Will I improve the qualitry of sound?


I now have a Rotel rb 1050 and am considering going to a Rotel rb 1070. the 1050 is 70 watts, the 1070 is 130 watts. How much does the size of the amp affect the sound? Or is this a question for dummies, not audiogon? JNorth
jnorth1178
Somtimes the smaller amps are the sweeter sounding because there are less parts in the amp. The bigger amps will give you more volume. The music may have more ease and less strain even at lower volumes. If you are not pushing your volume control very far with your current setup than it may be all that you need.
If you are trying to achieve a better sound you may want to list your other components, perhaps you have another weak link that you are overlooking. I doubt the bigger amp will sound much different at normal listening levels. A speaker with a higher sensitivity will require less power to drive, give you more volume and result in a totally different sound.

Don't rush into anything.
Good luck!
If you are not doubling your amps output it may not make a huge diffrence, now going from 70 watts to 200 watts would make a diffrence but Stue is right on about small simple and sweet.
Nope, 70watts to 130watts, not a big difference. Whats your preamp? That may dictate more of the sound then the amp at this point. If you have all rotel, you will still get "rotel" sound despite getting a bigger amp.
Excellent previous posts. I doubt you will notice too much of a differnce. I'd consider a 200w RB-990 if you want to upgrade in the Rotel family or try a different amp. Some lower powered amps may sound more musical. Just recently bought a dual mono 60w. Rotel RB-960BX amp. What a beautifully built amp. I'm waiting on some new spk. wire (Linn K400) to fully evalute it potential. But, I'd bet this older amp just might have a nicer sound than a newer single transformer Rotel amp.
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Thanks fellows. Nuguy suggested I list my other components. Here they are: Preamp: Rotel RC 1070. Amp: Rotel RC1050. Tuner: Rote; RT 02 CD: RCD1072 and B&W 805s speakers. If this listing illicites any further comment I would appreciate it. JNorth
What do you feel your sound is lacking? Not enough bass, harshness, soundstage, not loud enough etc...
One thing to remember is the importance of your room and speaker placement. A $3000 system properly set up can sound as good if not better than a $15000 system which is not. Make sure your system sounds as good as possible in your room, then you'll have a better idea on what to improve upon. Swapping out gear will alter your sound but not necessarily for the better.

There are many great sites offering tons of imformation on placement and room correction, this site is not the one I was looking for but it will shed some light on the subject.

good luck!

http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/speakerplacement.html
when you mention your speakers (btw that's the only b&w i liked out of the whole line), i also figured that going from 70w to 130w won't make a desired upgrade. aim for 200w amps or add sub.
Wow! Almost 3dB increase in power and no difference? What happened to better control, more headroom, less power supply strain, less chance of shifting the Q point of the transistor bias, less heat conduction from components, less power supply sharing percentage, etc.

You have to admit, a 70 wpc amp that can drive "this" load when driven by a 130 wpc is like "hot knife on butter". it is just cruising if you know what I mean.

Please, educate me! Why is it that a 70 wpc amp will not matter compared to a 130 wpc of the same amp at say, for the purpose of simplicity, 8 ohms purely resistive load and not considering any phase shift or lagging of the preamp signal driving it? Not a pissing contest but I really want to know why?
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You can improve the quality of sound, if that's your goal, by going with a better amp with more power. Sure going from 70w/ch to 130 of basically the same sounding amp will make the speakers sound a bit better just by providing more headroom, but you will retain the sonic signature of your 1050 amp for better or worst.

So, my point is, if to improve the sound is your altimate goal, you may want to consider a better amp than 1050 and 1070 put together.
For some affordable amps, look into McCormack older DNA-0.5 Deluxe, DNA-1. Or if you want to spend more, check out Pass Labs, Audio Research, McIntosh, Levinson and the older Krell Class A amps, such as the 100w/ch KSA-100S would be nice.

You can sell your amp and the preamp you are driving it with and get a nice integrated(e.g Krell KAV-400xi). The amplification is very important. Do not neglect it, especially with the N805s. They may be small speakers, but they do like power. And there are plenty of options at all different price points. Best of luck!
Thanks audphile for your recommendations. They did open up some new areas that I should explore. Right now it is a question of how much can I or should I invest in upgrades. My other hobby is fly fishing. They are alike in the fact you can never reach perfection in either one. I guess that is what makes it challenging. JNorth
I would say a lateral move at best...I would suggest going with an entirely different amp as opposed to staying in the Rotel camp...just my .02...
ALso..to increase your headroom my 3db one has to triple or quadruple your power...simply doubling it will not yield any significant results in this regard...
Spend some time on room acoustics. By far the best bang for buck when it comes to sound quality improvement.
I agree, this is a very lateral move. Same circuit, more power is really the difference if you move from one Rotel to the next. So ultimately all you stand to gain is better speaker driver control, with the same sonic signature as you have already.

Move to a different (hopefully better) circuit, and then you will hear the difference.

Good luck