Hi folks. Up until recently I had been using an older Onkyo TX-DS696 to power my B&W DM604S3 fronts, LCR600 Center, and DM302 surrounds. While the sound was acceptable, I felt that speakers sounded rather starved when things got loud. Enter the Rotel RMB-1075 amplifier. The new amp along with my Onkyo receiver used as a pre/pro was a drastic improvement over the receiver alone. But still, the sound left me wanting more. So, I found a buyer for my receiver and I'm on to trying out pre/pros.

The pre/pros that are in my budget at this point are the 950, and the Rotel RSP-1068. (The NAD T163 also an option, but there isn't a dealer in my area that has it in stock and neither of the dealers will order one just to let me demo it.) So I am taking advantage of Outlaw's 30 day guarantee and I have the 950 hooked up right now. I'll be picking up the Rotel RSP-1068 to audition later this week.

I must say, the 950 is a HUGE improvement over using the Onkyo as a pre/pro. I mean it sounds down right impressive. (Here it comes...) BUT, it has some shortcomings (I see them as shortcomings anyway) that I'm having a real hard time getting over.

1. Component video switching. I have my Hitachi 57S500 hooked up and the 950 is switching between my DVD player and HD cable box. Immediately after hooking up the TV and viewing some HD channels I noticed a significant difference in picture quality. And not for the better. The picture is nowhere near as sharp or defined as it was going through my older Onkyo receiver. And the colors are not as vibrant. So I went ahead and recalibrated the TV with AVIA and while the color did improve, the picture is still less defined. As my wife put it, the picture just doesn't "pop" anymore. This is a huge problem as my equipment rack is a fair distance from my TV and I have only one set of component video cables running between the two.

2. Remote Control Behavior. I see that many have already commented on this so I won't go into great detail here. I'll only say that I wish the remote had separate buttons for input selection and component control. My older remote had this and it was awesome. Unfortunately that remote is gone with the Onkyo receiver.

3. Front Panel Display. It's small and darn bright. And when I turn it to "half brightness" it flickers. A minor detail, maybe. But it can be rather distracting.

4. Front panel buttons. I might be nit-picking here, but they just seem kind of cheap and sloppy feeling. I use the front panel buttons as much as I use the remote so I consider this somewhat important.

So that's the end of my rant. Like I said earlier, the sound is really something else. I'm very impressed. The improvement in sound quality (in ALL regards) is amazing. Even my wife who's not really into the whole home theater thing commented on how great it is. I'm just having a hard time getting over the things listed above. Maybe these are the kinds of things you have to learn to deal with in a “budget priced” component. (It’s hard to call a component that sounds this nice ‘budget priced”.) The only real show stopper is the component video switching. Based on that alone, the Rotel RSP-1068 will have to be a serious let down to convince me to keep the 950. Has anyone else experienced any problems with the component video switching? Maybe I have a bad unit?


Thanks in advance for any advice,

Scott