OK... you sound like an audiophile, so let's go through this here...
You could probably say that since I've designed and built my own audio gear and have helped design the pro sound system for places like this:
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1, yes, the Rotel is currently made in China, WHAT ISN'T
Actually, none of the 20 main pieces in my music system are China sourced. But no matter.
The Yamaha is also a home theater receiver, but it's the RX-A3080 which is their flagship home theater receiver, and it does have balanced XLR pre outs for front L-R, so for two channel listening, that is an asset, not a liability.
Flagship or not, 007, I'm just telling you that no home theater receiver alive is a great musical amplifier. They are packed full of cramped microprocessor and op-amp controlled amp and DSP processors for stupid sound effects and so forth. It will be convenient for you but don't expect the same sound quality as a purest dedicated audio preamp with simple signal path. The main advantage of the balanced (XLR) circuitry to quieter background / lower hum, by using isolated floating ground topography. Nice if you got it, but doesn't really improve the musicality of the system.
2, I bought one Rotel RB-1590 "stereo," two channel amplifier. I'll use it for two channel listening. I'll feed the signal to it with a set of Audioquest Mackenzie XLR male to female cables, and I will biamp my Bowers & Wilkins CM-10's. Now, I've had this conversation many times with others on audiophile websites about what biamping and what biwiring is, and technically I know that I'm not biamping my speakers. I'd have to have a separate amp to power each set of terminals on the speakers, not just using the separate sets of terminals coming of a single amp. But the Rotel does have two toroidial transformers, one for each channel.
- I kinda figured you weren't using two bridged Rotels as you'll never feed 700W (rms?) into those speakers.
- Cables are an expensive consumer marketing gimmick. Believe me, really good sounding gear will blow you away even if wired with CAT 5 or lampcord.
- Again, fine if the Rotel uses two physically complete P/S for each channel, but again, not a NECESSITY, if all is designed right. Maybe a bigger factor for a bipolar transistor amp.
3, some will debate whether or not there is an advantage to biamping/biwiring until the cows come home, but in my opinion, I hear a difference, since the woofers take up 70% of the power fed to a speaker, when you eliminate the connecting strap between the binding posts on a speaker, then each part of the cross over network is then getting it's own power supply. The tweeter isn't getting it's signal bled down when the music hits some big bass notes. That is why higher end speakers do give you the choice to separate the power to the bass speakers and the mid/tweeter, or better yet, as you mentioned, even triamp them. The tweeter, the mid and the bass all get their own power supply.
Yes, I get all that. If you can actually biamp, that is the way to go. I'm actually quad-amped. I use six power amps (some mono, some stereo). Simply feeding twin speaker cables to the loudspeaker has dubious benefit. Remember, the loudspeaker is really electrically part of the final stage on your power amp. The Rotel may have dual outputs, but they all connect back to the same place. But if your speakers have provision for dual / split input and you don't mind spending for separate signal path for the bass and treble, it can't hurt.
4, my Bowers & Wilkins are CM-10 S2's. They're the flagship tower speaker for B&W in their CM model line up. They stand about 44" tall to the tip of the decoupled tweeter on top, and they have what's called a Plinth on the bottom, which you either use or not use. I use it because I want the extra weight to the speaker to eliminate as much vibration as possible. They were $4,000 for the pair, so they're not exactly your cheap pair of Cerwin Vega party speakers. I have the newer matching edition Bowers & Wilkins HTM71 center channel with the newer carbon tweeter and Continuum mid. That was $1,500. A very natural sounding speaker, no coloration noticeable, which is what I prefer. When placing speakers, if they're bookshelf style smaller speakers, yes, the need to be on stand, because you want the tweeter to be at ear level. I have B&W DM-602 S3's for surrounds. Another pair of great sounding speakers in my opinion. I also have an SVS PB-2000 subwoofer that I have placed on a slab of inch thick granite to ground it. 1050 watts peak of Class AB, digitally controlled, push pull power, and it will shake plaster off the walls.
