Receiver Upgrade - Denon vs. Rotel

Save yourself some money and get the Rotel RSX-1056 and a separate amp like the Rotel 1075 which would allow you to reassign the two front speakers to 7.1 duty or Zone 2. There is little to no difference between the RSP-1068 and the RSX-1056 as a pre pro. They have the exact same processor, DSP, DAC and software. The RSX-1056 may introduce a touch more noise floor since it houses an amp section but I couldn't hear the difference when I auditioned the two side by side at home (when hooked up to external amps). And hey, with the RSX-1056 you get a tuner as well. While the RSX-1056 is cheaper here than the RSP-1068, the opposite is true in Europe & the UK where the 1056 costs approx. $500 more.

Flrnlamb

I said the Paradigms like lots of current not wattage. There is a difference if you didn't know.

Yes, you did say that. I'm just poking fun. You said it correctly

A few months ago I decided it was time to upgrade my Nakamichi
AV-10 receiver. Since the new stuff seemed so cheap in the Circut City etc. ads I went shopping. Two days later after several "auditions" of the mass-market stuff I compared $1500 Marantz to $2000 Rotel. I really wanted to like the Rotel as it looks neat/modern but really did not want to spend what, for me, is real money. The Marantz for me had a better musicality in 2 channel so I went for the Marantz. Long story shorter, I sold Marantz even though it did a good job on 5.1 stuff, was really no better on voice or music than my $1200 1998 Nakamichi......soooo.....If you feel it really-really needs to be upgraded (and your speakers deserve better amplification), I suggest by-passing Denon/Rotel etc. and look into better pre-pro, or my choice if I had it all over to do again, one of the High-end things from Sunfire or????--need some more help here from the guys on other Arcam avr300????I noted that Upscale Audio has some pretty good things on sale or used??good luck, mike.

I recently helped a friend put a system together based upon an HT receiver, and it came down to the Denon 3806 versus the Rotel 1056. The Rotel sounded significantly better to both of us, and I was very impressed with its performance on the whole. I have an RSP-1066 (predecessor to the 1068) in my own system, and it has been an excellent performer for me.

If it were me, I'd go Rotel, for sure, and the main decision would be receiver versus seperates.

Tom.