Rotel Owner's Thread - Page 28

The assumption is that the Rotel remote would not be used on a daily basis, but just for setup. $150 for a setup-only remote is excessive, while the same price for a remote that you will use every day and will manage power and inputs on multiple devices is clearly worthwhile. I have an older setup that has to change inputs on both the receiver and TV. Without the Harmony, even I would find the setup unusable, never mind what the wife would think.

- Mike

I believe the RR-959 that came with my RSX-972 is macro capable and is a learning type. Other than being on the big side it seems like a very capable remote. Not sure what a Harmony has over it.

rotel owners. please don't be biased. looking to buy a new avr in the near future and am curious as to what yall think of the rsx-1058. was shopping for either a pioneer elite vsx-33, out in a couple of weeks, New denon around same price range, or have been given an option by local modia store to get the rotel for only 300ish bucks more.
The rotel does not have the features of the other 2 mentioned, but when playing lossless thru lpcm has incredible sound from what i can tell with the demo he gave me. is the rotel worth losing out on all the bells and whistles the other avrs offer. i'm not currently shopping for 3d yet and may not be for another 3 yrs, so that's really not important right now. am currently using pansonic bluray for movies, will be using which ever avr as a preamp to an emotiva XPA-5. it powers Paradigm monitor 7 towers, cc290 center, atom surrounds, and dsp3200 sub. sales guy says rotel will beat all other avrs at this price point with firmware update which he will do before i pick up if i go with that. just curious what yall think of the rotel. i guess i'm not too big on the latest features so long as when i'm watching a movie or listening to music, and i'm in the zone, i want the best possible picture and sound i can get for the money. any help would be greatly appreciated.

indian,

I have sent you a PM.

I said goodbye to all the bells and whistles of my Ymaha 3900 for the 1570 (coupled with Emotiva amps) and couldn't be happier.

Well, I think you have posed the question correctly....Bells and whistles versus core sound quality. I have to say I went for the sound quality of the Rotel RSX-1560 and I'm very satisfied. But, sometime wonder if it was the right thought given what I know now. Rotel is a great brand and the B&W Group is the parent company gives you lots of options to grow within the same family of products. Rotel is as one of the sales guys at my local dealer says " the budget brand" within the B&W group. That being said they tend to be somewhat slow in taking up new technologies. However, they support the products very well and tend not to change models every year like say Denon. Rotel updates models about every 3-5 years. Denon has a cycle, each year in the summer they clear out last year's model and in the late summer or early fall (in time for holiday shooping I suppose) they launch the new models with new features. As an example The AVR-4810CI will soon become the AVR-4811 CI for 2011. If you check the website you will already see AVR-XX11 models and a few AVR-XX10 for models that have not realeased the 2011 version yet. SO if you bought the 2010 version it's already obselete in less than a year....you won't have that issue with Rotel.

If I were you I would also consider other brands such as Denon and Pioneer. I agree that the Rotel will generally sound better with other products in the same price range. For movies, you will not hear a difference. For music you will, but frankly not much unless you have some very nice resolving speakers that cost twice as much as your receiver. Consider also the room setup functionality and ability to connect to the internet and your home network. At first thought these may not seem that important, but if you take some time and think about the future of music and were you may go with your systems these may gain more importantance.

For instance if you have a home network, Home server or NAS, ripped your CD's to Itunes or some other library then those bells and whistles maybe more important in that it may simplify your system by allowing you to get all your music / movies from one source. I see many guys with very complicated systems with many different pieces to them, For me personally I perfer the ..less is more ethos.

You will be very happy with Rotel in general...I am, but may feel limited in your capabilities. But consider your system today and what you want to do in the future and how you will listen to your music and the balance between music, movies and digital content.
Just some thoughts- Ed

I'd have to disagree with you here. There was ahuge jump in SQ from the Yamaha 3900 to the 1570. That is the entire reason for my upgrade. I do have expensive revealing speakers so you are right there (Focal/Jm Lab Electras).

I should have qualified that statement. I should have said that you will not hear much of a difference between equal units unless you have very resolving and revealing speakers that cost twice as much as the receiver.

The Yamaha 3900 is a nice unit has a list price of $1800 and retails for as low as ~$900. The Rotel receivers list price is between $2000 for the RSX-1550 and $2700 for the RSX-1560 or $2200 for the RSP-1570. None of the Rotel unit can be purchased from the internet or less than ~10% off of the list price.

