Rotel RSX-1055 Review: Part II (LONG)

TonyPTX

Well I promised everyone a follow-up on the performance of this new beast. As reference, I can only compare my system’s current performance with that of its predecessor, the Onkyo TX-SR600 receiver & my brother’s B&K Pre/NAD Amp separates. All system components remained constant except for the exchange of the receiver.

As I mentioned in Part I of my review, the Rotel is all about the power, clean power. It was clearly evident in my quick THD test that in the past my Onkyo was adding extra “flavor” to the music. Cranking up the volume on the Rotel to MAX with a source muted resulted in absolutely no audible hiss from the main speakers. Only the PSW-404 gave a slight rumble, as it was clearly evident that the 200W amp used in it was far more inferior to those found in the Rotel. Audible hiss out of the old Onkyo began showing up around 89-90 clicks of the volume knob. (The old Onkyo was capable of going from 0-100 volume clicks, the Rotel only 0-90.) Granted this was far higher than I would ever play the system, distortion comes into play on high peaks of intense DVD movie playback.

Rotel’s capability to auto-detect the various digital input sources were comparable to the Onkyo’s capability. Digital signals were detected properly and the sound output was directed to the correct speakers in the system. From DVD movies in Dolby Digital & DTS to surround sound encoded music in DVD-A and DTS formats, the Rotel kept up with the mix. A nice feature new to me in this unit was the front panel display showing which channels are currently being used along with the ability to temporarily “turn off” the front panel display if the light it emits is annoying to you or you want to eliminate all sources of “noise” in the system. A fairly annoying feature (that may be disabled via remote or menu but I haven’t attempted to find it yet) was the 4-5 second OSD the receiver would broadcast on the screen every time the receiver would detect a new digital audio format being decoded. This is mostly prevalent during the very beginning of DVD playback as the menu screen loads up and/or the movie begins to play. The OSD tends to temporarily obscure information on the DVD Main Menu or credits/action at the beginning of a movie.

Another nice feature that Rotel included was the manual on/off selection of the multi-source input found on the back of the unit. These 7-channel multi-source inputs are generally used for DVD-A or SACD playback units, however they can be used for any future needs as well. By enabling the Mult-Input, the receiver by-passes all processing and sends the signal directly to amps and pre-outs. This allows you to continue to use the digital optical/coax out on the back of your DVD player for movie mode and still have the analog inputs connected to the receiver for DVD-A audio mode without having to manually enter your DVD setup screen and tell it what audio output source to use. Other convenient features of the 1055 are adjustable crossover settings from OFF to a range of 40-120Hz in 20 Hz increments. In OFF mode, the receiver internally sets the x-over to 100Hz for all speakers set to “Small” and send a full range signal to the subwoofer. This eliminates the “double” filtering of the LFE channel and allows you to use the subs variable low-pass x-over to dial in to the exact point that you find matches your system. The subwoofer level is also adjustable (-10db to 10db) for individual modes such as Dolby, DTS, Music, Stereo and Mult-Channel. Makes life easy when you like to run your bass a little bit higher for music and stereo w/o having to constantly fiddle with the volume knob on the back of the sub (Set-it and Forget-it). The biggest selling feature to me was the Rotel’s ability to “re-direct” the receiver’s amps from Main Left & Right to Center Backs 1 & 2. With the purchase of an external power amp for the Main’s channels, Rotel does not let the internal amps go to waste. The redirect allows the 1055 to go from 5.1 mode to 6.1 or 7.1 modes. Rotel built the 1055 for 7.1 capabilities but made a design choice to not include the additional amps needed to drive a 7.1 system. This allowed them to shave some costs in building the 1055 and provide it at a cheaper price, however allowed the feature of 7.1 for the “power users” that they knew existed out in the market. After all, they conducted a survey and determined that for most users, a 5.1 system was sufficient for their home theater setup.

