When it works, it sounds great

Junk. This is my 3rd one and it doesn't work well either

I know I had recently posted a review that praised this unit, but I am now recalling it.

The previous review was after my first unit went bad on me and I had my new 2nd unit. Well to make a long story short, I am on my 3rd unit and it is still not working properly.

I paid a lot of money for mine and it is junk. 3 units, 3 failed units. Rotel has made a change and it doesn't work and they don't seem to care.

Stay away from this one.

value

poor volume control, audio breakup in high output situations, no pass through, no component in and out, no ability to listen to cd source while watching video program i.e. watching football, listening to a cd. 5.1 switching delay

While i do like this unit and have used it for two years, I find the above mentioned limitations distracting and disapointing.

The day to day performance is spectacular for the price range and options. I just had a few problems with large volume, high input pasages in movies. Saving private ryan and large explosions cause the digital proccessing to just cut out. I know it's not the amp, also a rotel, because I tested the same passages with other equipment. The video was fine it just went silent and had popcorn sounding noise, when the passage was over it came back to it's normal sonic values.

The main complaint to me though is the sluggish remote volume control. I turn up and lower the volume constantly and often have to hold the button down for extended periods or move the remote side to side to make it work. it's not smooth ever on the way down.

Set up and performance are exceptional. Just wish they would have a correction for these difficulties.

Similar Products Used:

yamah rxv something

Sound, Processing, Excellent build quality.

Earlier models have problems.

You wont find anything that come close to the value and quality of this product. The first one i bought had the same problem with the digital processing cutting out during scenes with large passages. I returned it and Rotel replaced it with the same model but an updated version because they indeed were having problems with other RSP 985's. Now I know that there is no flagship receiver that can compete. People say that its no frills....who cares? Why sacrafice sound and quality for silly DSP modes and a fancy remote. This thing doesnt even break a sweat like most low end processors. I suggest people with earlier 985 models should replace them for an updated one. Lets just hope youre still under warranty.

Similar Products Used:

Sherwood Newcastle, Pioneer Elite receiver, Onkyo

some connectors. mostly easy to use.

sound quality!, technical flaws in some units, remote!, extra dsp modes not adding to the value/price ratio.

This product disapointed me greatly. At one point I was ready to order it without ever listening to it because I felt I was in a hurry. Luckily I waited because I would've traided it right away. So don't rely on what you read and feel. Ask your dealer to loan you one for a few days.
I did not like the rotel at all. I listened to some products of somewhat similar nature and found the Lexicon the best. Rotel did not please me. I found my self switching it off once in a while because I could not listen to it continously. It just didn't fit my taste. I did not hear any satine like high tones as someone had described although I found the bass quite in it's place. The RSP-985 sounded very aggressive and I felt that I was missing some of the texture of the sound all the time. The unit that i had had a problem in the processor. The dealer who loaned this equipment to me said that the problem only affected to the on-screen menu, which by the way was very clear and simple (but didn't work at all in my version). So maybe the poor sound quality was partly because of this. It didn't sound so bad that I thought that it had a malfunction, just that it was not at all so good as I had imagined. I would rather buy the Outlaw(6.1 reciever) with half the price.

Similar Products Used:

Meridian 565, Sony TA-E9000 ES, Classe 225, Lexicon MC-1, Outlaw,

Build Quilty. Sound. Preformence. Lots of inputs and outputs

No phono stage. No head phone jack. Volume a little too sensitive.

Great unit. Sounds good in all modes.[ stereo and surround ] Preforms very well in stereo. I bought Rotels phono pre-amp to go with it, records sound great. I am very happy with this unit. Looked at a lot of other recievers and seperates. In my opinion, You will not do much better at this price.The primary reason i got this was for the stereo preformance. Are there better units out there? Yes, for a lot "more" money. you will not be disappointed
Rotel: RSP-985 pre-amp
Rotel: RB-985 MK-II Amp
Rotel: RQ-970 BX phono pre-amp
Rotel: RLC-900 Line Conditioner
Music Hall mmf-5 turntable
Yamaha KX-800u tape deck
Philips CDR 950 c/d recorder
Sony CDP-c700 c/d player
DEF- tech pro-tower 400 speakers
Def-tech c-2 center
def-tech pro moniter 100 rear
Velodyne ct-12 sub

