This would have posted sooner hadn't my PC power supply kicked the bucket.

OK.. I got to do the demo head to head. This is a subjective demo as I will relate what I thought I heard and the other 2 people that were there with me heard.
Here was the setup.

1066/950
Sony DVP-S9000ES Via COAX
Proceed AMP5
B&W CDM 7NT Fronts
B&W CDM CNT Center
B&W CDM SNT Rears
Loewe Widescreen TV

We were on limited time, so our test was short, sweet and to the point. 5.1 Surround evaluation and an audio only evaluation of the 1066 at the end. I didn't bother with 7.1 as my system is going to be 5.1 for a while. This is just a listening test, not a feature for feature comparison. Dolby Digital 5.1 ver Dolby Digital 5.1.


Synced both processors to exact same settings. Strange issue #1 with the 950, the center channel setting seemed a bit high comparatively. Not sure why when we ran identical settings. This made the 950 sound a bit bright in the center. Talked to one of the guys on staff at Outlaw today and he said it shouldn't be that way. Not sure if this was a setting problem or a unit problem. I will know more Monday when the guys get back from the show.

We compared the full pod racer scene. Both units sounded quite similar. Differences were distinct, but not what we expected. Although, we had Strange issue #2 pop up with the 950. It seemed to lack front to back detail. Not something anyone of us were expecting. Like when the crashing pod racer went over head. It seemed like the transition was harsh, to harsh to the rear. I am thinking a setting was off but the distance settings were identical to the 1066's, maybe it had to do with the same setting issue as the center channel. BRAINCA: Maybe you can verify that transition with the pod racer scene with your setup. Also the 950 seemed to lack a bit of separation with some of the crowd scenes. You could hear distinctive clapping from individuals with the 1066 where with the 950 they seemed to blend together.

The 1066 was what I expected from Rotel, a solid performer. Nothing stood out to make me say OH MY, just solid sound. The 950's bass stood out ALOT. This was the 950's biggest plus of the demo. Tremendous. You could FEEL the pod racers hitting the ground. That stood apart from the 1066 as we agreed the 1066 didn't have as much bass as the 950.

Now these 950 issues may have been goofed up settings or not. I'll know more Monday.

Conclusion: Assuming the problems we encountered with the 950 were settings then its a toss up. Then you have to feature for feature compare and the 1066's lack of a tuner, might make you want the 950 more and its about 450 dollars less (1/3 less) which makes the 950 on heck of a deal. Now there are some issues with "usability" portion of the 950. You'll have to decide.

On a personal note about the 950: Human interface is important, the buttons and volume knob SUCK on the 950. I understand price points and you need to cut certain things to get to that. I understand why, but I woulda paid 50 bucks more for better knobs and buttons. These are things that you interact with. To me, it may very well make my decision to drop the 950 in favor of the 1066. The 1066 seems a bit more "intuative" as well. Again these are just my observations, take them for what they are worth.

Jeff

I have to agree that the 950 is basically bright, forward, and yes often harsh. Using an old Rotel Prologic Pre/Pro as a reference, it can mute some details, but basically has a very smooth and rich presentation.

Since the rest of my system is on the revealing side (ES9000, B&W Matrix 804's, etc.) the 1066 may be what I need to get a fuller smoother sound if its similar in character to the 960AX pre/pro the 950 replaced for me.

As much as being revealing, detailed and "accurate" was touted by the beta testers, the reality of that is that much of your material (music and movies not optimally recorded) is not going to sound as good as with a smoother warmer and ultimately more forgiving component.

My question is, does the Rotel 1066 carry on the basic Rotel tradition of being smoother and warmer, if somewhat less revealing than the 950?

For those who've spent lots of time with both, how would you characterize the differences in sound quality for 2 channel and HT?

For my system, the 950 is still too harsh and bright for my tastes, and yes I'm approaching 30 days (plenty of time to burn in).

I'm considering holding out for the AVM-20, but maybe the 1066 is enough of a step in the right direction. Unfortunately no local Rotel dealers will let me audition the unit in home..

Here's my two cents worth, I found at first
the 950 out of the box sounded a tad bright or harsh. But with the more time I have
been listening to it, the smoother it seems. I have had it about 30 days and I'm going to keep it, I have had NO problems with it at all. I was going to compare both units myself, since I own a Rotel amp. But for
now I am very pleased with 950.

drewman

Here's my two cents worth, I found at first
the 950 out of the box sounded a tad bright or harsh. But with the more time I have
been listening to it, the smoother it seems. I have had it about 30 days and I'm going to keep it, I have had NO problems with it at all. I was going to compare both units myself, since I own a Rotel amp. But for
now I am very pleased with 950.

drewman

Here in the greater Los Angeles area, the 1066 can be had for just under $1250 if you are willing to shop around aggressively, but without trying too hard, it's available here for $1350. Price excludes tax.

[This message has been edited by Will (edited May 30, 2002).]

BigJeff: I dont't think your unit is unique with the center channel issue. The center channel on my unit is also overly loud, but this is easily fixed with a trim setting. It was the same way with my 1050. I always just assumed that speaker in my setup was more efficient or something. It's not something I mind; just interesting.

------------------
Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

BigJeff, just wondering, did you set all speaker levels for the 950 using a SPL meter or something similar? I agree with what Matthew said regarding the center channel output and would guess the levels were also not correctly set for fronts and the surrounds resulting in "Strange issue #2". The Manual says the output level(s) must be properly matched to insure a correct presentation of multi-channel sources and that this is almost impossible to do by ear. (See page 27 in the 950 Owner's Manual on Channel Calibration) Just a hunch on my part as I have not experienced either of these issues. Also, I am not quite sure what you meant when you said you "Synced both processors to exact same settings"? Thanks for taking the time to compare the two units and post your findings here.

The 1066 was setup with a SPL meter. We set the 950's trim settings to the exact same, distance settings to the exact same and the speaker types and crossover to the same levels. In regards to trim setting, a db is a db no matter how you slice it... They should be the same. Even if there was a output voltage difference, it should be the same across the board resulting in an increase or decrease in volume not on speaker standing out more than another.

With problem number two, what we heard was a lack of cohesion throughout. There were distinct left, right center and rears, without the smooth transition between them.

Jeff

BigJeff, did you use internal test tones to set the trim levels or a calibration disc such as Avia? I have found that internal test tones do not provide accurate results for calibration. I'm not sure why, but I believe others have noted this as well.

Jeff, why don't you try it the other way? SPL the 950 and then use those settings for the Rotel. If I am reading your reasoning correctly, how did you determine that the 950 had the wrong levels and not the Rotel?