I auditioned the Rotel 1055 against a NAD T762 on a pair of Paradigm Studio 40 speakers and a NAD C541i CD player and a T562 DVD player. Both units were equally priced with the NAD offering 100WPC as opposed to the Rotel’s 75WPC. A better choice would have been to compare the Rotel to the NAD T752 HT Receiver, however the T752 was not in the same price class as the Rotel 1055. The difference between the 1055 and the T762 were very subtle and in a double blind test, I personally doubt I would have been able to tell the difference between the two in normal playback mode. Some say the NAD has a slightly more punchy mid-bass and the Rotel tends to “roll-off” on the mid-bass making it sound more natural. Once again, I would have been hard pressed to distinguish this. Ultimately the final decision came down to the fact that the Rotel had a 5 year warranty as opposed to the NAD’s 3 year warranty, and the little man screaming in the back of my head going…”NAD’s had some bad reliability with their prior year models, what makes you think this year is going to be any different.” The Rotel it was…

As for performance of the unit, I can honestly say that it rivals that of a Mid-Fi separates system. After the storeroom demo, I brought the RSX-1055 over to my brother’s house. He has a mix mash of gear, but his main 2 channel rig is a B&K PT5 Pre w/ a NAD C270 amp. I still don’t think he’s made his mind up yet on the speakers, but he has some Studio 40’s and some LSi9’s (both bi-wired) that we were able to audition the Rotel 1055 on. First up to bat was the 1055 running the LSi9’s. Very sweet setup indeed! Sound was very natural and warm considering the “hard” environment of tile floors and spacious openings. The highs were crisp and clear. No harshness at the end at all. I couldn’t tell if it was the Rotel or the sweetness of the Vifa ring tweeter on the LSi9’s. The 1055 had power to spare playing the LSi9’s. As mantis put it, ”ALLDAY MAN ALLDAY.” The Studio 40’s were next. Once again, highs were very crisp and the mid-bass was very smooth. The harshness of the Studio 40 tweeters could be no match for the LSi9’s smoothness. We then hooked up the B&K/NAD combo to the Studio 40’s and gave them another listen. Once again, it all sounded very good. We were both hard pressed to claim a winner between the Rotel 1055 (all-in-one) or the B&K/NAD separates. This is a good sign indeed in Rotel’s favor.

I brought the Rotel back to the homestead and got ready to hook it up to my RTi series of speakers. I had prepared myself for a disappointment considering I had just auditioned the Rotel on probably the finest set of speakers I have ever heard (the LSi9’s). Boy was I in for a shock. I was pleasantly surprised once I had the Rotel warmed up and the RTi70’s playing. Obviously they were no comparison to the LSi’s, but I’d be willing to bet that they could give the Studio 40’s a good run for there money. First thing I noticed about the Rotel on the 70’s was the fact that everything sounded open and forward and the details were there. Made me think if I were playing my 70’s in their shipping cartons before w/the Onkyo. Happy Happy, Joy Joy…….Continued to listen to some Natalie Merchant, Enya, Evanescence, DareDevil Soundtrack and some Sting. The real seller to me came with the Jewel: Spirit album, Track 13, ~ 4:40 into it. If you’re not familiar with this disc, there is a hidden “easter egg/track” sort of. After the main song on track 13 finishes there is a long pause of about 1-2 minutes. The CD continues to play however it’s just complete silence. I was enjoying the silence, eyes closed; just chilling, thinking the jukebox was done when all of the sudden a duet began playing. Talk about scaring the crap out of me. For a quick second I though someone was in the room and got chills down my back and goose bumps on my arm. Oh the sweetness……
:cool:

Major Negatives:

• The remote
• The inability to adjust some of the receiver settings without needing to hook it up to a video source for the OSD
• Bass management a bit complicated
• EDIT: Cost (if you're on a tight budget)
• EDIT/ADD: No switched outlets on the back of the unit.

