Dirt cheap Exceptional stereo performance Good surround capability Ample inputs & outputs

Its obsolete, no DD-EX/DTS-ES/DPL2 support Not upgradable

I got my RSP-976 together with the RMB-1075. It has been with me for almost close to a year now & has serve me well with 0 failure rate or problem. This is in spite of hot & humid weather here in Singapore. Thumb up 4 e reliability factor. Another strong factor which is pretty amazing considering their performance is the price factor. This combo cost me 2.5K & e closest rival from Parasound & Nad cost at least a grand more. I paired the processor & amp with a set of Mission speakers consisting of the 774, 77c1 & 77ds. Subwoofer is the REL Strata III. In term of surround capability, I would say its pretty good.. punchy, clear, clean sound with accurate multi-channel steering. However, I must say it still doesn't sound rite 2 me in e sense that I always felt something is missing. I'm not sure what it is but its not up to my mark yet. But e real killer is the stereo performance!! Hook it up thru e 5.1 discreet in & walah... great focus & soundstage comparable to those entry to mid range integrate amp. All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with the set... including the remote which most owner of 976 come to hate. In fact, I like it so much that I have condemned all my remote & replace them with this felo. Next in my upgrade plan is to ditch the Mission.. get some kick ass speakers from B&W, M&K & etc. Bet that will solve e missing end!

Similar Products Used:

Forget it.. junky DPL receiver

Price; connectivity

Dark sound; quality control

The RSP-976 worked very well out of the box. The connectivity is very flexible. Some quirks: OSD does not work with S-video. The unit developed a bug wherebythe center channel dies out sporadically during a movie. Tried to use the DB25 using the DVD player's DDconverter. The center channel did not come through at all. Used a continuity tester to check the cord and it was fine. Sound quality is a bit darker than the Sony onboard DD converter. Overall it is OK for the money, but I am taking off points for quality control. I think I will trade this for the Sonic Frontiers AVM12

Clean sound, build quality, versatility

remote, that initial silent thing mentioned above. Not a 7.1 decoder

I upgraded my HT setup from a Yamaha DSP-A2070 after holding out for years on the whole Dolby Digital thing. I had spent a significant amount of money on the Yamaha and was looking for something that would equal it sonically. I initially looked at the Denon 4800. I purchased it as well as the Rotel RSP-976 and 1075 amplifier and brought it all home. I hooked up the Rotel equipment and was immediately blown away. Despite the significant lower price of the Denon, I never even bothered to hook it up. So far, it has been an incredible centerpiece for my theater. I am running a total of 3 zones from it as well. The unit has assignable digital inputs which add to the versatility. I don't knbow what hiss some of the other reviewers are referring to. It might be coming from their amplifiers. With these two pieces, I hear blissful silence without any source input. The few weaknesses are the remote (switch to a pronto. Rotel even provides ccf files on their website for it), and the fact that it misses the first second or so of a digital input. Additionally, the interface could be a little more user friendly. The next least expensive separate pair that I looked at was $1000 more expensive. I don't think that you would need to justify that with this purchase. I am using the following with this combo: Kef reference model 2 (2) Kef Model 100c (1) Kef RDM-1 (2) Paradigm PS-1200 (1)

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RXv1, Denon 4800, old Yamaha DSP-A2070

Spacious, enveloping and detailed sound.

Usual compromises for a unit this price (see summary), a little on the bright side, low s/n ratio- hum and hiss, but this is barely noticeable from my listening position.

In the last two months I have had the following devices as my preamp/processor- Newcastle AVP-9080, NADT751 receiver, Adcom GTP-760, and now the Rotel RSP-976. The Rotel is the best of the bunch. One thing I cannot understand though, is why these less expensive pre/pro''''''''s are so noisy. There is a very distinct hum and hiss in each of my speakers within 2 feet using the Rotel. With the Adcom, the hum and hiss plus a high shrill was auidble very easily from the listening position. The Newcastle was dead quiet on its 5.1 inputs, but had a slight hum on digital sources. All in all it was very quiet, though. The NAD was pretty quiet too. Note- my system is DEAD quiet with just the amp (Carver 806x) engaged. Anyhow- back to the Rotel. This is the best sound front end I have had the opportunity to own. Perhaps the biggest improvement over the others I mentioned is 2 channel. Very detailed and balanced with a nice soundstage. Home Theater is excellent as well. I am hearing details I never noticed in the past on my old favorites. The unit is a little bright, though, sometimes harsh depending on the source. It could use a Cinema EQ feature, especially as the tone controls only affect the mains. The analog 5.1 passthrough is a nice feature to. It does a very good job. Not quite as well as the Newcastle, but more than good enough. Much better than the Adcom ( the worst piece of gear I have ever owned) and better than the NAD. Setup is a bit quirky, and as I have experienced with my other equipment it likes to clip audio during transitions, is sometimes slow to decode a digital signal, and ocassionally pops or crackles during a transition. All in all a great pre/pro for the money. I think I will hold on to this one for a while.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom GTP-760, Sherwood Newcastle AVP-9080, NAD T751, Pioneer Elite VSX-33TX, Onkyo TX-595, Sony DE-835

Affordable/Accurate 2ch/Excellent digital decoding/Assignable inputs

None at this price point

This was purchased along with a Rotel 1075 amplifier. I could not be happier. I listen to 70% music and 30% movies.

