Rotel RSX-1055 Review: Part I

OK folks. Lots of you have been busting my balls the past few days ever since I've been cheering about my new purchase. (Got my rig up in the System Showcase finally). This portion of the review will cover physical characteristics about the unit (still want the gear to burn in a bit before a final review).

The first thing I noticed about the unit when I picked it up off of the audio shop floor to bring it home was "OMG this thing weighs a ton. Hurry up and get the damn door open so I can put this thing in the truck ASAP." Unit weighed about 42# w/shipping carton and all. It would have been nice to get the "Oh so sexy" silver model of the 1055, but as I said in an earlier post, I bought the demo unit for $1150 w/tax. I couldn't resist an offer this good. Couldn't wait any more, had to get home. I shook the salesman's hand and began limping out of the store with oversized package in hand balanced off of my thigh for support.

After I got the mule to help me drag the Rotel to it's new home, I immediately began unplugging wires out the back of my Onkyo 600. After having carried the Rotel around for a while and getting adjusted to it's beefyness, I went to give the Onkyo a good heave off of the shelf (forgetting about how light it was compared to the Rotel) and almost ended up throwing the Onkyo across the room

Unboxed the Rotel and had a really good look over it (since it was a demo unit). Everything looks fine. Still has the plastic film over the Display. Gold plated connectors in the back, removable power cord, 5-Way bind posts that looked seriously rugged for some massive wires, brushed aluminum handles and face plate. Very sweet! I then broke out the flashlight to check out the internals through the top slits.

First impressions: The heat sink is a work of art. It's not very beefy like the Onkyo's, but what it didn't make up for size, it made it up in surface area (what all good heat sinks need). The fins were thin and snaked back and forth in the very front of the unit almost right behind the face plate. Good move Rotel! Having the sink so close to the front makes it easier for the receiver to breathe as it has a better chance to get fresh air out of most people's over stuffed audio cabinets. I'd almost be willing to bet that the Rotel had double the surface area on it's heat sink. Next up was the power transformer. Can't say I've ever seen anything quite like it....huge **** thing. Guess it's because Rotel makes their power transformers in-house. Right next to the transformer were 4 fairly large capacitors, each half the size of a used toilet paper roll tube. Good clean power reserves here with ample capacitance for dips in electrical current and dynamic load demands from the amps. Other noticeable features: All the various sources were isolated on their own component boards (i.e. all video in's and outs on one board, all the audio in's and out's on a seperate board, digitals on another). Volume knob feels extremely solid. Matter of fact, it's flat out hard to turn. The top of the unit is very solid and does not "give" when pushed on.

So far, the only complaint I have is the remote. It's heavy, akward, and feels cheap with the sliding front panel and flip chart style labeling for some of the buttons. Plus the top row of buttons are shot! Damn those demo units :mad: Going to call the hi-fi shop store owner in the morning for a replacement.

EDIT: Called the hi-fi shop and had them order a new remote. The replacement came in within a week and there were no questions from the dealer (Wilson's Audio in New Orleans...a great shop with folks who know their business and will sell you the gear they think you will be happy with for the money you're willing to spend.)

Well, that's all I've got for now. More to come on the performance of the unit. One thing I can claim that is a no brainer here, it's all about the power. Rotel rates the unit for 75W x 5 or 100W x 2 in stereo mode @ 8 ohms. I find that to be extremely conservative. Having the unit turned up to about 60% is almost to the point of being too loud, averaging 90 db at the listening location w/ peaks up to 95 on dynamice portions of the music.