Major Positives:

• Extremely ridiculous power
• Sexy look
• Sound is comparable to a mid-fi seperate system
• 7.1 Speaker Redirect
• Solid construction
• Did I mention a ridiculous amount of power for only a 75Wx5 rated receiver?
• EDIT/ADD: Receiver is capable of 100WPCx2 in stereo mode.

SPEAKER7

TonyPTX,

Looks like you had a pretty good audition period with your new Rotel RSX 1055...vs theB&K/ NAD gear and the Lsi 9 vs Studio 40's.


Question: I'm just curious how you would compare/rate your RT70i's vs the Studio 40's. I know that you found the Lsi 9 to be smoother overall and not harsh like the Studio 40's but where would you place the Studio 40? I am thinking about picking up a pair of 100's and I believe they share the same tweeters as the 40's.


dc.

mantis

Tony,
thats what I have been trying to tell certain people about how good receivers have become.......Rotel and B&K that is.You can actually do a shoutout with seperates and win in some cases.This is a big plus for me as well.
I disagree with you on the price of the Rotel is a weakness.......it's a strong point.Find any other reciever at that price class that will sound like that...........answer is none.

Dude nice review.Even without having your ears on my head I knew you would be happy or more then happy with the RSX1055.It's the perfect receiver for you.......as I see it from way over here...........
I'm very happpy it breathed new life into your system.....and YES Rotel and Lsi's make for a really sweat system.......dude your ready for LSi in the future......you got the power..........NOW......

dmamsa

Congrats Tony;

You may have made my decision easier! I checkout the 1055 tonight...awesome product and good looking. I campared it with B&K 505 and in my opinion rotel sounded better (maybe I had the price difference in mind while listening). They were hooked up to B&W speakers.


I left the store thinking should I get the 1055 or the 1065- or should I just go seperates 1066+1075

wallstreet

Nice review. I used to enjoy aggravating the Rotel owners. They kind of remind me of a Texas Aggie alum. Now I'm going to have to add Rotel to my audition list.

TonyPTX

Originally posted by SPEAKER7
Question: I'm just curious how you would compare/rate your RT70i's vs the Studio 40's. I know that you found the Lsi 9 to be smoother overall and not harsh like the Studio 40's but where would you place the Studio 40? I am thinking about picking up a pair of 100's and I believe they share the same tweeters as the 40's.

The Studio Series (IMO) would be in a class above the RTi's and below the LSi's. The Studios have excellent mid-bass reproduction but the caution would be in the environment in which you place them in. If you've got a "hard" environment, you may not be happy with the high band reproduction the Studios put out. But if you've got a carpeted room (or even maybe hard wood floors) with some plush couches and decent curtains, the Studio's will probbaly sound fine and the harshness will disappear. I wanted to audition the 60's personally before I picked up the RTi70's but the local dealer didn't have any in stock and I would have had to pay extra for shielding. Be forwarned, the Paradigm towers (i.e. 100's) do not come shielded by default from the factory. You'll have to pay an adder of about $60-$80 USD and special order them.

Originally posted by dmamsa
You may have made my decision easier! I checkout the 1055 tonight...awesome product and good looking. I campared it with B&K 505 and in my opinion rotel sounded better (maybe I had the price difference in mind while listening). They were hooked up to B&W speakers.

I left the store thinking should I get the 1055 or the 1065- or should I just go seperates 1066+1075

Glad I could help sway some votes....
Some words of advice: The RSP-1066 basically looks and has the same internals as the RSX-1055 (minus the tuner and amps). You gain about 2-3 dB in S/N ratio going to the 1066 and you probably double the price for the same setup (having to buy an addtional tuner, 5 channel amp, and 5 pair of decent interconnects). If you've got the money to spend, then go for the seperates. If you're a bit cost conscience like me and evaluate the cost of diminishing return, you really can't go wrong w/ the 1055 or 1065.

dmamsa

tanks tony....

I think I am leaning towards the 1055 or 1065...

