Rotel opinions

miner

I currently have a Rotel RC-1070 pre and RB-1070 amp (130 w/ch). I am considering upgrading the amp to the RB-1080 (200 w/ch). At only 70 w/ch difference will I see much sonic improvement? Damping factor on RB-1070 is 500 and on the RB-1080 its 1000. I have been told bass extension will be better. My speakers are B&W 804N and sub is B&W ASW800. I was looking to upgrade the pre to the Rotel RC-1090 but it is no longer available in the US. I missed out on the recent RC-1090/RB-1090 sale here or we would not be having this conversation. BTW, I handed my RT-20p down to my son and he is so happy (now he can get rid of the Blose 301s and Infinity bookshelfs).

cfrizz

Go for it. More power is always a good thing!

janmike

Love the 1080 I have. I would like to have 200w all round in my HT.

mantis

miner wrote:

I currently have a Rotel RC-1070 pre and RB-1070 amp (130 w/ch). I am considering upgrading the amp to the RB-1080 (200 w/ch). At only 70 w/ch difference will I see much sonic improvement? Damping factor on RB-1070 is 500 and on the RB-1080 its 1000. I have been told bass extension will be better. My speakers are B&W 804N and sub is B&W ASW800. I was looking to upgrade the pre to the Rotel RC-1090 but it is no longer available in the US. I missed out on the recent RC-1090/RB-1090 sale here or we would not be having this conversation. BTW, I handed my RT-20p down to my son and he is so happy (now he can get rid of the Blose 301s and Infinity bookshelfs).

Owning the 804's is Impressive all by itself. nice man nice. The sonic change is slight. The rb1080 is slighty warmer and more musical . With your speakers you will notice a difference. I 2 own Rotel in the RSP1068 and RMB1095. When I go back to using 7 channel, I plan on adding a RB1080 to run my mains.

If you can get one in your house and demo them side my side, you may or may not need it. You may or may not like it. You have to really decide that.

The comment more power is a good thing, well thats pretty true, it's better to have more and not need it then need it and not have it. So with that being said....

Dan

venomclan

Hi miner,
You absolutly need a better amp for the 804's. The FST midrange in the 804's alone will consume most of what your current amp will give. The Rotel 1080 will also be not enough for your 804's. The only Rotel amp that can mate with a B&W 800 series speaker is the RB-1090. Most 800 owners will not use Rotel, 800's require higher end amps.

See if you can find a used Bryston, Classe, Earthquake, Krell...You will not believe the difference your 804's will sound. Check out htguide.com-B&W forum for some pointers. Good luck.
Venom

dorokusai

Damping factor is a marketing number and means very little as far as a specification.

beardog03

miner wrote:

BTW, I handed my RT-20p down to my son and he is so happy (now he can get rid of the Blose 301s and Infinity bookshelfs).

you are a good father..!
great speaks for the boy to cut his teeth on..!

W WALDECKER

miner wrote:

I currently have a Rotel RC-1070 pre and RB-1070 amp (130 w/ch). I am considering upgrading the amp to the RB-1080 (200 w/ch). At only 70 w/ch difference will I see much sonic improvement? Damping factor on RB-1070 is 500 and on the RB-1080 its 1000. I have been told bass extension will be better. My speakers are B&W 804N and sub is B&W ASW800. I was looking to upgrade the pre to the Rotel RC-1090 but it is no longer available in the US. I missed out on the recent RC-1090/RB-1090 sale here or we would not be having this conversation. BTW, I handed my RT-20p down to my son and he is so happy (now he can get rid of the Blose 301s and Infinity bookshelfs).

i owned a Rotel RB1080 and felt it sounded a bit compressed and you had to push it pretty hard for it to sound decent.it never sounded good to me at low listening levels.in my opinion there are better amplifiers in the same price range. audio is subjective by nature so your results may vary greatly.thanks....WCW III

2+2

dorokusai wrote:

Damping factor is a marketing number and means very little as far as a specification.

I presume this is probably true but I would think that when comparing amps of the same brand where more than likely, measurement techniques will be the same, it probably does provide a good information regarding relative performance of the different amps in their line up.

I had the 1075 before and it really could not handle the LSi 15s woofer at all. 1080 does it alot better. I would think your B&Ws would appreciate the power and current jump (the 1080 can muster a lot more current than the 1075 or the 1070)....but yea, if you have the deep pockets, go even higher....