RB1080...how much better?

[resperc]

I just bought a 1068/1075 combo and I am loving it. It's a huge upgrade over the Onkyo reciever I was using. Home theater and music (stereo) both sound great. I was considering adding the RB1080 for my front speakers. I have decent speakers (Polk Audio-RT55s, CS400, FX500s and PSW650...need to upgrade eventually) with a high sensitivity of 90-91db. When I listen to music I only listen in stereo so the 1075 is only driving two speakers. Will the 1080 sound SIGNIFICANTLY better than the 1075 for music? Please share your thoughts, opinions and experiences.

Thanks, resperc

PS-would you save the money for speakers instead of purchasing the RB1080?

[aud19]

That's a tough call. Speakers will make the biggest audible difference but... If you save money to upgrade the speakers those likely bigger and better speakers will also likely bennefit from the extra power and control the 1080 would offer.... That's a hard decision you might have to make on your own. Get amp now or save and get speakers and amp later but get speakers sooner....

As for the 1080, everyone on here that's bought one has mentioned a noticeable improvement especially for 2-channel music. It's definitely on my wishlist! :P

Jason

[Jason Brown]

Boy, that's a tough call. I'm not too familiar with your Polks, so I can't say much there other than I used to have a different set that I enjoyed before upgrading.

I can tell you, though, about my experience listening in 2-channel to the RMB-1095 before I bought the RB-1090. I love my amp and I would never go back, but I did expect the differences between the two to make themselves more readily apparent. I honestly didn't realize the difference until I switched back to the 1095 and could hear the stereo separation to be less defined than with the stereo amp. Ultimately the difference is worth it to me, but it's one of those upgrades I had to go backwards to fully appreciate.

I would wager that if you can afford a significant upgrade from your current speakers, that would probably bring more listening gratification. Both instant and long-term.