Well I think it "baked" all it’s going to. I let her play for about 12 hours, then sat down and really listened to some CD’s that left memorable impressions before, both bad and good. I didn’t really hear any earth shattering differences between the HK and Rotels. However, there is most definitely an improvement overall, which is really quite an accomplishment seeing how I didn’t have much to complain about the HK to begin with.
Just to keep things on par, I used the same speaker wires at the same length. I didn’t move the sub or speakers either. I also ran the Rotel flat without any tone contours selected. I turned the sub off too, so I could listen to the speakers without anything else going on.
First off, like I already mentioned, the Rotels play louder than the HK. Don’t ask me how loud, cause I value my hearing. At close to max volume (as close as I cared to try anyway), things just started to go south. Meaning, it just felt as if the HK was running out of breath and the SQ of music would just not be there. Right around 100 db’s is the max volume the HK could pump out without some sound degradation. Don’t know if that makes any sense to you, but that’s the only way I can describe it. The Rotel’s on the other hand just keep going and going. The music just gets louder and louder and SQ is not affected. Not in the least bit.
After playing the same songs through the HK and Rotels, I couldn’t help notice that everything just sounds more ‘crisp’, ‘clean’, and just basically “more” of everything. Again, hard to explain, but everything just sounded better. With the HK, at around 95 db’s, I could slightly detect a bit of a hiss between tracks and quiet spots in the recordings. I had attributed this to the recordings themselves, but with the Rotel’s, it was gone. I’m ain’t BS’ing either. I went through great pains to re-rout the speaker wires up/down from the HK in the loft to the Rotel’s in the great room to do this. Not every song, as my previous assumptions were probably correct. Some recordings are just bad and have that stinking hiss. But there were most definitely songs where it was gone with the Rotels, but was there with the HK.
One of my favorite groups is Breaking Benjamin. They sound great in my truck (lots of money in my truck system). But before, they didn’t sound so good through the 80’s. Cymbals didn’t sound like they should. It was more like a steady SSSSSSS. With the Rotels, at any volume, I can actually visualize the drum stick hitting the cymbal. The SSSSS is gone and cymbals sound like they should. There was a particular song of Alison Krauss and the Union Station where I didn’t even here the cymbal with the HK. It’s a very light tap that I just didn’t here before. It was there, although very light with the Rote’s. Totally cool….. I’m just loving this new sound coming out of my speakers.
I didn’t detect any noteworthy difference with the mid range. None at all that I can tell. But bass is…., well, just “more”. With the HK I ‘needed’ the sub on. Not much, but a little. I typically ran the sub in between 45 and 60 Hz and volume at 12 o’clock, and about 1 db higher than the speakers. At lower volumes, I really needed the sub to give me a presence of bass. Heck, I thought the 80’s were lackluster with low frequency bass. Well now I have to re-evaluate the need for a sub and eat some crow because the 80’s do pump out some bass. And that was with the tone contour off. After a few hours of messing with it, I think my favorite spot is in the L1 position. There’s an L2 position where the bass contour is about doubled as with the L1 position, but that’s a tad too much for me with most recordings I’ve listened to so far. I don’t much care for the H1 position. It adds some high frequency. Right now I have the sub on, but it’s set at the lowest crossover setting of 30 Hz. It’ll probably stay there too. I still like a little thump thump. But I could definitely live without it if I had to.
In summery, the HK is just dandy for HT and I plan to keep it for my HT room when I finish it. But for stereo, I’m sticking with separates. If you can afford them, I most definitely recommend going that route. If you can’t afford them, don’t sweat it. The differences in SQ are there, but not so much that you’re missing out on anything to fret over, like a good wet tee-shirt contest at Hooters. I’m a happy camper. I’m glad I bought the Rotel’s. I doubt I’d be any happier with NAD or other comparable brand. Now I’m just curious to find out what difference a tube amp would make….LOL… will it ever end??
