Rotel RSX1057, HDMI Question

[liberalz]

Hi Guys/Gals,

A year ago I replaced my Yammy with Rotel RSX1057. I don't pay too much attention to all these new technologies. I usually like to wait to see whether these new techs make anything better.

I'm a music enthusiast than movie - one movie a month on average. I don't own plasma/LCD or HD displays yet nor any Blue Ray players.

But I know eventually I would have to get these gears (or not). so my question, is my receiver adquate to incorporate the new gears. I know 1057 has HDMI but I guess it is 1.1 and it is just a switch or something. I'm such a noob with these techs it is not even funny.

My second question which piece of equipment should I focus on first. To tell the truth I would replace my sub -

 

[Midcow2]

Front Speakers

Hi Guys/Gals,

A year ago I replaced my Yammy with Rotel RSX1057. I don't pay too much attention to all these new technologies. I usually like to wait to see whether these new techs make anything better.

I'm a music enthusiast than movie - one movie a month on average. I don't own plasma/LCD or HD displays yet nor any Blue Ray players.

But I know eventually I would have to get these gears (or not). so my question, is my receiver adquate to incorporate the new gears. I know 1057 has HDMI but I guess it is 1.1 and it is just a switch or something. I'm such a noob with these techs it is not even funny.

My second question which piece of equipment should I focus on first. To tell the truth I would replace my sub -

HDMI was an evolving standard, you need HDMI 1.3 to pass both audio and video through a single HDMI cable. HDMI 1.1 and HDMI.12 pass video and usually need separate cables for audio; no big deal. You can also still use component or optical; same PQ.

What front speakers do you have now? That would be my first upgrade consideration; your AVR is still very good! How much do you want to spend?

Next I would looks at a SVS sub. The PB13-Ultra is very nice http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-pb13ultra.cfm

If you don't watch many movies I wouldn't worry. LCD TV has gotten pretty good about not having artifacts on motion and the cost has gone down.

 

[liberalz]

My speakers are listed in my sig. The fronts are Morduant-Short 908.

Will I loose any audio quality if I'm not using HDMI.

 

[liberalz]

Holy cow, that sub costs what $1600

 

[rnatalli]

Your speakers are excellent so I think you're on the right track for a sub. HSU and SVS offer great subs at all price ranges.

 

[Midcow2]

Should not loose audio quality

My speakers are listed in my sig. The fronts are Morduant-Short 908.

Will I loose any audio quality if I'm not using HDMI.

No, you will not loose any audio quality. Those are pretty nice speakers already.

If you are looking to change there are a lot of options, depending on how much you want ot spend. Fronttowers and matching center, my biased choice is Defintive Technology super towers and CLR center channel.

P.S.- There has been a lot of discusssion oncables/wiring. As long as you have decent wiring and good end connectors , you will not see much improvement by upgrading to more expensive cables. If you want new very good cables Monoprice.com or bluejeanscable.com are good sources.

 

[Midcow2]

SVS has less expensive

Holy cow, that sub costs what $1600

SVS has less expensive subs that are very good!, as low as $429. Also Hsu makes good subs.

 

[liberalz]

Thanks, I'm relieved that the new gears will not make my AVR redundant.

Yes Mordaunt Short speakers are nice, but sounded awful with Yammy (but I put up with it for 2 years). This is because, I guess, bass management in Yammy which was fixed @90.

 

[NapaDRB]

Your Rotel will not do audio over HDMI, see my sig. When you decide to upgrade you will need to get a Blu ray player that decodes internally and has 5.1 analog outputs, and then hook it to the 5.1 analog inputs on your Rotel. That is how I have my HD DVD player setup.

 

[liberalz]

Your Rotel will not do audio over HDMI, see my sig. When you decide to upgrade you will need to get a Blu ray player that decodes internally and has 5.1 analog outputs, and then hook it to the 5.1 analog inputs on your Rotel. That is how I have my HD DVD player setup.

I'm confused now an earlier poster alluded to the fact that I could use coax or optical to get the audio through to my avr (rotel).

Are saying that it is not possible with the Blu ray player, or am I misinterpreting your quote.

 

[NapaDRB]

You can use optical or coax and get sound, but you won't be able to get the new high quality formats. As I understand it optical or coax doesn't have the bandwidth to pass the new formats, so using one of these will get you the old Dolby Digital or DTS but at a higher bit rate.

 

[hognather]

Rotel RSX-1057 and HDMI

I'm not so sure that HDMI 1.1 DOESN'T handle audio through the HDMI ports. HDMI 1.0 does and 1.1 added DVD audio. .2 and .3 handle some of the very advanced signals but I would have to verify the "reality" of those signals in the market
TC

 

[greggp2]

Liberalz,

Here's the scoop. I just sold my Rotel RSX-1056 for an Arcam AVR350, so I had the same receiver as you, except without the HDMI connections. The connections on your receiver will pass video only. It will not pass Audio, nor will you want it to, as it isn't the new standard, HDMI 1.3 which is the only single cable solution available on the market that will pass Dolby High Definition signals from a Blu-ray.

Not a big deal, however. You can still hook up a Blu-ray player to your Rotel with 3 different options.

Option 1 - Digital Coax cable for Audio, HDMI for Video direct into the Rotel or direct into your Tv. Digital Coax will allow you to play Dolby and DTS signals, but not the new HD format.

Option 2- Optical Audio cable. Not as good as Digital Coax, as it compresses the Audio, but is still a good option. Use the same HDMI connections as above. This will give you the same ability to listen to Dolby and DTS signals, but also will not carry the new HD format.

Option 3 - Run RCA analog cables via the multi - channel outputs on your Blu-ray player to the Multi-channel inputs on the Rotel. Hook up your video the same way as above... HDMI into the Rotel or direct to your TV. When using this mode, you must hit the Aux button on your remote to enable the multi-channel function on your Rotel. This option will give you the HD audio capability of the new Dolby Digital format. A couple of things however... Be sure to go into the set up of the multi-channel menu on your Rotel. Be sure to enable this mode and be sure to turn on the LFE on/output function. This will run the bass from the 6 channel RCA's into your LFE bass management function on your Rotel. Also, go into the Sub setup in your Rotel menu function and put the bass to +10. Most Blu-Ray players decrease bass output by -10 when running through multi-channel outputs.

Another word of advice is buy yourself a good Blu-Ray player. One that allows you to do individual speaker calibration like you did when you set up your Rotel (ie distance, size, etc...) The new Oppo Blu-Ray would be a good option.

This should pretty much cover you. I have a non-HDMI 1.3 compliant receiver and just bought it over the new Yamaha v3900. Sound quality is far more important to me than the latest bells and whistles. The Rotel and Arcam units, in my opinion, provide you with far better true Amp power and electronic processing than the HDMI 1.3 compliant receivers out today..

You could also consider buying Rotels latest AVR, the RSX-1560, but that would set you back about $2200. This unit will allow you to run your audio via HDMI or Arcam's new AVR-600, which is $5,000...

Otherwise, pick up 6 RCA cables... - Bluejeanscables.com or monoprice.com, use the analog outputs if you want the HD Audio, or just stick to the Coax output and you will be more than happy.

My Arcam is so good, that in regular Dolby Digital mode, it sounds better to me than the Yamaha v3900 when listening to the HD Audio..

I'm confused now an earlier poster alluded to the fact that I could use coax or optical to get the audio through to my avr (rotel).

Are saying that it is not possible with the Blu ray player, or am I misinterpreting your quote.