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Post by justjames72 on Aug 16, 2018 10:43:55 GMT -5
Greetings:
New to the forum and I was curious if anyone currently used Rotel with Emotiva in anyway shape/form...More importantly Integrated (RA 1570) with power amp.
I currently have a RA 1570 and wanted more power for my mains (b&w 684S1) and was thinking of trying the XPA2.
Thoughts? Questions, etc?
Thanks!
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Post by mshump on Aug 16, 2018 11:19:31 GMT -5
The XPA will give you more power.
A few questions and thoughts:
1. Are you running a sub?
2. the rotel is rated at 120 wpc and a high current amp. what do you feel is missing in your sound?
3. what are your listening habits?
3. with Emotiva's 30 day return policy, you can definitely try it.
Mark
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Post by justjames72 on Aug 16, 2018 12:04:27 GMT -5
1. Are you running a sub?
NO
2. the rotel is rated at 120 wpc and a high current amp. what do you feel is missing in your sound?
Have read that a good 200 watt amp will help speakers perform better
3. what are your listening habits?
Mostly just music- so far
3. with Emotiva's 30 day return policy, you can definitely try it.
Exactly
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Post by DavidR on Aug 16, 2018 13:09:16 GMT -5
 I used this combo (XPA-2 G2 + Rotel RC-1082 Pre + RT-1080 tuner) for a while. I sold all of it when I bought an SA-250 + XSP-1 G2. It was driving a pair of Bose 901_VI (which I also sold). It was the best combo for those speakers out of about 6 other iterations that included several modded Carver amps and Carver pre. It looked impressive, too.
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Post by mshump on Aug 16, 2018 13:34:12 GMT -5
1. Are you running a sub? NO 2. the rotel is rated at 120 wpc and a high current amp. what do you feel is missing in your sound? Have read that a good 200 watt amp will help speakers perform better 3. what are your listening habits? Mostly just music- so far 3. with Emotiva's 30 day return policy, you can definitely try it. Exactly a good clean 200w amp, will give you a little more headroom depending on how low of frequencies your speakers go to adding a sub may be of help also. I personally in my 2 channel setup added a sub. I have adjusted it so it just covers the lower frequencies and is not boomy. I run some focal speakers and a 120w Parasound amp. I am very happy with the set up. Listen to your system carefully, If the sound is a bit thin sounding the amp could be the better choice, if it doesn't seem to have a good lower end it could be that you need to add a sub. You could also work with your speaker placement and it could help you also. Experimenting some can either save you some money or help you spend money wisely. That's the fun of this hobby. Keep us posted on your findings etc please Mark |
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Post by knucklehead on Aug 16, 2018 14:12:27 GMT -5
The difference between a 120w amplifier and a 200w amplifier is less than 3db. Headroom cost money, and you can't hear headroom. How often do you play at hearing endangered levels? Unless the Rotel is clipping you really don't need an external amp. Try not to be mesmerized by those pretty blue lights.
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Post by leonski on Aug 16, 2018 14:35:46 GMT -5
To get meaningfully MORE power, you should at least double the Rotel's rating. That's 3db increase.
On the Rotel pages, I see NO 4ohm rating which for me is a red flag.
Do you NEED more power? Probably not. At 6 watts per speaker and 120 watt peaks, (13 db headroom) you will be at
what for most would be uncomfortable loudeness levels.
As for the guy who said 200 watts would be good, WHO? WHY? What does he really know? Within the last few years, I actually
decreased my power amps. I went from a stereo amp of 2x500 to a system which has 2x200 PER SPEAKER and actually like it better.
What is the current amp or system NOT doing?
You are OUT of luck, anyway, if the Rotel integrated does NOT have pre-out / main-in connections.
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Post by boomzilla on Aug 16, 2018 17:16:56 GMT -5
How interesting - I've got a Rotel integrated laying around too, but I haven't looked to see if it has pre-out jacks. I'll eyeball it this weekend & report back.
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Post by leonski on Aug 16, 2018 18:09:15 GMT -5
Rotel DOES have pre/main IO. It's on the lowest part of rear apron on the L and R side. They of course come 'jumpered'
still and all? I'm not a big Rotel fan. my ONE experience left me wanting. I had an RB1070 for my panels. Just not ENOUGH of anything.
The OPs speakers are 90db sensitive. And he reads too much nonsense. Whoever said 'speakers would be better with 200 watts'?
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Post by DavidR on Aug 16, 2018 19:46:39 GMT -5
.................................................................................................................... Whoever said 'speakers would be better with 200 watts'? Bose 901 owners  AR9 owners Infinity Kappa 9 owners
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Post by leonski on Aug 16, 2018 21:20:22 GMT -5
I don't mean to be harsh, but BOSE says it all.
The AR9 is a 35 or 40 year old design and SHOULD be easily bettered by modern designs. Factor in inflation to new speaker cost?
They STILL have a following, however.