I did not pay attention to the interconnect cost with the seperates which run run an additional $200-$300. Since the 1066 and 1055 have identical internal (even at club rotel they think the same).

So now the game is with the 1005 vs 1065. Should I spend an additional $700 on the 1065 for 25watts/channel and lose the "amp reassigning" feature of the 1055.
I have to buy a seperate two ch anyways for 6.1 or 7.1 setup...

I guess 1055 is the one for me- hopefully its better than the onkyo SR800 that I have now.

pjdami

Tony,

Nice review bro. Glad I turned you on to some audio here in the past year now that you've got a real job and can afford it.

I called the Rotel dealer just now and told him I was going to purchase the new 1055 he has in stock. No silver though but that's ok. I really enjoyed the way it sounded on the LSi 9s. I'll move my seperates to the office with the Pdimes.

At lower volumes, I think the Pdimes sound just as good as the 9's with a more forward sounding midrange that has a lot of "prescence". Its hard to describe. I find that the LSi 9's do better and better as you turn up the volume to 90 - 95 db and thats where the pdimes tweeter sounds a little "bright" in my living room with all the ceramic tile and no curtains. I wouldn't call it "harsh" but more sibilance. To me the LSi 9 tweeter is where it is all at.

You heared the 40s at the dealer though in carpeting and drapes on the walls and there was no such "brightness" on the same Rotel receiver. Its all about matching electronics and the environment you're playing the music in.

I agree that the 40s are better than the RTi line but not quite as sweet as the LSi's. Still a very good speaker though and very comparable to the LSi sound in sound quality.

Man, I wish I could have gotten the LSi 9's in sooner so that you could have listened to them. Maybe I could have swayed you from buying the 70s. The 70s are a great speaker though and I like the sound of the new silk dome tweeter better than the trilaminate tweeter found in the older models like the RT35is that I had. Makes one wonder why Polk changed the tweeter. To my ear, its a little smoother with the silk. Good move Polk!

Paul

ezc

TonyPTX
Great review! I have been looking off & on for a new reciver & nothing I read about or saw really caught my eye. After reading about the Rotel's I know thats what Ill get. In one of your other posts you mentioned you had some info on the current models & how to tell if it is the latest. Please let me know how to tell. Im still stuck on trying to decide 1055 or 1065. I have LSi15, LSiC & LSiFX & the 1055 should have plenty enough power for them. I like the amp reassignment of the 1055 too! In your opinion do you think the 1065 would sound any better? If you were offered a great deal for either would you still have chosen the 1055? Its hard for me here in Hawaii there are no dealers that have the rotels for demo. I will need to order one from someware on the mainland. Glad to be a member of this club! Before reading about the rotels I was almost convinced by a dealer here that a dennon 3802 or onkyo txsr800 is what I needed! So Glad to have read your post before taking the plunge!

polkatese

Tony,
great review, bro! I am surprised the 1055 doesn't have a switched outlet. Great system, too!

ezc,
if it makes any difference, I went with 1065 because of its toroidal transformer, I like the sight of that beast, and felt that I better safe than sorry (in term of getting higher power rating), just in case..The channel reassignment is a very nice feature (on 1055), though! Have you seen the Balanced design Concept movie off Rotel website? you ought to, it talks about toroidal and big black caps etc, very nicely done movie....

btw, mahalo on the monster power education!

TonyPTX

EZC...

If I had to do it again (and I still have the opportunity to trade in for an upgrade), I may have chosen the Rotel seperates route (RSP-1066 w/ RMB-1075), however like Polkatese meantioned, it would have been nice to error on the safe side with more power. Frankly though, the RSX-1055 will do the job nicely. The way I saw it, I do upgrade down the road, it will be the purchase of a 5 channel amp and I'll use the RSX-1055 as a pre-amp. After all the RSX-1055 and the pre-amp RSP-1066 are one in the same (just that one has amps and a tuner.)

