondered about that, thanks. What I should do is watch the movies that had a pronounced delay and see how the Rotel fares compared to my old Sony.

I might have come off a little harsh about my 1040. The more I think about it the more I realize it does offer better visuals and audio than the Sony. I never tried this with my previuos player but I do like the ability to hook the 1040 as an analog cd player in addition to the digital audio connections for DVD. I may not listen to much music but I prefer to keep that analog, unfortunately my mains arent up to par for lower bass.

[ssavoy23]

rotel rdv-1050

i have a rotel 1050 and the picture quality is amazing...i using monster cable component video thru my Panasonic HDTV and the color and attention to detail is just about as good as anything else i've seen. Sound quality has yet to be fairly evaluated since i sent my rsp-1066 to Rotel for the upgrade. Build quality is great as well. I highly recommend it. It may not have DVI/HDMI but no matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to keep up with the ever-so changing world of technology. I've found a picture that I'm extremely pleased with so I'm sticking with this for a few years until the HD players have been released for a couple of years and have proven to be a stable format with amazing sound and video quality. That's my 2 cents anyway. btw, i'm new to this site. :T

[hamlyn]

I, too, use an RDV 1060 DVD player which I bought after demoing it on a Marantz DLP projector. The DVD-A portion, too, is quite impressive. It does not support SACD playback, but I had to draw a line somewhere. It was either pay $1500 for a universal Marantz or stay with a Rotel DVD-A. The Denon universal was not a consideration as I did not feel it lived up to the quality I was expecting in sound and picture.

[wernert]

Thanks for all the feedback.

I most certainly agree that the Rotel DVD players beats all the others on looks. I auditioned the RDV 1040 and 1060 and was amazed with the sound and build quality. The Denons are just to expensive here in South Africa and I have heard of too much problems with Sony. I bit the bullet and bought the RDV1060 as it also has DVD Audio.

The existing Nad T550 still sounds good, but I am sure that I have become quite used to the sound over the past 4 1/2 years. The Rotel can also play CD-R/W and JPEG photos which was a no-no on the Nad.

I was not too impressed with the Nad dvd players as I had problems before with their integrated amps (760 and 762) and agree that a rack of Rotel looks the best.

I also tried the RB-1070 power amp on my fronts, but compared to the RMB-1075 there was not a mayor difference in sound. My dealer suggested the RB-1080 which I will aquire in due course.

I am still deciding on the placement of the dvd player in my cabinet and will post some pics as soon as I have the lot sorted out.

[Charl]

wernert, I'm happy to hear you did a comparison - please let us know how the 1040 stacked up against the 1060?