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Rotel Bows Flexible 2-Channel Receiver
Rotel Re-Affirms Lead in 2-Channel With Sonics, Quality, Value, and
Impressive Multi-Room Capabilities From 2×100-watt Design
North Reading, MA—September 2004—Even while achieving the status of a world leader in affordable-high-end components for AV home-theater systems, Rotel has kept in sight the fact that untold thousands of music lovers continue to focus purely on two-channel music playback, albeit with occasional audio-video needs.
So it’s no great surprise that Rotel America, the U.S. wing of the world-renowned multinational manufacturer, has introduced a new stereo receiver to
its lineup. The RX-1052, a simple, superbly musical design, combines audiophile-grade stereo sonics with basic video-switching features. And
marking the RX-1052 most clearly as a departure from the routine—aside from the audio quality and ergonomic simplicity that are expected of any new Rotel—is its quietly powerful multiroom capability.
The RX-1052 delivers 100-watt stereo via two sets of audiophile-grade four-way speaker outputs, for selectable speakers “A” and “B.” Far more unusually, it also incorporates no less than three sets of “zone” outputs, each routing independently souce-selectable and volume-controlled stereo line-level audio and composite video. With a suitable multichannel amplifier (such as Rotel’s own excellent six-channel RMB-1066), the RX-1052 can furnish as many as four remotely located rooms or zones with dynamic and musically accurate stereo sound and basic video. And these are eminently controllable, via the RX-1052’s three independent IR links and 12-volt trigger outputs. It even supplies a fully addressable RS-232 serial port, for interfacing touchscreen and other media controllers, as well as upgradeable microprocessor software.
While Rotel clearly conceived the RX-1052 as a music-listening component, its designers conceded that the integration of basic video functions for occasional use would contribute considerable convenience. These comprise switching, with composite-video outputs for the main plus all three remote zones, and corresponding video inputs routed alongside four of its eight (total) inputs.
Among these are two with A-V record-out loops for recording components such as VCRs or DVD-Rs (on the audio-only side, the four audio-only inputs
include a tape-loop for audio recording). And because Rotel recognizes the continuing value of vinyl LPs, the receiver includes a phono input for a
turntable; a purpose-designed, high-quality moving-magnet preamp section that is a far cry from the IC afterthoughts typical of those few receivers today that bother to retain a phonograph input at all. The sensitive AM/FM tuner section incorporates excellent selectivity, for clean-sounding radio even in dense urban locations, and the convenience of 30-preset tuning.
Of course, features and facilities are of little value if underlying sonic performance is lacking. But since the RX-1052 is a classic Rotel design, it was
engineered to meet Rotel’s renowned “Balanced Design” standards, so that every stage, and every internal component is assured to contribute to the unit’s overall audible excellence. Like all Rotel receivers and amps the RX-1052 boasts a massive, “over-engineered” power supply for ultra-stable voltage and current supply, and custom-specified storage capacitors for pristine supply purity. Fully discrete, very-high-current output devices, with ultra-fast, highly linear driver and line-amp circuitry, guarantees exceptional sonic quality with the dynamic impact and detailed imaging for which Rotel components are justly famous.
The new RX-1052 is meticulously finished in two finishes, matte black or black-and-silver front panels. It is supplied with a multicomponent, full-system remote controller.
Availability: October 2004
Suggested Retail Price: $899.00
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