At the risk of being banished, how would you think the following compare: 950/750(assume the other two chanels are taken care of)with the larger Rotel receiver that sells for about the same price and gets alot of good talk, at least from high end places in New York City.

What's the model number of the Rotel?

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Gonk

RSX 1065 retails for $2,000

Price is basically the same (about $2000). The 950/750 combo would require some interconnects, which will add some cost (although the "short stack" of PCA's from Outlaw is under $100 delivered and would perform very well as long as the pre/pro and amp are fairly close together). The 950/750 would also offer a good bit more power (165W/channel instead of 100), some upgradability (even if the 950 becomes outdated, you can replace it and keep the 750), and some additional processing options (primarily stuff like 6.1/7.1, which based on the Rotel documentation doesn't seem to be available on the 1065). The key, though, is how each piece sounds, and we still don't actually know anything about how the 950 sounds. We can make assumptions based on the 1050, but we can't be sure of anything. For now, I'd say go play with the Rotel and see if you like the sound and the usability of it -- does it sound nice to you and does the user interface seem comfortable? It might be worth holding off on a decision until we start getting some real feedback from users on the 950. At that point, go with what you think you'll like the most.

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Gonk

Gonk,
my question for you is that i've read about keeping the distance between the amp and the speakers short, even if you have to have longer interconnects. i will order the 950 and will buy the rotel 1095 + 1080 (5x200 + 2x200). the 2 channel amp will be placed somewhere around the back of the room so i will use a long pair of interconnect. you have any suggestion? thank a bunch.
lk.

[This message has been edited by ltkhuc (edited January 07, 2002).]

Ummm... Not real sure. It is often recommended to keep amps near speakers, and it is a good idea. Unfortunately, I've never personally tried to run interconnects that far and don't know what I would use for it. Home-made interconnects might be the best way to go in that case. I know that there are some good tutorials around the 'Net on how to make your own speaker cable and your own interconnects.

I'm assuming that the two-channel amp is for rear speakers and that the five-channel amp is driving surrounds. If that's correct, you're looking at a pretty good run of speaker cable to get to the surrounds. In that case, it may be OK to run similar speaker cable to the rears from the two-channel. It's something to think about if you wind up having a real hard time getting long interconnects worked out...



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Gonk

I thought prevailing wisdom was long interconnect/short speaker cable. So it sounds like a good idea

I used long interconnects and short speaker cables for many years with great results. I own a 6.5 meter pair of Kimber Kable PBJ Interconnects. Any Kimber Kable dealer should be able to create a custom length of cable for you.