Hi-Fi: Rotel RSX-1058 – Multichannel Receiver and RDV-1093 – DVD Player – 72

The RSX-1058 is a perfect example of Rotel’s slowly, slowly philosophy – it doesn’t have automatic setup, HDMI 1.3, next-gen high-definition audio support or even seven channels of amplification, but it has a real performance ace up its sleeve.

That HDCD (high definition compatible digital) logo on the front panel is rare on a multichannel receiver and shows that Rotel has concentrated on the audio quality. The theory is that if you get the stereo performance right then the multichannel audio will be sorted as well, and that is the case here. The Rotel is excellent in stereo, with playback of my usual suspects collection of reference CDs sounding more like a decent two-channel amp than a receiver. It’s right on the money in surround sound as well, with DVD music concerts sounding spacious, well controlled and full of rhythm and excitement. Ignore the conservative 75W x 5 power output; the 1058 has enough juice to drive speakers with at least as much authority and control as competing multichannel receivers with higher quoted outputs.

The manual speaker setup system is pretty straight forward and the receiver can accept analogue input from a player capable of decoding the new Blu-ray-based Dolby and DTS HD formats. The receiver also has the ability to morph into a relatively inexpensive multi-room audio system. With the addition of the available remote keypads and separate power amplifiers like Rotel’s own 6 x 60W unit, the RSX-1058 can feed up to eight audio sources into three remote zones.

The RDV-1093 DVD isn’t an entry-level contender, which is good considering that branded upscaling DVD players can be had for a tenth of its asking price. This is an affordable high-end player, intended to make the most of the DVD format. DVD movie playback was as good as you’d expect at this level, with Gladiator, Spider-man 2.1 and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith looking sharp, bright and colourful or deeply black as appropriate. The 1093 really stood out when it was asked to spin CDs, sounding more like a good CD player than a DVD player.

This Rotel combo won’t appeal to every buyer, especially those who want the newest with the most, or the easiest to set up and use. But there are people out there who realise that they listen to music far more often than they watch movies, and those with large DVD collections who aren’t all that fussed about Blu-ray. They’d be well advised to try the Rotels, which are old school but still quite cool.

Specs

RECEIVER

POWER OUTPUT: 5 x 75 watts

VIDEO INPUTS: 4 x HMDI, 3 x component, 4 x composite

AUDIO INPUTS: 7 x RCA, 3 x coaxial, 4 x optical

UPSCALING: Analogue upscaling to 1080p

FORMATS: Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Ex, Dolby Prologic llx, DTS, DTS_ES, DTS96/24, LPCM (up to 192K), HDCD, MP3, MPEG multichannel, AM/FM Tuner, Supports up to 4 zones, Optional remote zone keypads

DIMESIONS: 162 x 432 x 442mm (H/W/D)

WEIGHT: 17kg

FINISHES: Silver/Black

DVD PLAYER

1080p progressive scan

VIDEO OUTPUTS: HDMI, composite, S-Video, component video

READABLE DISCS: DVD-Audio, DVD-Video, Audio CD, MP3 on CD-R/RW, DVD-/+R

DIMESIONS: 92 x 432 x 336mm (H/W/D)

WEIGHT: 5.1kg

FINISHES: Silver/Black

Contact: www.internationaldynamics.co.nz

Brett Gideon

This review is from Tone issue #72.