Another Amp?

janmike

I currently have the following:

Yamaha RX-V1500
Rotel RB1080
2 - RTi100's

The 2 front speakers are driven by the Rotel (200 X 2)

I am contemplating purchasing another Rotel Amp. The following speakers are currently driven by the Yamaha.

Sides - 2 - RTi38'
Rears - 2 - RTi6"
Centre - 1 - CSi 5
1 SVS PB10-ISD (Soon to be purchased)

Two questions come to mind as I will probably purchase 1 of the following:

A) Rotel RMB-1095 (200 X 5)
Rotel RMB-1075 (120 X 5)

1) Should I keep the 200wpc consistent. The Yamaha is 120 X 7.
2) There is no indication that I could power the sub through the amp. Do you folks power the sub through the pre/pro or a separate amp.

Any other suggestions or comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

Dennis Gardner

Just my opinion, but you will rarely find a need for 1400 watts (7x200) unless your room is huge, and if that is the case, the sub will be too small.

The sub is already powered at 300 watts, so I would consider powering the mains and center with 200 to be more than enough and powering the sides and rears with 200 to be wasteful since you speakers aren't large enough to take it.

Your speakers are the weak link for 200wpc now.

janmike

Thanks Dennis. That would probably lead me down the path I want to go anyway. Perhaps the 1075 would be a better option for the other speakers.

Dennis Gardner

I love separate amps myself and you should buy as much amp as you can afford to avoid upgrades in that area. A good amp can last years, where processors and sources change regularly. Anyone that bought a McIntosh 100-200 watt amp 40 years ago still has something that will sound great in a music or HT system today. Even a multi channel amp like the 5 channel Rotel will give you the flexibility to bi-amp speakers in a 2 channel stereo rig, or run a whole house system in the future if your HT goes away.

Think about your system like a chess game. A few great moves will get you farther than alot of little time wasting sacrifices.

Now about that speaker upgrade......:D

janmike

That is exactly what I am thinking. The amp will reduce some of the load on the AVR. I do not want to purchase an amp that cannot be used down the road. I have a line on both the 1075 & the 1095. Just not sure which one.

As for the speaker upgrade down the road.... I was looking for the comment..., you stopped in mid stream.

One name comes to my mind, but will not be limited to. That will be next years project.

hamzahsh

janmike, you should get 100-125w x 5 amp for the rest. I think Rotel has 125w x 5, not sure what the model no. is?

If you listen 2-ch music without sub, it is better to have more power for your fronts which you already have.

Yes, it is best to have separate amplification. So the transformer is used only for processing in your receiver. This will improve the sound even more. I remember when I had only 2-ch amp but very soon I bought the 5-ch amp and it was a different experience. I've a full blown separate system.

No more sharing power!

Early B.

My first amp for the center channel (Csi40 at the time) was 100 wpc. It made a slight difference. Then I moved up to 200 wpc and the center channel came alive.

Get the 1095.

hamzahsh

High quality 100w amp will sound better than low quality 200w amp, no doubt.

janmike

Would you consider Rotel low quality?

Dennis Gardner

Rotel's higher wattage amps are mid level, and work very well in HT applications. High quality amps are literally thousands of dollars Krell, Mark Levinson, Pass Labs to name a couple. Easily $5k or higher.

The first high watt/ lower quality that come to mind are professional series amps that have higher noise and distortion levels than you would like to have in a home setting.

Vintage solid state amps (over 20 years old) regardless of price can have bad sound due to parts getting out of the tolerance range of good performance. Steer clear unless you know how to repair. If they have sat forever in storage, they may be trouble.

janmike

That's where I would have put Rotel. Mid Level is good for me, at least for now.

The eventual goal down the road will be to build a better 2 CH system. For now, the music is good, HT great (will be better once the SVS sub lands) and the family is enjoying the sound.

Once I begin the building of the 2 CH system, Polk Audio will probably not be part of the picture. I will more than likely end up selecting PROAC and then will support the speakers with quality reference gear. The names you mentioned, McIntosh and others will all be part of the selection process. I have not listened to probably more than 25 different speakers (manufacturers) and Proac is at the top of the list for me. I can still recall the sound and that was over 5 years ago.

Dennis Gardner

A nice mid level audio system for HT with a larger screen TV or even up into the front projector systems can be very rewarding.

I found that reaching an acceptable level of performance with a multi channel HT to be easier than building a 2 channel music rig that shows off each nuance and detail of a recording. I find myself actually critical of the video portion of my HT more often than the audio. I use a front projector on an 8 ft. wide screen.

Good luck with your Rotel setup, your family will really enjoy it once you add the amazing difference a solid HT sub like the SVS makes.

janmike

The Polk Audio power recommendations are as follows:

RTi38 - 20 to 150
RTi5 - 20 to 125
CSi5 - 20 to 200

Am I at risk by using the 200wpc amp (Rotel RMB-1095 200 wpc X 5) for all of these speakers? The centre speaker looks good.

The Rti100 indicate 20 to 250 and it made sense that Rotel 1080 was ok.

Dennis Gardner

Speakers rarely see their peak rating reached in a 7 channel setup unless you are running them full range (large). I would say that your system would sound its best with your surrounds and rears set to small and let the SVS handle the bass tracks. This will allow the mids and highs to freely sing from your smaller speakers as they were never designed to handle theater type fullrange duty. The 38s and 6s will be fine with 200 watts as long as it doesn't include deep bass that will require the mid woofer to travel too far. The fronts and center should be tried on both the large and small setting once you get your sub. Many like the small setting even with front towers, as it reroutes the deepest bass and puts it where it should be, into your sub, clearing up vocal and music tracks. Again, try both and decide for yourself.

Clean power is good for speakers, underpowering a speaker with distortion and allowing amps to clip or try to shutdown when over driven, can destroy drivers.