marksdad Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 i have had so much trouble with my rotel gear over the past 8 months that i am now working to trade for an b&k avr 507, it has more than the rotel and speks say it is an overall better performer, warmer too? i have not yet heard this reciever, (i know i am a seperates advocate, but the rotel experience has left a bad taste in my mouth)do any of the wizened klipschers here have any input, or experience with b&k? thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruinsrme Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 Hi Mark, Being one that is always looking for a different path to take would you be will to share your experiences of late. thanks scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 Just wanted to say I have a friend with a ref 50 that whines,so does my friend.He's not too happy with the service he's been gettin'.This may be an insulated isodent but with your past problems in mind,try to research all you can and buy from reputable dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 If I bought a receiver, a B&K would be the one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluless Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 Wow, this is a suprise. Here I thought that you were the Rotel poster guy. Seriously, what kind of problems did you encounter? For some, moving to seperates is the next step in the upgrade process. Any insights would be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthurs Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 I've been running b&k separates for about a year now with my klipsch, and couldn't be happier. No problems, just great sound. On occassion when I have called b&k for assistance, they've been great. I would reccomend b&k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted May 5, 2003 Author Share Posted May 5, 2003 yup you are right, i am (was) the rotel poster boy, but it has been an mask sob sob, i have merely been hiding my pain, boo hoo. the first few weeks i owned rotel were really great! so much more that i bought 1 piece after another, and 1 by 1 everything developed problems? first the rcd 991 had transport probs/ than they said it could not be fixed, so they sent another (or so they said) as i waited for the 991, the 1080 tuner developed problems, preset 3 began blinking on and off, each time interupting play, so this too they decided they could not fix, they again would send another 1, it seemed that all the tuners had this problem with preset 3, i was just the first to complain (they really meant catch on)they said it was an software problem? so they said they would send an specially programmed tuner just for me, the rcd 991 and tuner were delayed 2 months, when they finally arrived they both did not work, the tuner had the same software edition on it, and the 991 had the same transport problem, at this time i noticed the rdv 1080 could not play dts, so i thought here we go again, when i called on this prob they said that they knew about it, but since most people did not even use dts they did not see the need to fix it, as i ventured to talk over this prob, i sent back both the tuner and cd player, because they said they did not have a current fix for the tuners, and the cd player was no longer in production, no tuner? no cd player? they ey told me they were working on an fix for the dvd player, they said that dolby labs switched the logorithms for dts after the players went into production, and that the upgrades would be done in store, that was 3 months ago, as i waited for the fix, i noticed the 1075 amp was hissing on shut down, i mentioned this to my salesman, he called me back to tell me that rotel wanted me to bring my amp in for a brand new one, i did, and walla, the same thing, hissssss, i than called the regional rep asking what was going on he told me that it was very possible that given the sensitivity of my klipsches i was merely picking up on what everyone else simply could not hear, i knew he was just blowing smoke, the next day they called me, they told me that thier tecks told them that occasionally the rotel amps found issue with certain speakers, or speaker cable? plus that my heritage was just too sensitive? the next day they called me with a new idea, ways to get around the prob, they told me to use the 12 volt trigger, leave it in standby, or turn off the processor 5 minutes prior to shutting off the amp (allowing for the caps to discharge) than power down the amp? i told them i always used my amp with the trigger, and that i did not buy my equipment with remote to have to individually turn off each unit to compensate for inferior craftsmanship!! sso in a nut shell, i have owned 2 rcd 991"s ( now i have no cd player)i had 2 rt 1080"s now a sad little denon tuner, the processor has been trouble free? i have had 2 rmb 1075's, and 3 rdv 1080's, now using a loaner 1080, when i brought my 1080 in for the upgrade, the MANAGER did the upgrade himself, as i watched the upgrade began, and than everything went blank on the player screen, the machine refused to operate, the drawer would not open to release the upgrade disc, the really cute assistant