4, 5, and 6 driver speakers like the well-regarded Kappa 9 have always had coherence problems for me. -I seem to remember this speaker as NOT amp friendly.
If so, like the Apogee Scintilla (original) you'd best bring the Most Capable amp you can find. Not necessarily the most power, but the friendliest to 'odd' loading.
I heard the 901s a LONG time ago with an Original Phase Linear amp. Even than I valued OTHER things in a speaker than sheer 'loud'.
Note that the OP does NOT have any of the speakers listed, but rather the B&W 684 which is a 90db sensitive speaker. Room / size / space not specified.
120 a side should be plenty except at head-banging levels OR if the amp / speaker are not a good electrical match. Some B&W are a little difficult.
In mulling this over, I'd rid myself of the Rotel. A Parasound Halo Integrated would be MUCH better.
Cheap or easy things like setup may get you further than throwing more $$$ at the 'system'....
If I had MY choice of vintage speaker? A pair of KLH 9 or some Magnepan Timpani would be on the short list.
My 'affordable' choice would be the Original Advent Large. A terrific 2-way that did an awful lot right.
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Post by pedrocols on Aug 16, 2018 21:32:52 GMT -5
Personally I would look around try to find a used Rotel 1080 amp. You will be very happy.
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Post by DavidR on Aug 17, 2018 0:11:56 GMT -5
The AR9 is a 35 or 40 year old design and SHOULD be easily bettered by modern designs. Factor in inflation to new speaker cost? They STILL have a following, however. You'd need to spend at least $10K on today's speakers to rival the AR9 in overall performance. The tweeter is still one of the best.
Lots of people love to hate Bose. They make money thou. The series II with an EQ recapped with modern components will perform quite well - and NOT a Carver amp. Not as articulate or as accurate as my AR9s or even my 90's but they have a big stage sound and make very good rear speakers IMO. There's just something about listening to a full range driver. The 901 was Julian Hirsch's personal speaker of choice.
The Klipsch Horn is a 70 y.o. design and still being made.
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Post by leonski on Aug 17, 2018 1:17:56 GMT -5
At the inflation adjusteed price of a 'todays' AR9, you will find massive competition. I'd personally consider a pair of Magnepan 3.7i for 1/2 the 'adjusted' price. But to be fair, that space is insane. Magico? Focal? maybe Wilson? B&W? Paradigm? DefTech? Dynaudio? I KNOW I missed a BUNCH of names here, but you get the idea: I can't possibly argue with anything YOU like, but if I were in the market for 10k worth of speaker? I shop Till I dropped! Maybe pre-arrange a trip to the nearest Big City and have a series of appointments and a hotel room for a nite or perhaps 2, depending. I've never made myself comfortable with 5 driver / 4-way speakers. Something never quite sounded 'right'. I don't 'love' to hate Bose. I just have No Use for them. They do not do what I would ask a good speaker to do. At least NOT the 901 'any' series. Good Marketing, though. I see endless threads about difficulties getting BOSE stuff fixed. No schematics available and a vigorous 'exchange' program for some stuff which needs a 10$ fix to be.....well, good as 'new'. I DO like the presentation of a FRSD speaker. A Transmission Line Fostex? Can sound spectacular. Here's an amp which might work well with such a speaker: The 'ACA' or the Amp Camp Amplifier which is a Nelson Pass product. When they get back in stock? Maybe 320$ for the kit which can be assembled in a weekend. Tops. www.ebay.com/itm/Pass-Amp-Camp-Amp-V1-6-Class-A-Amplifier-Nelson-Pass-Labs-/323395370661EBAY gets too much $$ for it, but this is the idea. The Klipsch is an old-school design. You'd do well with a Low DF tube amp of 5 or so watts PER and be very happy indeed. They don't sound right with exceptionally HIGH DF SS amps. BTW? Klipsch might nearly be the 'last man standing'. Bozak? gone Altec/Lansing? MOSTLY gone. Though at some shows you'll see 'big box' FIELD COIL speakers. These use electromagnets not permanent magnets. Some of those are absolutely top-notch. And $$$ Few people these days have either room OR budget for such large and expensive speakers. Just up the road from me is where Audience is made. They make ONE DRIVER and apply it in multiples. They at one time made a HUGE line-source of 16+16 drivers which went for some Astronimical Sum. I heard it at a show and it was amazing. |
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Post by justjames72 on Aug 31, 2018 15:42:57 GMT -5
Well, I just added a used Rotel 200 watt amp 990BX and my 684S1 sound a thousand times better.
I'm sure an Emotiva amp would work nice too, but I got this amp for 300 on Ebay.
So yea..the guy who said "get a 200 watt amp to help your speakers" was right..
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Post by leonski on Aug 31, 2018 19:10:54 GMT -5
ONE thing in your favor? B&W and Rotel are owned by the same company. It is possible the 600 series B&W speakers are voiced with Rotel.
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