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Nad

I've tried the RSX 965 before this one and agree with Josh (Boston) that there seems to be a problem with it (the RSX 965) emitting an audible high frequency sound through loudspeakers (BMW 603 S2) while playing back CDs.
The RSP-985 produces phenomenal sound and is a great improvement on the RSX-965. Just a pity that it is not phono ready - yes, I still like my old vynils! In order to add phono capability one will need to add the Phono Preamp of Rotel (RQ-971).

I use this surround sound processor with a Rotel RB-985 MKII Power Amplifier.

The RSP-985's sound quality is simply put -superb!.

s-video outputs for all channels.

only 2 toslink optical inputs, balanced output to power amps

I bought the RSP 985 with the RB-991 and RB-993 as a package for $3000. I think this was a great deal, all brand new. All the components were very easy to hook up. One think I would have liked this unit to have is a balanced output to the power amps. The power amps have balanced inputs. Why make the power amps with balanced inputs and have no pre-amps that can utilize this? The other problem I have is that there are only two toslink digital inputs, one for the tuner and another for the video 4 connection. The other video inputs have digital coaxial inputs. I'm going to be upgrading to satellite TV soon and the audio is toslink for the dolby digital. I realize this may sound petty, but I'm looking toward the future.

The processor sounds great paired with the RB-991 and RB-993. The sound is tight and crisp. I am able to watch a dvd movie and hear things that I have never heard before. There is a nice feature where I can watch a dvd and record from my cable box to my vcr. The remote is OK. It is nice to be able to program macros. You can also program the power button as a macro, thus being able to program all components to turn "on" simultaneously. This is a real nice feature.

Overall, I think this is a great product. Could use some more forward thinking with dolby digital EX, especially since the list price is $1999. Since I got a pretty good price on my package deal I think this was a great value.

Beautiful sound production for both music & HT.

Lack of display device on unit.

I've been planning on writing a review for this unit for a while and have been prompted by recent reviews. First I will respond to experiences other than my own and then summarize my experience. This is in no way meant to be a criticism of other reviewers, just a counter experience to balance off their unfortunate experiences.

1) As opposed to Jonathan, my 985 has performed excellently. He may be correct on a change, mine was purchased in 12/00 which is relatively recent. As to the Dolby Digital delay he is experiencing, mine begins producing sound immediately after releasing pause, jumping chapters, or ceasing a fast scan. I agree with him that the music production is excellent and that the volume control is too unpredictable when using the remote.

2) As opposed to Dave, my 985 produces music excellently. A portion of what he says incorrect and is due to a less knowledgeable salesman. The RSP-985 runs ALMOST everything through the DSPs. There is an analog bypass path. It is the DB-25 port used for 5.1 expansion. Using an RCA to DB-25 cable (Tributaries makes one) you can hook up 1 source with analog bypass capability (Dave, I tried to e-mail this to you but the message was returned). I use this path to hook up the SACD output of my Sony ES9000. I confirmed that this path (5.1 expansion port) is analog with tech support from Rotel (I do not know how to prove this otherwise except that the sound is excellent via this path). The other possibility for the 'thin' sound is that Dave left the speaker size at 'small'. I noticed quite a difference in going to 'large' (I'm using Paradigm Reference 80's).