This setup is more than acceptable for my needs at 2 channel listening. I am by no means a purist(???) but at the same time I am critical. I would reiterate that at this price point this combo is an outstatnding bargain. To improve the sound quality (while staying with a 5 channel capable sytem) I would surmise that you would need to spend 3x as much.

Similar Products Used:

Carver CT-27v/Technics SC-500

Versatile input/output,sound quality,on-screen setup,ease of use and setup and the list goes on.

Slow volume knob response

I am writing this review for the RSP-976(I assume the model number on this page is wrong).
Let me first start off by saying that I am one of Rotel's newest fans!! I purchased this unit along with their RB-985mkII five channel amplifier to replace an inept Onkyo DD reciever. It was a decent unit that served its purpose, but after upgrading all of my speakers, it showed its weaknesses. I needed something that had some high current ability as the integrated piece went into protection mode at high volumes.

I had some requisites when I was shopping. I wanted someting that would handle all of my existing video sources with room for expansion,Dolby Digital and DTS,maybe some music surround modes(nothing fancy),a good remote and great sound quality. I compared the Rotel to many other units including Adcom(Pre/Pro),Sony(pre/pro and reciever),Denon, Onkyo and the like. I am very happy to say that this combo met and exceeded all of my expectations. I would also like to take this opportunity to say that if anyone is debating between the purchase of a high end reciever and a preamp/processor/power amp setup that they should definitely go the latter route. The sonic benefits are well worth it. And you dont need a golden ear to hear the difference.

Setup of this unit was incredibly simple. I actually had fewer interconnects with this unit than I did with the reciever! On-screen setups virtually made themselves and I was listening in no time.

I thought Dolby Digital movies sounded great before but now they sound absolutely incredible! Steering between the six channels is better than I had ever heard before in my living room or even better than any show room I had ever been in! Most units will reproduce the channels faithfully but none I heard engulf you in a field of 360 degree sound like this unit does.

The remote is wonderfully easy to use and program. Sure, other remotes may offer fancy macros and touch screen use but I prefer this one. Its nice to be able to use a remote with one hand. It seems any others require the use of two hands and the owners manual.

Overall sound quality is excellent in stereo mode with a soundstage wider and deeper than the room and better than average imaging-well centered,but not pinpoint on my system.

This is a great HT preamp in my opinion. Worthy of at least an audition.

Other components in my system:
Rotel RSP-976 PRO/PRE
Rotel RB 985MkII AMP
Sony DVP-S550D DVD
Onkyo DX-706 CD Transport
Marantz HI-FI vcr
Def Tech BP-2000 Bipolar mains/Sub
Def Tech CLR-2002 Center
Def Tech BP-2x Dipolar Surrounds

Similar Products Used:

First preamp/processor

I haven't purchased the RSP-976, but I am debating purchasing the NAD T751 A/V receiver and the NAD T550 DVD/CD player OR the Rotel RSP-976 processor and Rotel RDV-985 DVD/CD player. I have the adcom 555 and 535 amps so I will need another amp if I go with the Rotel system. If I go with the NAD set-up, I have everything I need and it's several hundred dollars less than the rotel set-up. Does anyone suggest to keep going with the "separates" idea or go with the NAD set-up.

Incredible bang for the buck; virtually transparent sonic represention of two-channel material; limitlessly upgradable.

Lack of bass management;poor on-screen menus.

After auditioning several expensive pre/pros, I came back to my Rotel dealer and asked to see the RSP-976. I left that same day with the preamplifier. This product is a gorgeous representation of Rotel's no-frills approach and their commitment to audiophile grade sound at a middle of the road price. Every input an audio nut could want is available on this piece, including a computer I/O (which, unfortunately, is not for future software upgrades). Lack of tweeks and bass management modes are more than made up for by this pre-amp's pure, pristine representation of both music and film soundtracks. After using this product for four months, I probably wouldn't hesitate to put it up against a/v pre/pros at three times the price. As an added bonus, it is also an attractive little machine, beautifully laid out without calling an inordinate amount of attention to itself. All in all, this pre/pro is a thoughtfully and lovingly made product, very easy to use and very easy to admire. A must-have for home theatre buffs who are on a budget, or for anyone who loves great sound. Applause to Rotel for this more than modest triumph.

