summit/rotel equipment?

[fastfred]

New to the club, and been reading so much it makes my head spin. With all the experts and help out there I have a couple of questions to ask. My equipment consists of (see below). Im in the process (waiting) for my summits and theatre i speakers soon to arrive. Still wondering about surrounds for my equipment? Would it be Fresco or vignette for surrounds? Or another choice? Will the Rotels be enough for the speakers. This is only for HT setup. ALso, do I really need biwires? I currently have Monster cables Z series ZR1. Here is the equipment I am running:
Rotel RSP-1098
Rotel RMB (amp) 1095 for center, surrounds, rears.
Rotel RB (amp) 1090 for fronts.
Velodyne DD-18 sub.

Any help in the above would be wonderful and helpfull with the knowlege of you guys.

Thanks,
Fred

 

[Jeff Zaret]

Fred,

I believe the Rotel will do fine for your setup. I recently sold my Rotel 1090 and that was powering (bi-amp)a pair a Sequel II's at one time and then it was used to power my CLSiiZ. Both sets are by far more power and current hungry compared to the Summits. I do not see any problem with powering the Summits.

Yes all the info here can be overwhelming. Yes there is a lot of great advice on equipment and tweaks and of course just opinions!

The one thing you can take from any of us is the catch phrase that Roberto has stated so well on every occassion possible "Trust your ears". Do this and you will always be satisfied. Do not play the specmanship or keeping with anyone game. Do what is right for you and enjoy.

Congrats on your new speakers they are great!!!
Welcome to the club

Jeff

 

[Joey_V]

Welcome to the Club!

The 1090 does the Summits/Vantage right. I love the Rotel/ML sound... although it can be made better via something like the Passlabs or something from Classe or the Anthem Statements, the 1090 is by no means a slouch. That thing is a monster in its own right.

I am moving to the 1090 once funds clear up in a few months to power the Vantages to the next level.

Twich (Dave) has the 1090 powering his Vantage, he may want to be directed to this thread to give his 2 (or 3) cents.

BTW, dont forget to post your system!

 

[amey01]

To quote Roberto, "trust your ears" - try and hear the exact combination before you commit as synergy will have a lot to do with the end result. I was powering my Aerius with a Rotel 1080 and it made very nice music indeed but have since moved up something from Classe for that next "level"!

Bi-Wiring should not be necessary - you may hear improvements if you move to this arrangement at a later date, but I've always thought it better to spend the money on a cable twice as good rather than having two inferior runs of cable.

Welcome anyway - look forward to seeing your system!

 

[tonyc]

Welcome to the club Fred! I think your Rotels will be a fine place to start. If you have the space I'd go for floor standing surrounds rather than on wall. I do not think the wall mounted ML's are quite cut from the same cloth as the floor standers. I was thinking about replacing my Scenario rears with Fresco's but ultimately chose to keep the Scenarios. Listen closely before you buy.

 

[Munster]

I am using the Frescos as surrounds and couldn't be happier. They look Great and their flexibility on the wall is perfect.

 

[twich54]

Fred, Welcome ! As Joe mentioned I have the Rotel RB-1090 powering my Vantage's, with ease I might add. Both the Summitt and Vantage do not require mega watts of power. It would not have been my first choice, if I had more available funds I would have gone with Classe' or better yet a Pass Labs piece(I'm biased, I like Nelson Pass designe stuff). But I got a killer deal on my Rotel ($1700 new) that made it work for me and truth be know in the world of sub-$2000 amps it is with out doubt one of the better ones comparing with those at double it's price point( that's because it's assembled in China). All-in-all very happy !!!

 

[Spike]

Fred, warm welcome to the ML club. You've stated that your system is geared toward home-theater only, and in that regards, the Rotel will do just fine. But I gotta warn you that the Rotel is just a starting place, albeit a satisfying, musical one. The reason being that the Summits have LOTS of potential and over time, you will have the itch to explore their potential by playing with upstream components like source, pre-amplifier and amplifiers. When the time comes, you should come back to this site and do a search for relevant information about which components match well with the Summits, given your musical taste. But for now, just enjoy your system.

Spike

 

[fastfred]

Wonderful group here!

Thanks for all your responses. It seems Classe (upgrade) over rotel from what I see is many choices to upgrade. As for the surrounds, will be playing around and see what works best for us. Really need the wall mounted speakers. for the room. Will decide (what the ears tell us!) Thanks again everyone! Will post the picture in a couple of weeks after everything is set up and will respond on the wow's, etc and if's and anything else that might help. Will be reading the threads alot more now.

Fastfred! (Arizona just in case some of you are in the area, let me know)

 

[Spike]

There are many more choices

Thanks for all your responses. It seems Classe (upgrade) over rotel from what I see is many choices to upgrade.

I own Classe' so I can afford to poke at them a bit. There are (IMHO) better choices than Classe': Plinius, Pass Labs, Balanced Audio Tech (BAT), Monarchy Audio just to name a few solid-state models.

Spike

 

[MarkNewbie]

I own Classe' so I can afford to poke at them a bit. There are (IMHO) better choices than Classe': Plinius, Pass Labs, Balanced Audio Tech (BAT), Monarchy Audio just to name a few solid-state models.

Spike

That surprises me. I own Pass and have always been under the impression that I missed out by not giving Classe it's full audition. Not that I am unhappy with what I have as am delighted with it. Just always wondered in the back of my mind about the Classe stuff.

 

[Spike]

Pass (Aleph) vs Classe'

That surprises me. I own Pass and have always been under the impression that I missed out by not giving Classe it's full audition. Not that I am unhappy with what I have as am delighted with it. Just always wondered in the back of my mind about the Classe stuff.

Classe' has a smooth presentation where the focus is on liquid midrange. Darker (rolled-off) highs, and does not have quite a grip on the bass. Overall, the smooth midrange resembles that of tube quality and it's...intoxicating. The Pass (Aleph) series are more transparent, providing more immediacy taking you a bit closer (face-to-face) with the performers. That's just my impression when I auditioned the Pass Aleph in my home. But then again, I wouldn't know of the darker presentation of the Classe' until I listened to the Pass!

Spike