Ausfart
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Building $5k system 4 B&W 804s
Jan Vigne
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Have you listened to any of the Rotel AV products used as two channel products? If not, I would ask your dealer for a demonstration just to prove they are leading you down the right path for your needs.

dcstep
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I agree, get your dealer to show you that the AV receiver isn't really up to two-channel sound. You might replace the Rotel CD player with an Oppo universal player or a Pioneer 58AV universal. You can mod either later if you want total high end. SACD and DVD-A offer sizeable upgrades from CD.

Rotel stuff is generally good value. You'll need the full 200 watts to fully wake up your B&Ws.
Dave

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Thank you for the responses so far. Will have the shop hook up their 804s to their recommended Rotel analog stereo approach and then switch in a Rotel av pre/pro to see if I can hear a meaningful difference. Participants in a different forum site universally condemn the recommended "esoteric" cables as meaningless overkill. Instead of spending $1600 on mid-level Transparency cables, they all recommend spending about $300 on Blue Jeans cables or other simlar brands. The other forum seems more dedicated to home theater enthusiasts, so I am wondering if people who are more dedicated to analog stereo for music might have a different perspective.

dcstep
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Well, cables DO make a difference, IMHO. I've got the Analysis Plus Solo Crystal Oval 8, but that's above your budget. The Black Oval 9 would be right at your current price and the Oval 12 would be half.

For AV systems I feel that cables are not as important, unless you're going for 2.1 channels and view concert DVDs. For movies it's just lost in all the noise.

I'm very comfortable in saying that, for me, in my system, the Analysis Plus was worth every penny. I upgraded from Kimber and the gains were pretty dramatic.

Realize that cables need to burn in.

Check out www.analysis-plus.com

Dave

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While I have heard differences in cables, I think they are the least important component of a system. Thus, I would keep the cable budget more in the $300 range.

If you have more to spend, put it into better speakers first and/or more music.

If/when you start experimenting with more expensive cables make sure that you can return them after a home listening period and be certain they improve the sound commensurate with their price.

dcstep
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Oh, I forgot to say, consider buying your cables used. Look at www.audiogon.com for some good deals, usually 50% of retail. Cables need to be broken in anyway. As long as the condition is shown as good and the seller has good feedback, buying used presents little risk.

Dave

Elk
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Excellent suggestion.

59mga
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Quote:
My favorite shop recommends:

Rotel RB 1080 stereo amp (200 watts, 2 channels) ($999);
Rotel RC-1082 stereo preamp ($1199);
Rotel RCD 1072 HDCD player ($699);
Transparency MusicLink Plus interconnects pr. 1 mtr. ($360);
Transparency MusicWave Plus speaker cables par. 12' ($1010); and
Audio Authority 4x1 component video autoselector 1154A ($239).

I've heard the 1080 and a RC-1070 pre, with the 1072 cdp, and the sound was very impressive. The dealer also had the RSX-1058 and while it sounded great it wasn't as musical as the 1080/1070 combo.


Quote:
I like the promise of a spine tingling musical sound improvement over the old HK set-up but do not like the need for separate video switching device and lack of am/fm tuner.

The 1067 will surely sound better than the HK but if your interest is mainly music I would chose the pre/amp set-up.


Quote:
Would dropping the $699 Rotel CD player and just continuing to use my Harmon Kardon DVD 47 player degrade the sound audibly? If not, I could throw the $699 at another part of this system.

If it were me I would forgo the cable, or get some of Audiogon as someone suggested, and get the cd player.

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