Similar Products Used:

Older Rotel pre-amps

Nice Sounding HT. Straightforward setup, Rotel quality (should keep on ticking for along time).

2 Channel music

I was really looking forward to buying this unit as I'm now using an older Pro-logic Rotel unit. I was looking forward to the upgrade in both Movies (which was definitely there) and 2 channel music (which was actually a dramatic step backwards).

My current older unit has a pleasing quality to the music but lacks in soundstaging, air, detail and other audiophile attributes. With the 976, those faults weren't corrected, and the presentation was noticeably brighter, lacking in transients, and overall had an abrasive and unappealing sound quality to it which surprised me.

Maybe with a longer burn in period the sound will come around - but it would have to come a long way.

If used just for movies, this is an excellent buy in its price range. Still, given its age and non-inclusion of the newer features and formats, its probably best to hold out for the newer Rotel line probably coming out in the spring.

Or decide as I have to break out the much bigger bucks for the top end systems (in my case Theta).

If you have a dealer that will offer a one year trade-up, however, the 976 will hold you over nicely until the new pieces show up. (No such luck here).

Similar Products Used:

Rotel 960AX B&K Ref 20

Bang for the buck; digital processing; video switching (including component); remote control; abundance of both audio and video input sources; 6 channel analog input (DVD-A/SACD); owner's manual; build quality; warranty

Limited bass management; no frills (if that's your thing)

In my quest to enter the world of separates at the cost of a mid to high-end receiver I found the Rotel RSP-976 to be the ideal choice for my system when paired with a Rotel RMB-1075 120x5 amplifier.

I auditioned the usual suspects - receivers from Marantz, Denon and NAD along with the AVC-1800 from Parasound paired with a Parasound 5 channel amp. I was impressed with the Marantz SR-8000 and the Denon AVR-4800 but I really was hell bent on using a Rotel amp to power my Paradigm Reference Studio speaker set up so I figured if I was going to spend > $1000 on a receiver as well as another grand on the amp why not get a separate pre-amp surround sound processor that I could "upgrade" when the price and features warrant it. However, I can't imagine wanting to do that anytime soon due to my satisfaction with the RSP-976. The Parasound was a close second, with the AVC-1800 being the sticking point (I loved the Parasound HCA-1205a but at the time it was a bit more expensive than the RMB-1075).

The RSP-976 flawlessly decodes Dolby Digital and dts soundtracks with breathtaking sonic transparency. While I opted to connect my video sources directly to my HDTV monitor, the RSP-976 provides the option to connect as many video sources as I'll ever have including 2 component video inputs which should accommodate most folks who have a progressive scan DVD player and an HDTV set-top box.

As with most "in the box" remotes, the RR-969 remote has it's quirks but for the most part is a very competent remote that easily controls my entire system. It's a learning remote that "learned" all the necessary commands from my other 4 remotes in less than 10 minutes. Only about half of the remote is backlit but I've found that it's the necessary half so I'm pleased in that regard.

The 6 channel analog inputs are a nice addition at this price point and I've used them to take advantage of my DVD player's DVD-A capabilities. It's just unfortunate that 1st generation DVD-A players neglected to incoporate any bass management on-board which basically forces me to listen to the mutli-channel mixes as opposed to the 2 channel 96/24 mixes (I need *some* sub-bass and don't have full range stereo speakers).

The owner's manual is the best of the bunch out of the other 4 pieces in my system. There's even a separate manual just for the RR-969 remote. While the manual may not be entirely complete, I don't feel that I'm lacking any knowledge needed to efficiently operate the RSP-976.

The one caveat to this otherwise killer piece of equipment (IMO) is the fixed crossover frequency for the LFE channel. However, properly calibrated my system sounds so good that I'm willing to overlook this limitation :)

All in all I'm giving the RSP-976 a 5/5 rating for it's excellent sound and build quality and an affordable price. Anyone seeking to get into separates for +/- $2000 should give the RSP-976 serious consideration as their front-end piece. With an abundance of quality 5 channel amps out there for around a grand, $2000 can get you a nice combo that easily competes with flagship receivers costing twice that.

The entire system:
Rotel RSP-976 DD/dts Processor
Rotel RMB-1075 5 channel amplifier
Panasonic DVD-RP91K Progressive Scan/DVD-A Player
Denon DCM-370 5 Disc Changer
Paradigm Reference Studio 40v2 Mains
Paradigm Reference Studio 20v2 Surrounds
Paradigm Reference Studio CC Center
Paradigm PW-2200 Subwoofer

Similar Products Used:

1st A/V processor