manager told me i had bad juju, and i watched as they attempted opening the drawer with an letter opener, as they attempted opening the drawer the casually mentioned that they would order a new 1080 for me. all in all i have made 13 trips back and forth, bad machines in hand, i have been an advocate for this time because the audio shop has worked really hard to make me happy, all the while reassuring me they would make everything right, and they are. when rotel is working it is wonderfull, it just has not worked for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkrop Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 Holy crap that is bad luck, just look for a manufacturer that can turn out a product that lasts like those 29 year old speakers of yours. You might want to post this on the 5.1 forum, you might cheer them up. So even Klipisch has problems. So does Aragon apparently, but that many problems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easylistener Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 Wow man that is horrible. I tell you if SVS was like this they wouldn't be around today. I will say it again, if everybody did there buisness like SVS would would not have all these problems. Sorry man, what are you going to buy now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 marksdad, wow. You know, I had some the new rotel preamp, but I sold it before even using it (my 2 ch. system took a poop and I had to sell to finance the replacement - I didn't buy the rotel amp yet so I thought "What the heck."). I have regretted that decision for a while. No more. I am free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JewishAMerPrince Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 Hey Guy! Sorry to hear about all your Rotel woes. I know we had some positive communications about the gear before I purchased mine. Fortunatly, my experience has been a good one so far, only one minor glitch that turned out to be a programming error in my Panasonic DVD player. Tim Wyatt of Rotel lead me right to it during our first phone call. Rotel support has been supurb so far. I called and complained that I had gotten the "old" RR 969 remote and they immediatly sent me out the new RR 1050 (vastly superior). I really love the sound of the Rotel with my 7's. I am curious about the hissing you are experiencing. I noticed that initially using some Monster interconnects between the 1066 and the 1075. I then purchased some relatively inexpensive balanced and double shielded interconnects from KnuKoncepts and the hiss went away. The balanced part is important since if the processor is off before the amp, then the interconnect impedence changes and the interconnect will act as an antenna for RFI till the caps in the amp bleed down. At least onething is good...the Rotel gear seems to hold it's value real well. I see used gear selling on Audiogon for nearly what I paid for mine. Answering your question. I know for a fact that B&K has a rep for being problimatical ( I have a relative who manages a Sound Advice store who recommended I buy the Rotel gear over the B&K. Good luck with whatever you purchase! Jerry R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluless Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 ARRRGGGHHH! Upgrading to seperates was something that is on my fantasy list, and Rotel would have been the first place I would have checked out. Based on your experiences, that doesn't sound like anything that I would want to jump into. For solace, I have a replacement Rotel 7-cannel amp for you. (Wow,I never thought that this pic would come in handy again) Any problems, add a pound of velveeta and eat with tostitos and massive quantities of beer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted May 6, 2003 Author Share Posted May 6, 2003 thanks, everyone for your replies, to answer some questions i think i will be upgrading to the b&k 507, i am awaiting a few responses, 1 said problimatical? and my sales lady said analitical-dry? anyway i will audition it tonight, i am more than a bit aprenhensive however? i saw such a huge difference in dynamics, purity once i went seperates, plus the difference in heating was so big, rotel never ever became even warm, plus the discreet power supplies. even the b& k from what i can tell has only 1 power supply for all 7 channels? heat? reviews say it is a vastly superior amp, especially since it is an integrated amp? they say it easily as good as seperates? but that remains to be seen, all reviews i have read are extremly positive, but we all know about reviews (remember all those enciteful ads for bose) i just want my nightmare to be over, i completly understand what moon has been going through, it is hard to want so much, but to be filled with disapointment and remorse, and the want to not return the wanted items, i have missede alot of sleep over this 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBB Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 Bummer. Those ROTEL products can backfire on you . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 Rotel certainly isn't what it used to be, looks like their headed down the same road as Nakamichi. A bunch of mass manufactured garbage built by peasents in foreign lands. To maintain the quality of seperates I basically just use my Denon AVR-4800 as a preamp and run all outboard configurable amplifiers. Never had a single issue or problem and I certainly have more headroom, clarity and dynamics than the internal amplifiers in A/V receivers. Buy the B&K and use outboard amplifiers! Tuners! - people still listen to the radio? The only radio I listen to is in my car on the way to work and it is usually just Howard Stern ranting and raving and dogging people. If I listen to music other than a CD, I just use the satellite dish, many more choices than local FM's can provide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 When the salesman demoed the RF-7's for me he used the B&K 507. Sounded like a great combo to me. Heck I ended up buying the RF-7's. The B&K 505 is my dream receiver. I need a new receiver badly, the only input that works right anymore on my old Yamaha is the LD, so that's what I have my DVD player hooked up to. I don't really want to spend that kind of money so I keep putting off buying anything in order to keep my B&K dreams alive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted May 7, 2003 Author Share Posted May 7, 2003 well i went to listen up yesterday, and they had the avr 507 set up in thier mediun range speaker room, since all speakers were smaller and less dynamic than my corns, i asked them to plug the avr into the most dynamic speaks they had in the room, so i did my test on B&W 803's i believe, anyway first we played the pod scene on the rotel gear i have at home, nice very nice, same laid back presentation i experience at home, than we switched to the 507, and replayed the same thing DAMN!!!!there was an huge difference, the power, the power, just the same as when i went from onkyo to rotel everything was so much more bright, so much more defined, there were sounds coming out that i had not heard before in that movie, the cute sales lady said they were too analytical she did not like hearing all the sound, the manager said it was the next step up from rotel, better everything, and he said he loved the forward sound (me too)everything just had more punch and clarity highs and lows alike, it seemed like i had increased the volume but we had not, we just pushed the a-b button, i was impressed withing 15 seconds, so we used the new denon dvd-a sacd player to do a little music, and it was still there, except we switched between the rotel and denon player the rotel player was soooo much better than the denon it seemed when we switched to the denon player we placed a mute over the speaks video was good but audio lacked, and it is denons latest and greatest? anyway, i put my name down for an silver 507, should have it in home in about 10 days, and with the switch it wont cost me a thing, i do however need to find a new dvd-dvda sacd cd player, the rotel was heads above denon, but i will not be buying rotel anytime soon, aany suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted May 7, 2003 Share Posted May 7, 2003 Marksdad,if you listen to anything in an a/v store how coiuld you possibly know what it sounds like?I have a friend that works in higher end store,he can make anything sound good or bad,all at the touch of a button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted May 7, 2003 Author Share Posted May 7, 2003 yeah i know just what you are saying, i did the a-b between rotel and b&k, the differences were obvious, and yes it could have been manufactured, and by now my dealor knows that i wont rest until satisfied, so they appear to be bending over backwards to fix rotels problems, the b&k takes major programming, that is done through the computer, as well as the remote, the remote reminds me of a small computer it is soooo coool, anyway if i encounter probs with this unit i wont wait as long to return it this time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JewishAMerPrince Posted May 7, 2003 Share Posted May 7, 2003 What impedence and efficiency were the speakers you listened to verses the ones you own? I find that the RF7s will reach concert volume levels with about 5 watts input each in my listening room, and the RMB1075 never even has to breath hard. It is interesting that you said everything seemed louder, even though you just hit the a/b switch. Are you sure that the two setups were adjusted to the same reference level? Perhaps not, perhaps the B&K seemed louder because it was set at a higher gain level. I have done a similar comparison but with RF7s and must say that properly set up the Rotel and the B&K sounded very similar with the slight edge in brightness and warmth going to the Rotel. I also did the same comparison with RF3s and the Rotel seemed overly bright by comparison to the B&K. I have also been told by a reliable source that the B&K amps have very sensitive protection circuits and will oftimes trigger (shut off momentarily) with low impedence loads at high volume levels. To some this may be problematical, hoever it is not something you are likely to experience with Klipsch speakers. JR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.