This is an update to a review I posted when i first got the unit. I have used it with a variety of speakers and sources since then and think i have a pretty good overall feel of this product.

DSP's and Sound Modes - A definite strength of this receiver. I have my CD/DVD hooked up with a digital optical cable and this receiver has a special setting for digital two channel called "PCM two channel". Absolutely stunning clarity. DTS sounds amazing and the five basic DSP's work well without drowning in too many modes.

Remote - Could be improved on. Oft-used buttons are small and illogically placed. Cannot switch discs or do anything but play, pause or stop my Pioneer 5 Disc DVD. I recommend a universal here.

Power - Excellent! Although it is only rated at 75w/chan i havent gotten this thing past ~75% yet. Also, it is clean power, i have never had any white noise ot distortion of any kind that didnt come from the source.

Inputs/Outputs - Good and Bad. This thing has TONS(9 I think) of analog and plenty of S-Video(5) and digital(4) inputs. The only thing lacking is a component video. Because of this, I go straight from the DVD to my JVC D-Series. Nothing too bad except for all the input switching I have to do. The newer RSX-975 has two component inputs if you are in the market.

Back Panel - Back panel is organized better than anything I have ever seen. All the inputs for a particular source (audio:analog and digital, video) are lined up. The binding posts for the speakers are annoying and take a long time to set up correctly.

Front panel - Nothing worthy of complaint, I use the remote pretty exclusively. You do have to use it to set radio station presets.

Pet Peaves - The one real complaint I have with this unit is the way it processes bad sources. I have an older DirectTV box and the signal is somewhat choppy. Anytime the 965 receives a hiccup of anny kind, it mutes and flashes a status display on the TV. If you are listening to a radio station with poor reception, it mutes until it receives satisfactory reception again. I solved that particular problem with an amplified antenna, but the satelite issue is becoming bothersome

Notes - When i first used this, i had problems with the unit switching off at medium to high volumes. However, this problem stopped after a month or so and has never returned. I think it had to do with the break-in time of the amp section.

Overall I am very happy with this purchase, but there are a few improvements that would definitely make my life easier.

read prior post

add to previous review,faulty dts decoding

this is my third receiver and when it works it shines but now that the dts decoding is crapping out I'm really starting to wonder about quality control at rotel. I guss you really need a 5 year warranty just to finally get a problem free component. Id hate to have this irritating crap plague me out of warranty or have to keep shipping the sucker back if I'd bought on the internet(that's where a good dealer is worth his weight in shipping costs) I'd like to hear from anyone else having the dts problem. gonna downgrade the value to a 3

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see prior post

VERY clear, VERY clean beautiful power, excellent FM tuner

switching sources with coax digital causes intermittent LOUD blasts of WHITE NOISE

The 965 is a very nice sounding reciever. I'd rank it higher if it didn't have the white noise problem. When changing channels on a digital cable box using the coax digital connection a blast of white noise would often come out instead of the audio. Same blast of white noise when changing DVDs or CDs. I had a local shop try to repair it. They failed. I sent it to Rotel. They sent me a new reciever. It had the SAME problem PLUS the power supply on the new one hummed loudly (and not a tune I recognize). My dealer tried his demo unit and it had the exact same white noise problem!!! That's 3 units with the white noise problem. Rotel doesn't seem to know what the problem is or are trying to skirt the issue. Sorry Rotel, after reading other reviews here about the same white noise problem I have lost faith in a company I respected for their excellent products. After this I would be quite heritant to purchase any of your products.

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Sony STR-DE515, Sony 777ES, too many demos to mention here

Versatile - good for HT and stereo. Conservative power rating and more than anyone would need.

Quality control, although Rotel is very responsive in correcting any problems. Poorly designed remote.

My experiences and opinions mirror those already written here. The quality control for older units, mine was purchased 3/99, keeps the RSX-965 from being an outright steal and top-flight product. I recently caught the upgrade bug and brought in a number of highly regarded separates to compare with the Rotel in stereo reproduction. Although the separates costing two and three times as much were superior, the RSX more than held its own.

I have the bass management limitations (no subwoofer in stereo) and white noise problem when switching between DD or DTS to Stereo. I emailed Rotel and they promplty responsed and offered to take the unit back for repair or replacement. I haven't had the time to drop it off at my dealer, but Rotel's customer service is excellent

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Separates including Bryson, Sonic Frontiers, McCormack, and Classe. Initially compared to the comparable Sherwood model.

Clean, Bright Room Filling Sound

HAvent found any yet

THis thing is Phat! I would recommend it to anyone - easy well said out rear panel - nice speaker connectors - a ton of video and audio inputs - if you can fill this thing up you have way to much free time - The sound is supburb through my B&W speakers - And the unit looks damn good! Well done and worth the extra money over the Sony ES - I feel that the sound is better for music over movies so if you are looking for a reciever to do both and do both well this is it!

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Sony ES/Marantz SR-780

I withhold judgement for now

volume level

I just bought and hooked up my rsx965...
I have the Rotel DVD player, Sony VCR and a Sony 61" TV feeding audio into it... I have Vandersteen speakers all around...

For the DVD I used the optical connector for audio... The rest use analog connectors.

BIG QUESTION: I don't seem to get any 'real' audio level until I hit "50" on the meter... Actually, for awhile
I thought the receiver was broken, because I didn't hear any audio.

Then I cranked the volume control... Previously, I had a Sony receiver and I hardly had to crank the volume control at all to get serious volume. On the Rotel, I am almost pinning the volume control level... The level 'meter' stops at about 90, but I still feel I should get much more
sound from the receiver. I still haven't 'explored' all the features on the rsx965, but so far this seems like a good product - clear sound. I will send a more in depth review after I play more. However, this
volume level problem is a real killer! This can't be correct. What am I missing?