I don't consider the Yamha 3900 and any of the Rotel receivers to be on par and therefore would agree that you would hear a big difference in the SQ in music and especially true with your very nice speakers.

I moved from a old Pioneer VSX-3800 to the Rotel RSX-1560 with B&W 805D speakers and the SQ is huge. But then again the Rotel is new and the Pioneer was 20 years old...not really equals.

Bottom line is I think we're saying the same thing in the proper context.

I totally concur.

Hi, I own a rotel RSX 1056 and I'm having a problem with it I was wondering if anyone here knew the answer to.

I need to fix my input setup so that my dvd player which is physically connected to component input source 2 and optical digital input source 2 so that it acknowledges the optical digital input (I'm not getting any sound). How can I do that?

I tested a coax cable connection and I can tell that the input setup is saying that sound should come from the coax source.

I pushed "V2" device/input on my rotel remote control. Then I pushed "menu" expecting a menu to pop up but nothing did. I turned on and off all the equipment and pressed a bunch of buttons and somehow I got the menu to pop up. I could use the up and down buttons to scroll through my choices but when I pushed "ent" to select the "initial" option, nothing happens.

How do I get this thing to work? FYI, I realize my reciever is probably older than a lot of you here but hopefully Rotel menus are still quite similar (or someone still has the one I have).

Thanks.

They are still the same as far as I know. Are you saying you cannot get the OSD to come up on the screen and you cannot get sound from the DVD player? These are two separate issues and first you will need to get to the menu to make adjustments to the settings.

Remember you need to push AUD on the remote before pushing menu to bring up the OSD. It is a strange thing on Rotel remotes but always push AUD before trying to control you receiver.

I have the RSX-1560, but I think there is not much diiference in the software. Generally speaking the Rotel remote is not very good from the perspective that you often have to press the buttons several times and sometimes there is a delay in the response from the unit. You also need to ensure the remote is pointed directly at the receiver.

In the RSX-1560 setup I can change each input's name, video source, and audio source. So for you it should be the same or very similar. Once you get your OSD up which initially shows a system status page, then you press ent(er) and then mine defaults to "Input" on the main menu, then I press "ent." to go to the Input Setup menu. Then using the "+" or "-" keys to navigate through the various souce inputs. Then navigate to Video 2, then using the "^" and "V" keys navigate down to Video input, then using the "-" or "+" keys change the video inout to Component 2. Tthen navigate down to Audio Input and do the same thing to change the source to optical digital input source 2.

So, basically you use the "-" and "+" keys to change the source on the input menu and other menus. The "Ent" key is only used to change screens and not sources or settings. This was something I had to get used to as well.

BTW I now use a Harmony remote because of the issues with the Rotel remote. I seems to work better to me. A few post back you will see several guys have switched as well.

Hope this was helpful?

Ed

Yes, got it working. THANK YOU very much Ed and TommyV. I definitely would never have got it working without your help!

That's disappointing about the remote. That was an expensive piece of equipment back when I bought it. I don't think I've ever had anything that expensive work as poorly as that (though the reciever sound is fantastic).

That is exactly the problem I had when I first bought the 1570.

Hi guys,

Have anyone jumped from power class a/b to class d and like it ?

I had an RSP-1069 with RMB-1075 and RB-1080. Now i am thinking to get an RMB-1575 and a new pre/processor (Marantz AV7005), but i don't know if a power class D will sound better.

My speakers are B&W 704 / 705 / HTM7.

Thanks.

personal preference. I like class a/b better.

I have the same amps like yours, to power Focal Electras, very very nice sound. In your place I put the money for a better pre/pro like Anthem or Classe.
The ice amps can sound harsh vs a/b, better to try before.
Thanks.

I also have all Focal Electras with a Rotel 1570 and Emotiva XPA 1 a/b (mainly run in class a according to their designer) monoblocks. I prefer the a/b scenario as well.

I've owned several Class AB amplifiers (two-channel and five-channel), and last fall I switched from an Adcom GFA-7605 to a Rotel RMB-1575. The main advantages of the 1575, like any Class D amplifier, is that it's small, light and cool relative to its output. But it doesn't sound any better or worse than the amps that preceded it -- it just offers more power in a tidy package.

I have the same speakers as yours, by the way, only my mains are 703s.

I remember there was a way to read the serial number to see the manufacturing date on the Rotel receivers and Amps..does anyone know?

This should be stickied.