My experience -
My office HT evolved quickly over the fall & winter. I started out with a Yamaha 992 (dolby, 85W/ch) driving 10 year old maggies (smaller, don't recall the model number) and a cheap center speaker. Video path was a Sony 3000 DVD player and 13" TV (fit on my desk). First step was getting Paradigm Reference 80s. Then the 13" TV was replaced with a Sony 36XBR400 (no longer fit on my desk). Then a Rotel RMB-1075 for amping while using the Yamaha as a preamp (provided a decent improvement in sound, especially low frequencies). Then Paradigm Reference center (CC) and surrounds (ref 20). Following this was the 9000ES and RSP-985. The 985 further improved the bass response and greatly improved the imaging/openness of music/HT. It also added DTS decoding to my system and had analog bypass for SACD (described above). I use the 985 for music (30%, movies, 20%, and TV 50%). It performs well for all tasks. When I first connected it in my system I ran it w/o performing any setup. It lacked bass and emphasized high frequencies. Playing with the menus I found the speakers set to 'small'. I changed that to 'large' and wow! I am sold on using separates. I highly recommend this pre/pro (for moderate cost). If Jonathan is correct and Rotel has made a change that has crippled this product I can not answer for that. All I know is that my RSP-985 performs to my utter satisfaction. I will continue to include Rotel in the products I demo when looking to upgrade my various HT systems. I also have the Rotel RSX-965 which has performed well sonicly though has a couple of intermittent problems on start-up. The sound quality of the RSX-965 led me to try the RMB-1075 and RSP-985.

Equipment :
Rotel RSP-985
Rotel RMB-1075
Paradigm Reference Studio 80 (main)
Paradigm Reference Studio CC (center)
Paradigm Reference Studio 20 (surround)
Sony DVP9000ES
Sony 36XBR400
Sony TIVO

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RSX-965, Yamaha 992

This is a followup to my previously written review below. I have now lived with this unit for more than a year and am just as impressed with it now as I was when I wrote the previous review.

I have two specific comments to make which relate to several of the reviews below. First, this is simply not a "one star" product. I would question the dealer from whom you are purchasing this processor. I am very aware of personal taste and bias in selecting audio equipment, however, I do not believe that for all this unit does right that it can be graded below a "three star" level. I, for one, have had nearly (see below) flawless performance in a year of heavy use. Furthermore, I have contacted Rotel on many occasions and cannot concur that the "don't care" about their products; on the contrary, I have found customer service to be high.

With regard to the delay heard at the beginning of new songs or when changing digital format: this is a fault with one of the microprocessors within the RSP-985. Older units are more likely to have this bad chip. It was recently brought to my attention by another reader of this site that there is a chip upgrade that may be installed by your dealer, free of charge, to correct this problem. My dealer had the new chip installed within 5 business days and the delay is history. Contact your dealer if you have this problem.

My equipment has changed somewhat from the previous review: Pioneer DV-525 as transport; Rotel RSP-985/RB-985mkII pre/pro; Soliloquy 5.3 speakers; straight wire and tributaries cabling.

I will be the first to admit that the sound produced by this system and the RSP-985 is not the state of the art. However, it consistently gives me a glimpse of the magic that I hear with some $15k and up audio only systems. Considering the price of the RSP-985, I will continue to insist on its value. I have recently listened to several more expensive processors from Bryston and TagMaclaren, and I do not think that they offer much more sonically, again, especially considering price.

The previous reviewer is correct - The DB-25 5.1 input bypasses all internal circuitry except the volume control. I also verified this with Rotel.

Great price for separates. Great HT

Stereo

i demod this in home with a RB-985 MK-II Amp for 3 days. The HT-AC3,DTS portion was great. Tons of base, very dynamic, good steering.

Would have kept both except that stereo was noticeably thin. At first I thought I must be imagining it. Then A/B vs. my old Pioneer Elite (~9y/o) and the Pioneer much to my astonishment was much more full. Then ran the Pioneer through the RB-985 amp using the pioneer as a pre-amp. Sound was MUCH better than either the Rotel combo or Pioneer alonge -- clearly the Rotel Amp was performing as expected. The HT on the Rotel definitively outshown the Pioneer but the stereo as noticably fuller with my old receiver.

When I brought them back to the HT shop, one guy clearly thought I was nuts. Then another, more knowledgable guy overheard our conversation. He stated that the Rotel runs everthing through the DSPs whereas my old Pioneer would have a analog pathway. Basically, he said unless I was willing to drop about another 1k more to a higher level preamp that had analog passthrough or a higher end DSP set that this represented the best price/point.

So, if you are upgrading from a low to mid range recent receiver you will be happy with the stereo and definitely with the HT. If you are accustomed to mid range separates or are upgrading from older separates or mid range receiver you might be disappointed with the stereo.