Your call. 44" just seems mighty low to the ground for me, especially for a home theater. If it were me, I'd try them a few feet out from the back wall, a few feet in from the side walls, and raised up on one or two cinder blocks and give that a try. Then experiment with the toe-in toe-out.
5, I'm adding the Rotel because I not only use the Yamaha Aventage RX-A3080 for home theater, but Yamaha did have the sense to add balanced XLR pre outs for "only" front LR. They probably knew that some would use those for 2 channel listening and add a decent amp, and that's what I've done.
Yes, that was a nice feature they added and over the years, Yamaha has generally made a good product.
The Rotel is far from a $35,000 McIntosh, or any of the other amplifiers that cost more than a house. But for what I'm doing, the Rotel with dual transformers and 350 watts RMS per channel into 8 ohms of Class AB power, it's going to really wake up my B&W CM-10's which do love power, and the Amazon streaming HD and Ultra HD music is going to sound pretty dang good.
I'm sure the Rotels will perform better than Yamaha's built in power stage. With 350W, I think you'll find the amps actually play Class A at lower volume and the added headroom should help keep the sound cleaner at higher volumes. Rotel has always been known for offering a taste of the high end without high end prices.
I've been at this for a long time. I've owned a lot of crap in my life and I just keep upgrading within my budget. The system in front of me right now, once the Rotel is sitting there, should be here next week, is north of $13,000 worth of stuff when you throw in the cost of cables and 65" LG 4K TV and what not, so even though that really is still considered "mid-fi", I know NO ONE that's got a better system. Most of the people I know look at what I have and think I'm nuts for spending the money I have on it.
Yep, I can totally relate. If anyone thinks you're crazy, then they don't need to listen to the stuff, do they? If it make you feel any better, here's a couple pictures of my stereo in circa 1978:
View attachment 335418 That's a Transcriber's Skeletal turntable on the wall with a custom modded HK ST70 power amp underneath and a totally ratted out custom rebuilt AR SP3A preamp in front. Buried in the middle is a Quintessence equalizer used to isolate the bass channel for an SAE Mark IIICM fully complimentary DC-coupled 200wpc power amp for the bass (separate sub). The sub and satellite speakers were all custom hand built.
Looking down at the preamp,
View attachment 335419 my own proprietary line gain stage and phono preamp with a strain-gauge P/S behind it to power the phono cartridge.
And I still have all that gear. If your friends think you crazy, I actually have about 3 tuners, maybe 3-4 preamps, maybe 20 power amps and a few receivers and integrated amps in the room right next door to me. I could probably assemble 5-7 complete nice stereos from stuff I have laying around the house! So no, you're not crazy.
The money does go fast for brand new store bought gear, which is why I mostly buy used and/or build my own. I hope that after you listen to the Rotels for a while and get settled on everything, you take some pictures and write of your impressions. I'd like to read that.
Good to have a talk with another person that knows a little audio. Not too many people that care or know jack squat.
I'm pretty much an audio purist. A friend and I advanced the SOTA. I used to design electronics. I pretty much only listen to LPs and some CDs. So, yeah, I'd he interested to read your review once you get these Rotels dialed in. Don't forget, it may take hundreds of hours burn in before they sound their best. Once you get the Rotel, you should leave it powered on 24/7 for at least a few weeks (with the upstream Yamaha on too). Break it is gradually w/o blasting it for a few days. Don't mean at all to sound like I'm ripping on any of your gear, just trying to be totally accurate and honest with you (the industry is full of hype and marketing misinformation). Utimately, how your system sounds will depend on the synergy between the Rotel and your B&Ws.
Believe me, this stereo has sound up in the range that you'd have to spend six figures at an audio salon in order to get. You CANNOT blow it up.
I'm a practical guy. No WAF. The point being here, 007, is that this crap is always a work in progress.