Hoping someone can help. I have a Rotel RSX-1056 receiver and when I watch dishnetwork and feeding thru the optical source of my Rotel, sometime I get a loud "POP" thru my speakers (specially the Left Front). This only happens when I am watching dishnetwork and thru optical. With RCA or Tuner, it works fine.
Any suggestions? Otherwise I was thinking about getting the 7002 Marantz to replace.

It's hard to say...it could be a lot of things that cause a poping sound. Tell us about the sound that you're hearing. Any trend for when the sound happens? I would start my troubleshooting efforts by:

1. Remove all inputs form the Rotel except the optical input for the Dishnetwork- Then verify if the problem is solve or not.

2. If the problem is gone, then add all the other inputs one at a time to determine which is causing the problem.

3. If removing all the inputs does not solve the problem, then change which optical input you're using for the dishnetwork on the Rotel.

4. If that does not solve the problem- then verify the power source of the dishnetwork and the Rotel are different. If you have a power condtioner plug one into the power conditioner and the other directly into the wall outlet.

5. If this does not solve the problem, then look at how your power, speakers, and optical cables are routed relative to each other. Generally speaking, if possible you want some seperation between the cables. If possible you want power cables on one side and data cables on another side with six inches of seperation. I say if possible because it's not always possible because of the location of your system.

6. Finally, I would have dishnetwork provide a new receiver if none of the above works.

I would say generally speaking that your problem is cable related and not component related. So I would not change out the receiver so fast.

I hope this gives you some general direction on where to go to help solve your problem.

Thanks for the response. I will try your suggestions. I actually had the Rotel serviced a few months ago and they changed out one of the digital boards because of this problem, it is still there. The sound is leterially a loud "POP" and there is no trend...it will just happen. First I thought it was the sat signal coming in but I ordered a pay per view with perfect sound and then the pop happened (and alway loud in the FLeft side).
I really love this reciever and would hate to get rid of it.. hopefully your suggestion will help or if anyone wants to chime in, please do..thanks.

Was checking into the decoding of the Rotel and Dish Network receiver 722K:

The Rotel is setup as Optical (I am switching from 2 to 1), but I noticed that the receiver offers different decoding options from the setup screen:
Dolby PLII, Prologic, PLII in Cinema/Game, 5 channel, etc

Also my receiver offers for Dolby setup-
1. Dolby Digital/PCM or DOlby Digital Only or PCM Only
2. Line Mode or RF Mode

Could someone advise which setting is a good default to use?

I have tried input disconnect, optical 1/2 switch, and cable seperation and it is still there. so wonder if its the Dolby setup in the dish or rotel.

I personally use PCM only, but not sure if this will make a difference.

Does the dishnetwork have a coaxial output? if so you may try that as well. Also what about you optical cable, what type / brand are you using? You may try to borrow a different one from a friend or your local dealer. Also have you change dishnetwork receivers yet?

Just a few more thoughts.

I have two optical cables and both pops. Not sure of the brand..maybe need to go buy one at best buy?
Havent changed the dish receiver yet..was hoping to solve instead of dealing with dish...

If you have two different optical cables and both have the popping sound I think we can rule out the cable. At this point you have ruled out everything except the dishnetwork receiver since you previously had the RSX-1056 repaired.

Dishnetwork 722k is your likely culprit at this point. Can you get a loaner from a service technician just to confirm or reject the dishnetwork receiver as the source.

A quick Google search (I just typed in Dishnetwork and popping and received several links) indicates that this is a known and reported problem with the Dishnetwork 622 and 722 (k) receivers. You might check your software level and determine if you have the latest version. Sounds like there may have been a software fix, but it's not clear if it solved the problem for everyone that reports the problem.

Bought my first Rotel. RSX-1056.

The remote sucks. I'm getting a Logitech Harmony One to control it.

Upgrading from my Onkyo which actually had better "power ratings" this thing is like a night and day difference hooked up to my Klipsch RF-82 system.

The sound quality is not far off from my friends $10,000 system.

With these selling for as little as $400 on ebay, it is greatly undervalued for the performance. Why do I need HDMI inputs? My TV has plenty of them. I can deal with a macro remote and use the digital inputs on the back of the Rotel.

The only problem is that I can now hear the difference between a 320KBPS mp3 (fed from a sound blaster audigy 2 ZS) and a regular CD.

The RIAA will thank me, I need to buy a bunch of CDs now.

If you get a BD player with quality multi analog output you do not need HDMI. Something like the Pioneer BDP-320/23FD.

Glad to hear you are enjoying your 1056, it is a great receiver. The remote does suck but I never use factory remotes. Harmony is the way to go.