Listening
A well-known principle guiding the practice of medicine is "First, do no harm." The same principle might well be applied to audio. Regardless of the degree of signal-processing complexity—and, in the case of a device like the RSP-1066, that complexity is considerable—the final result should maintain as much of the quality of the signal as possible, adding little sound of its own. It's a tough job even for a high-end, 2-channel analog preamplifier, let alone a multichannel one that must handle digital as well as analog sources and decode surround-sound information encoded in a variety of formats.

Considered just in terms of its basic sound quality—and putting aside the surround-sound aspects—the RSP-1066 impressed me as a fine performer. Music and movie soundtracks had a natural quality, smooth and wide-ranging, with little that I could identify as colorations added by the pre-pro itself—which is just as it should be. The results were particularly impressive with multichannel SACDs (like Vodka & Caviar, Delos DS 3288, one of my 2001 Stereophile Records To Die For), using the RSP-1066's Multi input, which bypasses everything except the volume control. Although I no longer had the RSP-976 available for direct comparison, I'd say that the comments I made about the sound of that unit ("highs clean, extended, and not overbright," "dynamic," "generally open, uncongested") apply just as much to the RSP-1066. The Anthem AVM 20 ($3199), which I did have available for comparison, was even closer to sounding like a high-end, 2-channel preamp. The RSP-1066 sounded a bit "electronic" in comparison, but the difference in sound was less than one would expect given the difference in price.

The RSP-1066's surround-sound performance was comparable to any of the more expensive pre-pros I've had in my system. Depending on the source material, surround effects were both precise (allowing one to identify sounds as coming from a particular direction) and enveloping (adding a sense of ambience without being distracting). The latest DSP chips have the potential of doing an excellent job with surround sound, but whether that potential is realized still depends on the implementation, and the sound of the RSP-1066 showed that Rotel's engineers know what they're doing. One criticism I'd had of the RSP-976 is that it did not allow any surround enhancement of mono soundtracks (e.g., classic musicals like Singin' in the Rain) that might benefit from this treatment. This has been remedied in the RSP-1066, the surround effect making these soundtracks seem less dated sonically.

Although I've heard demonstrations of Dolby Pro Logic II at shows, the RSP-1066 is the first pre-pro I've had for review that includes this feature. Pro Logic II synthesizes surround sound from 2-channel sources, and, according to www.dolby.com, it's a "dramatically improved, updated matrix surround system" with full-range surround sound (the original Pro Logic was bandwidth-limited in the surround channel), improved steering logic, and "simpler circuits for cleaner sound."

I used Pro Logic II with a variety of 2-channel sources (CDs and DVDs without 5.1 soundtracks) and was quite taken with its effectiveness. The surround effects were compelling rather than gimmicky, and I noticed none of the steering artifacts that characterized the original Pro Logic. Pro Logic II allows selection of three modes: Music, Cinema, and Emulation. My favorite was Music, which has additional controls, including Center Width (gradually spreading the center image) and Panorama (more of a wraparound effect). I preferred Pro Logic II in Music mode to any of the RSP-1066's other DSP-synthesized surround effects (Music1, Music2, etc.).

My home-theater system normally has five main speakers, supplemented by an additional pair only when I'm reviewing a pre-pro with 7-channel capability; the extra pair of speaker cables creates an obstacle course that tests the patience of my long-suffering spouse. I first listened to the RSP-1066 with five speakers, then added the other pair in the back to check out the RSP-1066's various 6- and 7-channel modes. Cynics claim that these expanded multichannel modes merely represent an opportunity for the audio business to sell more speakers and amplifiers, and although I don't agree with this view, I continue to be ambivalent about the necessity for a surround system to include more than five channels. Yes, having six or seven channels (with appropriate sources and decoding) adds significantly to the experience of being enveloped in a soundfield, but at least some of that enhancement has to do with the fact that there is more sound coming from behind the listener.

I find that I can get at least some of the effect of seven speakers with five if I simply raise the rear levels 3-4dB above the standard calibrated level. (My speakers are placed between what would be called "surround" and "rear.") When I'm through doing my 7-channel evaluation and revert to 5-channel, I miss the benefit of the extra speakers for a while, but I quickly get used to it, and never find myself thinking, "Boy, this would sound so much better if I only had another pair of channels." For someone assembling a home-theater system from scratch who has the space and the cash to accommodate seven channels, I'd say go for it, but owners of 5-channel systems need not feel too deprived.

One of the RSP-1066's features is the decoding of CDs encoded with the High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD) process. Developed almost a decade ago by Pacific Microsonics and now owned by Microsoft, the HDCD process uses noise-shaping and other techniques to improve the sonic performance of CDs. HDCD-encoded CDs are described as "compatible" in that they can be played on any CD player, but optimal performance is said to be obtainable only if the playback equipment includes the HDCD decoding circuitry. That's in theory. In fact, I have a number of HDCD recordings that I play a lot (most of them from Reference Recordings), and although they sound very good on HDCD-equipped players, they can sound just as good—if not better—played back with high-end upsampling CD players and digital processors that do not decode HDCD.

I played some HDCD-encoded discs through the RSP-1066, and they sounded very good. But I didn't have non-HDCD versions of these discs for comparison, and the RSP-1066's HDCD decoding can't be turned off, so I can't say what specific contribution HDCD decoding made to the sound quality. Still, the inclusion of HDCD decoding is a nice bonus.

The RSP-1066's video section has the same specifications as that of the RSP-976, with the frequency response rated -3dB at 10MHz. The video display I've been using is the DreamVision LC-5 LCD projector, which produces a bright, contrasty picture with excellent colors and a degree of sharpness that seems hard to credit to the projector's 800x600 resolution. Watching DVDs or an HDTV feed from the Bell ExpressVu satellite (component-video connections), I could see no difference in the picture quality whether the connection was made directly to the source component or routed through the RSP-1066.

The LC-5 does not display HDTV at full resolution; to check the RSP-1066's video performance with a true HDTV display, I borrowed a 50-inch Pioneer PDP-503 plasma, which has a native resolution of 1280x768. This time, as with the RSP-976 in a similar comparison, there was a noticeable softening of the picture when the signal was routed through the RSP-1066. However, late in the review process, I learned that Rotel has made changes in the RSP-1066's video section, incorporating ICs that increase component-video bandwidth to beyond 100MHz—more than sufficient to handle HDTV. [We were able to check a more recent sample of the Rotel on the very sharp Sony VPL-VW12HT projector (resolution 1366x768) and can confirm that current production units now pass both HD and DVD video signals without degradation.—TJN]

Conclusion
Although Rotel's RSP-976 was an excellent performer and offered outstanding value for the price, the company's RSP-1066 matches its predecessor's basic sonic character while adding a number of features that make it even more enjoyable to use and raise the value-for-money to an even higher level. My favorite of these new features is Dolby Pro Logic II, which in my book is just about worth the $300 premium by itself. And being able to change a variety of operating characteristics via software downloads provides a significant degree of future-proofing. Rotel has come up with another winner.