Finally, decided on RSP-1066 & RMB-1075. . .

[Hap C]

Thanks to all who contribute to this forum, as you have helped to steer me in what I think is the right direction. I've been lurking for quite a while, and have learned a lot. I've also been looking at components off and on for 6 months to upgrade from a Denon AVR-3300, and finally ordered the Rotel RSP-1066 & RMB-1075 separates (in silver). They sounded great to my ear, and the recent What Hi Fi/Sound & Vision test results, that picked the Rotel combo over much higher priced stuff, confirm that others are hearing the same qualities. The Rotel stuff will be in tomorrow, and I'll do a review after they are fully set up and broken in. Hope the 1066 doesn't "pop".

Questions:
1. How do I make sure that the RSP-1066 has the upgraded 200mhz component video?

2. What is the most recent version of firmware for the 1066?

3. Finally, anyone want to recommend some interconnects? Yes, I've already looked at Cat Cables, they seem impressive, and I am considering them. What other interconnects are folks using, and how do you like them?


Cheers,

Hap

[Hap C]

Oops, one more question. For the RMB-1075, what kind of speaker cable terminations are you all using? Spades? Bananas? Something else? Thanks.

Hap

[gshisme]

Questions:
1. How do I make sure that the RSP-1066 has the upgraded 200mhz component video?

2. What is the most recent version of firmware for the 1066?

e-mail the serial # off the unit to techsupport@rotel.com from the Rotel website and they will return info on the 200mhz bandwidth upgrade

Version 1.x latest uprade is v1.48
Version 2.x latest uprade is v2.25




suds, suds, and more suds

[gshisme]

read the first thread in this forum by Andrew Pratt..a must read.




suds, suds, and more suds

[Andrew Pratt]

Agreed most of your question are answered in the FAQ thread at the top of page.

[Lex]

"Seem impressive"? They are impressive. lol. Get the cats and become Hap py not just Hap. haha.

Congrats on your new purchase!

Lex

[Scarp]

Use banana for speakercables on the Rotel amps. This is safest and easiest.

[MiguelR]

Hap,

First of all, congrats. I wish I could follow your steps and go separates, but for now that's *slightly* out of my budget.... :roll:

Second - did you order online? Your post seems to imply that? If so, from whom? Believe it or not, I'm having a *hard* time finding a brick and mortar dealer willing to sell me my RSX 1055!

Thanks
Miguel

[Hap C]

OK, got the Rotel stuff home and have unpacked it, but won't have time to hook everything up for a day or two. I ended up going for the black RSP-1066, the dealer had both, and, I dunno, I just liked the black better. It will be visible, and the other components around it are black. I stayed with the amp in silver, but there's not much silver on it, just the center, and it will be behind a cabinet door anyway, so it really doesn't matter what color it is.

Initial impression is that the stuff is solidly built. Scarp, I will use banana plugs, especially since Rotel supplied 5 very nice sets of gold banana plugs for the speaker cable, which is a nice touch. The dealer supplied a 12v trigger cable, which was also nice. Not so nice is that the remote included was the old model, RR-1069, rather than the newer and improved RR1050. I'm going to call the dealer tomorrow and see if he will swap.

Club Rotel came through again. I searched and found a post - from Andrew Pratt, of course - that reported that serial numbers higher than #2341001 have the 200mhz video upgrade. I am way above that, so good news there. Waiting to get it all hooked up to power on, and then I'll check the firmware version, but the dealer assured me it was the most recent version as it was an April, 2003 build unit.

MiguelR, I bought locally, not mail order. I believe in supporting local dealers. And, although it was an average deal (10%off), he is a good guy and helpful, and I like having someone local to deal with for any issues that might come up later on.

Lex, I may end up with the Cat cables, but for the moment I just want to get everything hooked up with what I have to make sure it works. I'll worry about tweaking, and upgrading cables, next week.

Hap

[Mats]

hap, congrats on your purchase... you will be very, very pleased with these two units. black vs. silver should be the toughest choice any of us will make regarding rotel!

rotel provided you with banana plugs?!?!? btw, i've got the 1050 remote (came with my purchase at the beginning of april)- you'll be wise to invest in a good universal remote; the universal remote mx-500 is kick-arse for the money ($110 street). others here will praise the pronto, you make the call.

good luck again, there's nothing like seeing those two blue (or red) lights luminating from your a/v rack.....

[Hap C]

OK, i hooked stuff up this afternoon and let it cook for 3-4 hours. So far, first impression is that the sound quality is superb on both CD and DVD, a big improvement over the Denon AVR-3300 I had been using. The Rotel has a much warmer sound, more natural, and bass is tighter. Also plays a lot louder. The Rotel 1075 is rated at 120 watts, all channels driven, and that's probably accurate. The Denon was rated at 105 watts, all channels driven, but magazine tests showed it was more like 80 watts. Too early to tell much more.

I'd give the owner's manual and setup instructions an F. I had no trouble setting up HD cable (V1 - Component 1), HD terrestrial receiver (V2 - Component 2), and DVD (V3, video direct into TV on sep component input). But I can't get the 1066 to recognize the TV analogue audio at all (assigned to V4), and with the VCR I get audio on V5, where it was assigned, but the video shows up on V2. Aarrrgh! I must be doing something wrong, but the manual is no help at all. Anyone have this problem in the past and solve it?

Is there a way to turn off the record source on the 1066 display? I rarely record anything, and it is confusing to have it up there all the time.

Valongi, you are right, the RR969 remote is badly designed. Having to slide the door down to switch video sources is by far the worst design flaw I have noticed so far. I already have a Home Theater Master MX-500, guess I'll be going back to that. I still will try to upgrade to the RR1050, maybe it's better.

Cheers,

Hap

[Wilfred]

Is there a way to turn off the record source on the 1066 display? I rarely record anything, and it is confusing to have it up there all the time.

Yes, update firmware to the latest revision. Record Source was replaced by Volume Level

See this post ->

http://www.htguide.com/CFBoards/index.cfm?fuseaction=Threads.viewthread&Tid=39822& Forum=25&StartRow=1&CFB=1

[Hap C]

Thanks Wilfred. Will do that once I get the setup problems figured out.

Hap

[ZX 6R]

The RR-1050 is basically the 969 with the annoying stuff taken out. No more having to slide the bottom half down to change components. Tap the top keys quickly and it starts functioning as the remote for that device hold down the keys longer and then the receiver or pre will switch to that input.

[wng]

It's good Rotel resolved that. I leave the cover slightly open to expose the two rows of input keys and just operate the remote flat on my table.