Tony

ezc

polkatese & tony
Thanks a bunch for the replys. This helps me out alot. Now I need to decide to go for more power now which is always nice, or future upgrades. My problem now is total lack of power, I want a reciver that will be powerfull enough today & tomorow, I think either of the rotels will do fine. Will I upgrade to better speakers in the future, & need more power or flexibility? I coundnt answer that! Gee 2.5 years ago i had a Sony HTIB system with a 27" tv & never dreamed of going any further. Im kinda leaning toward the 1065 but Im not totaly decided. I kinda have a feeling if I do upgrade again in the future it will be seperates. I got a little time to decide, My wife said I need to sell my stuff thats for sale on audiogon before I can buy the reciver. Hope to sell things quick maby I need to lower the prices hehehe

pjdami

EZC,

I too have a Rotel 1055 paired with LSi 9's. The 1055 drives the nines nicely and moderately loud. After reading this thread tonight I tried an experiment. I moved my NAD C270 power amp over to System 1 in the living room and used the Rotel pre-outs to the NAD. The NAD power amp is over 200 watts / channel at 4 ohms with 340 watts/channel dynamic power. Depending on how critical you are of your music, this type of power really makes the LSi's sing as some have said. I had a similar setup before in the living room with my B&K pre and NAD but it was with Monster XP speaker wire. At that time I thought the seperates and Rotel sounded pretty close. After hooking up the NAD to the Rotel tonight with some IXOS Super Gamma 7 biwire speaker wire, I can tell that the NAD amp sounds more dynamic and stereo seperation clarity etc. is better than the Rotel internal amps at higher volumes.

What I'm getting at is the the 1055 will drive your LSi's but getting more power will make the LSi's sound better if you like listening to your music loud (95 + dbs). They just like having a lot of reserve power to make them sound good. They sound incredible as you turn up the volume. The louder the better they sound. I would go after as much power as you can afford especially since you have the 15's. The 1055 would do for now; see how you like it. You can always add a Rotel power amp later to get to that next level of excitement.

P.

TonyPTX

EZC:

As for the upgrades I was telling you about. If you are indeed ordering a new unit, please make a note to your dealer that you wish to have a Rotel unit with the 200 MHz HDTV Video Upgrade for the component video portion of the AVR. This should be a free upgrade and can be specified on order. Also don't forget to get the sexy silver versions of the unit unless you really like black.

Tony

polkatese

ezc,
I hear you, as early as 3 years ago, I bought a Denon 2802 thinking that it would be powerful enough. And then, I bought the LSi, and realized it's not adequate. That's why when I bought my 1065, I learned not to make the same mistake, or I will be in a perpetual amplifier upgrade....down the road (many many moons in the future), I have my eyes set on Sonus Faber Grand Piano speakers. I demoed using B&K AV125.2 and it sings beautifully. Its power rating is comparable to the 1065, so, at least I know I will not have to worry about amplification when I am ready to do that.

gshisme

polkatese,

Sonus Faber....B&K....Hmmm...If you ever consider philanthropy my name is Greg Hart!

Greg

polkatese

Originally posted by gshisme
polkatese,

Sonus Faber....B&K....Hmmm...If you ever consider philanthropy my name is Greg Hart!

Greg

Actually I am done with upgrade for awhile, Greg...all left is small tweaks. I was just amazed on how great musically this speaker is (SFGP), and if you compare with the price of Martin Logan speakers, this ain't that bad. Btw, did you make space for your the new 1066 yet? :cool:

gshisme

polkatese,

Still not sure of my rack setup yet. Still waiting for additional sections. One purchase left is the SACD/DVD-A player and will make room in the rack for it for when I purchase it. Not sure which one yet. Since this will be my last upgrade for awhile I want to make sure I do this right..Separation of power and source cables..and plenty of ventilation space for the amp.