HELP!

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Sony 1011

great sound, a quality component at a reasonable price, it even has a phono jack,dts

poor remote features, whimpy speaker posts

This is a very good receiver. I understand at the beginning when it first hit the market, there were problems with the sub output and settings. That has been corrected. This receiver sounds great in stereo and surround mode. It is nice to have the luxury of seperate systems, but if you don't have the budget or space, this is a good comprimise.
It is "conservatively" rated at 75watts per channel, if that isn't enough then there are the preouts in the back to add seperate power amps. Everything about the design is simple until you get to the remote and it"s functions. There are 57 keys, and it is not able to adjust the surround levels (center and rear) without going into the onscreen menu or you can get up off your comfortable seat chair in the middle of the movie and adjust them on the main receiver unit. This pisses me off a bit. I had a simple prologic unit before, and I could easily adjust the surrounds with the remote without going into any menus.
All of this aside, I am pleased with this unit. My old luxman '357 was good, a little cheaper, but did not have the 5 video inputs, 2 tape, 4 digital, cd and phono and neither did most of the competiton. The Rotel also has an imput for a digital decoder if the industry standards change. The flexibility is a big plus for me.
sound is the biggest factor and this is one of the best sounding receivers on the market, best for its price give or take $500.00. If you have a little extra money after buying this unit, maybe look for a better remote I guess I should as that is the only thing holding back the overall rating from 5 stars.

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luxman, yamaha, har/kar, onkyo, denon

Price.. Features

2 Channel Stereo

I'm on a quest to replace my Rotel Pre-amp and outboard decoder(RTC-970 and RDA-975, and RB985 amp) for an all in one unit dolby digital solution. I was considering the new ROTEL RTC-965 Pre-amp, my dealer said he didn't have it in stock to demo, but he had the RSX-965 which would sound extremely similiar (RTC-965 is the RSX-965 without the amp). It just so happens that another customer was buying some speakers and was trying out 2 pairs of speakers. As I listened to the music (a few tracks from Pink floyd the wall) with the same speakers I currently own (B&W Matrix 803), it sounded simply incredible. Folks, their are no words, except to say that I felt like at home I was running a corvette(meaning my own speakers) at home with only 2 cylinders instead of 8. I said to my delaer, I have the same exact speakers and they don't sound no where nearly as good. I inspected the equipment, and the dealer had a Conrad Johnson PF2 (http://www.audioreview.com/reviews/Preamplifier/product_5891.shtml) pre-amp hooked up to a modest Acurus 100watt amp per channel amp, and feed from a Meridian 861 CD player. I then hooked up the same speakers to the RSX965 and let me tell you, it just all fell apart. The clarity, the fullness, the wide dispersion of the vocals and highs were gone! I said to my dealer, it sounds like crap. I then listened to 5.1 channel DVD, and it sounded pretty good, unless you go to a high end unit you don't hear to much difference on 5.1 movie sound track in my opinion. However, on 2 channel stereo, the unit just fell apart COMPARED to the conrad johnson pre-amp. Let's talk about the pre-amp and CD Player, it's a $2000 pre-amp, and the Meridian CD player goes for $3000. I know, I know, you all are saying that I'm trying to compare apples to oranges, and yes that's true to some degree. I then said, I want a pre-amp processor that sounds like the conrad johnson pre-amp. He replied, I only carry 2 products that are going to sound like this, the meridian pre-amp processor, or the Lexicon, nothing else. Folks, I have one thing to say, buying anything that will not produce the sound my speakers are capable of is just a crime. I'm saving my pennies and going to buy the Lexicon or Merdian.

Extremely clean sound, has phono preamp, excellent pro-logic decoder, more musical than most A/V units.

Managed to blow fuses a couple of times using auxilliary AC plugs, remote is a little scary for the rest of my family.

I had a pair of AR2A speakers rebuilt by Soundsmith in San Diego, and have since gone back to the same rebuilder for matching surrounds. A good center speaker is crucial. This receiver is excellent for music and still does the job for home theater. I plan to add a Hsu Research subwoofer, but base response is excellent even without. Even my wife, who expects the sound from the TV to come from the TV, likes the sound of this in home theater mode.

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Replace a 15 year old Luxman, shopped Nakamichi and NAD before buying

Processing clarity, Ease of use. DTS is sublime.

2 channel steroe is dull.
Remote does not 'control' all other AV products at it claims.
My Bass control started to osilate of it's own accord.

I would love to say this amp is a bundle of joy, but I would be lying.

The amp in DTS mode is amazing and full, with excellent seperation, depth and clarity. But not all DVD's are DTS (Damn it!).

In normal Dolby Digital mode the amp is underpowered.
I usually run it at two thirds of it's capacity, to get some sort of dynamic range out it, but above that I get major distortion.

In 2 channel stereo mode it is woeful. Empty. Boring. It might as well be AM on the radio. In comparison to my old amp which has half the power and is 5 years it's senior, it is a disgrace.

I think this amp requires small speakers that a driven easily and a seperate sub with it's own power source. Good for people on a limited budget or in a small space.

Personally, I am going to buy a Rotel RMB 1075 5 channel power amp and use the RSX 965 as a control (That is a handy feature it has)

My system is:
Rotel RSX 965 5ch, pre/ power amp
Krix Center and Foward left, right speakers (These are wonderful. In all good cinema's in Australia)
Warfdale rear speakers
Panasonic DVD A360
Loewe TV

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Rotel RA935BX (2 Channel amp)