Solid bass extension, very cohesive sound from top to bottom!!

Maybe not as detailed sound as I get from my Marsh, but not off by much!!

I bought this unit to use in my 2 channel system while my >$2000 Marsh P2000t hybrid tube preamp was out for repair. I must say I was amazed at the quality of sound this unit yields in the stereo bypass mode. I had read the reviews here and thought that it would work well with my Rotel RB 1090 amp and 3.6 maggie speakers....and I was correct!!

If you are looking for an inexpensive preamp, you can't go wrong here!! It will be fun to do a comparison with my Marsh preamp when it comes back from repair.

Similar Products Used:

Marsh P2000t hybrid tube preamp.

Stereo image, warmth, simplicity, noise free.

havent found any

I bought this unit based on reviews that I had read at this site as a temporary replacement for my Sony Tae77esd. It's paired with a Bryston 4B, Dahlquist DQ-10's and a pair of Vandersteen subs.It brings a warmth to my 4B that didn't exist before, and has resulted in the elimination of listening fatigue that seemed to plague me with the Sony. My prime use is as a stereo preamp with video switching. The pass through for video isn't as clean as the Sony, but the stereo reproduction is excellent. Without even considering the price I paid, I would buy this unit again.

Similar Products Used:

Sony Tae77esd,

This is a great preamp surround sound processor. I found it demo for $300 which is half of what it normally sells for. But either way, it's worth the money. It competes well against other preamps in its category. It has Dolby Pro Logic, as ell as 3 other surround modes. It comes with remote which controls pretty much eveything you can control on the unit. It has 3 video inputs which are nice, all with composite or S-Video. It looks and sounds great, and if yuou can find it for under $500 it's a steal. 5 year warranty is nice too. If you're buying separate components this is really the way to go. 5 stars for its category and price range. Recommended.

Great stereo pre-amp, very good for music. Also works well in pro-logic surround.

Light popping noise through speakers when changing inputs using remote. None really though considering price.

I find this unit to be a great bargain. It was new, and is more so in the used market. It has great sound in stereo for audio buffs, and adds pro-logic for those who like to watch movies as well. The bass boost helps those who like to set their sub level for music and not adjust for movies; just hit the boost and more drama for movies. More than enough inputs for most of us. Eventually would like to have a newer unit with DD etal, hope the new ones are as good in stereo mode.

Setup:
Adcom GCD-600 5 disc CDP
Rotel RSP-960 pre-pro
Adcom GFA-555 200w/ch amp
Adcom ACE-515 line conditioner
Magnepan MGIIIA speakers
Velodyne ULD-15 sub
Sony DVD
Sony 35" TV
Sony SLV-950 VCR
Akai 135w/ch amp for rears
Mission rears

Similar Products Used:

Adcom GTP-500II for stereo, many pro-logic receivers for surround.

I bought this preamp on demo clearance, and have been very happy with it. They overall quality is excellent. It has 3 video inputs (one of them an input only laserdisc/dvd input). It has a tape loop and aux input. I use this for my main preamp. Rotel says it is designed to be hooked up to the tape loop of another preamp. This is kind of wierd, especially since none of the video input sound goes to the tape loop of this preamp. In other words, you can't record a video soundtrack onto tape, unless your extra preamp or tape machine is hooked up to one of the video loops. That is my only complaint. My only other wish list is 5 channel discrete inputs for Dolby Digital decoders or DTS. Other than that though, I find this product to be excellent. It even has S-Video inputs and outputs. It is very transparents and quiet. I have it hooked up to a 100wpc amp and even with the volume turned up to maximum, I can't hear any significant noise from my speakers. It does Dolby Pro Logic well, as well as other surround modes. It even has a subwoofer output, with hipass filter built in, you can select none, 80hz, or 120hz filtering for direct subwoofer connection. I'll say I love Rotel products and would recommend almost any Rotel product. They don't dress things up with useless, costly features. They give you quality at an affordable price. The RSP 960AX is a great value, especially if you can find it for under $400. Just keep in mind its limitations.

Sorry for the duplicate reviews, I thought my oringal one had been lost.

clean, beautifully simple, solid remote, nice match with my other mid-hi-fi components,

no component video switching, no compatability with DD and DTS

I am as keen as a person who's owned a pair of mission 774's plugged into a Kenwood Amp for 3 years and who, one day, gets a Roland RSP-960AX and RB-956AX 6 channel power amp for $50 canadian.

This is by far the best pre-amp ive ever owned. I love it. It sounds so good with all the music I really like to listen to. It made me steal some of my parents cd's just to hear more of some old tunes. (When I say "more" I mean both ways) There are parts on the white album I didnt know were there before...

My speakers were one thing but this piece may be the piece that totally pulls me into the realm of audiophiles. I absolutely love my stuff, but I know I will have better and more some day.

If I could give this a 100 value rating I would but 5 will have to do.

Similar Products Used:

Demo'd: bryston, nad, sim, naim, golden tube(mmm..), harman kardon.

Owned: Kenwood(integrated/pro-logic), Sanyo(preamp/2ch) Yamaha(preamp/2ch) Sony(integrated/2ch).

I also bought the RSP 960AX on a demo clearance for $300. Once I hooked it up to my system (Carver 5 channel amp, Definitive BP8, Sony ES CD player, Pioneer LD, and Nordost interconnects (Black Knight) and Flatline speaker cables), I could not believe how good it sounded. The hight is extremely clear and sweet. In the mid, voices come across very natural, and the bass is pretty good too. There aren't too many features on this preamp which is fine with me. I'm only concerned with straight stereo and Prologic processing which the RSP 960AX do real well. Highly recommended for those who is on a tight budget, like me.

Outstanding passthrough for stereo

Most surround modes so-so, bass-EQ utterly useless

I'm continually amazed at the performance of this unit. Without a doubt this is one of the best units available for those of us who want great stereo, and want Pro Logic and video switching as an add-on.

The best quality of this unit is the pass-through for stereo. When you shut the surround modes off this is an outstanding preamp for stereo. I compared the unit head to head with an NAD C160 and found that it imaged better and had a warmer sound than this highly rated class A unit. It's detail is really amazing for what it costs. Yes, I wouldn't compare it to a Krell or Conrad Johnson, but then they don't have video switching or cost 10x as much. It has no tone, or balance controls, which probably has a lot to do with it's clarity in stereo mode.

If you want the best surround modes then this may not be the best unit out there. I don't consider myself able to really comment on the surround modes as I don't really use them much. However I find the ProLogic mode performs an excellent enhancement of midrange that makes TV watching more enjoyable.

If you're like me and love good stereo but need video switching, a remote, and like a little surround once in a while then this is an outstanding unit. It's stereo bypass is the best I've ever heard in an AV preamp, and is better than a lot of high end dedicated preamps I've listened to. Outstanding value.

If you want the best surround than I can't really recomend it as I found the EQ function utterly misguided (boosts midrange...go figure) and can't really comment on the quality of the pro-logic, but do find the other surround modes workable but not the best (I find Yamaha has better surround modes).


Setup:
Martin Logan SL3's
2 NAD 214's in a vertically bi-amped setup
Analysis Plus 9 cables
Rotel RSP-960AX
Toshiba DVD (don't remeber model number but it's the new
carossel with 96bit pass through...waiting for a good
96 bit upsampling DAC...)

Similar Products Used:

NAD716, NAD C160, Yamaha DSP, Carver,