Greg

gshisme

Here is a pic of my current mess. I'm sure this pic will drive Mantis up a wall.

polkatese

hah, your snake pit looks very similar to mine...Paging Mr. Mantis!

mantis

I had to go to the bathroomto hurl first.....wait it's coming again.....blaaaahhhhhh blahhhhhhhh....Just kidding

Hey it can look anyway it wants to behind the rack as long as you can't see it from the front.Keep those power cords away from the line level wires and your in bussiness.

Guys Guys Guys......it only take a few extra hours to get all the wires in order.....Practice makes perfect.

I live in Pa south eastern actually just north of Philly.If you guys need help with the wires,I'm not to expensive..

ezc

Hey dont feel bad mine looks like that even after spending some time to get it neat! I guess wire management takes practice & patience. How do you cross a power line at 90 deg when there is very limited space?

gshisme

ezc,

Thanks..I needed that. Glad I'm not alone!

polkatese

greg,
looking down my snake pit, I realized it can be a lot neater if I have only one universal player for both DVD-A and SACD. I can get rid of 6 pair of interconnects off the bat...(I am using a ratshack switch to select them). But, I am very happy with the sound quality of these two. oh well, let it be a snake pit....

phuz

Good info. I can't wait to get a job, so I can get my rsx-1055!

mantis

the rsx1055 is a hot item around here...I can see why.Low price,high performance,can drive just about speakers under the sun.Lsi ready...what more could you want??

ezc

Tony, pjdami & polkatese
Thanks for the info. I almost sure Ill buy the 1065, I want to have more power than less power for future upgrades ( just in case). Do you use your system to watch DVD's? If so is there a difference or improvement with the dialoug & overall clarity? I watch about 60% movies 40% music, but my wife listens to music way more than I do. I know music will be much better, But will Movies be better too? Im still looking for a authorized dealer who wont kill me on shipping, the 1065 is heavy.

polkatese

ezc,
movies are great with the 1065 too. It has all the decoding you will ever need: DD EX, Neo:6, DTS ES. With the LSiC, dialog is as clear as it can be. I used to commute to Oahu for a straight 5 months (Mon-Thu) on assignment (the co. has an office on Bishop), could have carry it for you. I've got mine from Leigh Adams Discount Sales here in SoCal, if you want to call them. I don't think you will find an authorized dealer on the web (I could be wrong though). Good luck!

TonyPTX

No. As far as I know, Rotel does not sell their products online, nor do they distribute to those who do. If you want a Rotel product, you'll have to buy it at the traditional brick-n-mortar store. Alternatively, you can try to pick up a used deal at E-Bay or AudioGon. There you can get your Rotel on and buy online, however you'll have to like used gear for that....

Tony

ezc

polkatese & tony
Thanks for the info! Now I know why I cant find any dealers selling online. I guess thats good to keep quality up. Im a dealer for Monster & I see others selling brand new Monster products on E-bay & AudioGon for less than I can buy them for & they include shipping. I guess if you buy from one of them you may not have a valid warranty, or your getting a refurb or somthing. Its good to know when I buy my 1065 it will be new with a warranty from a authorized dealer.
polkatese how did you like Hi. Dont you think it is a great place to live but its real expensive. My store is in Pearl City about 30 min. from down town. As you probably saw there are limited Aud / Vid stores here & the biggest is probably CC. The others cary about the same too! Most of my purchases have been made through special orders from custom installers here. Most here think you buy Good HT system is from CC, Costco, or Sams Club. There a couple of stores that sell better equipment but when you ask for a different brand it is almost always oh this one here is much better thats why we sell it & not what your looking for. Living on a rock in the middle of the ocean sometimes you just dont have a choice. When the LSi series came out I went to onw of the better Hi Fi stores & asked about the LSis I was told Oh you dont want Polk they make entry level speakers, like you find in CC, why dont you look at the monitor audios we have. Damm I didnt want to see the MA speakers. Since than I havnt gone back.

polkatese

ezc,
I really like HI, you're right, everything is much more expensive there. I got hook on those spam and eggs breakfast! Looks like you might have to make one visit to the mainland and bag the Rotel.