Trigger confusion - Rotel 1068

[RotelNewbie]

Man, there sure seems to be some confusion on this topic, reading through history. Anyway, my situtation is unique and I'm looking for any suggestions on a solution. I recently came home with a brand new RSP-1068 to replace my aged Marantz AV600/DP870 combo. Stopped at Radio Shack on the ride home to pick up the requisite 1/8" mono mini-plug to RCA adapter required for compatibility with the 5 Marantz MA500 monoblock amps, which use a standard RCA plug. Hooked up the cable to the Trigger 1 output on the Rotel, enabled all the triggers via the setup menus - nada. Went online to do some searching on the topic, found some older links describing similar experiences with other folks trying to integrate their Marantz amps to a Lexicon processor. The trigger interface for the Marantz (D-BUS, RC-5?) was described as sensing a "video" signal. Huh? Tried hooking up the composite vid out from the Rotel anyways, still didn't work. So basically I am not yet able to power up the 5 amps automatically. Considering purchasing a surge protector a-la Panamax, etc. which provides a 12V trigger capability and use its switched AC outlets to control the power to the amps. Worried about the all-at-once surge though. At least the amps powered up sequentially (and flawlessly) in the all-Marantz system. Pretty cool to watch. Does anybody have any similar experience with trying to control Marantz amps via a "standard" 12V trigger like on the 1068? I'm open to any alternate suggestion on how to accomplish this too... Thanks!

[brucek]

From your user manual of the Marantz MA500 monoblock amps, what does it say the trigger input specifications are?

[RotelNewbie]

brucek,
checked for that but no luck. no spec quoted in the user manual.
thx

[Kevin D]

Did a search, here's what I've found.

I use a mix of MA500s and MA700s. The MA500s will only trigger using
Marantz's proprietary RC-5 bus or from each other. The MA700s trigger
using Marantz D-Bus or 12V.

I trigger my MA700 using a video signal from the TV.

This seems to be correct by most everything I read. The MA500's can only be controlled by Marantz controls, either a Marantz preamp or a MA700. The MA700 only has the 12v and composite triggers. You could look into a programable piece with each outlet having different delay times. Rotel's RLC-1050 would work.

Kevin D.

[RotelNewbie]

Thanks Kevin. I think I have come to the same conclusion, based upon my research. I am trying to locate a replacement MA-6100 monoblock for one of my MA-500s. It has the same specs as the MA-500, with the added feature of the 12V trigger like MA-700. Then I can feed the Rotel 12V trigger to the MA-6100 and daisy chain the rest of the MA-500s off of that using the RC-5. Thanks for your help