So until today my plans were to pair an Epic 80 Home Theater (5.1) with a Denon 5308 AVR. I found a Denon dealer in Vancouver to go talk about price and of course he questions why I'm not going with Rotel (separates) instead of the Denon. I figure his mark-up is more on the Rotel, but that just might be Cynical.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to stay to listen to both side by side, but I'm going to head back later this week.

My room will be about 3800 square feet. The prices of the units are in the same ballpark.

Anyone with a strong opinion on Rotel?

Peter, the Rotels are of course excellent as to basic amplification. You haven't described the factors which are leading to the consideration of spending anywhere near that much, when the 3808 would satisfy the needs in the vast majority of setups(not that many "square feet", however) at a far lower price. Casually "listening" to amplifiers at a dealer doesn't provide definitive information.

John-

Thanks very much, and I take your point well. I completely agree that it is unnecessary to spend so much on amplification, and that I could probably spend <$1000 and get 95% of the way there.

However, if we take the value debate away for a sec, and assume I have $6000 bucks to blow on an amp just for the fun of it, I'm wondering if anyone has a strong opinion on Denon vs. Rotel.

For the denon, I like the number of HDMI Inputs, the number of zones, the power, the on screen menus, the web server etc. The Rotel has less inputs and not as many flashing lights, but does it sound better enough to justify living without the toys?

Cheers

Pardon me, 3800 CUBIC feet is the room size. Square feet would be roughtly 380.

Peter, unless you'd exceed the very substantial power capabilities of the 5308(or 3808 for that matter)there's no reason for the Rotel to provide audibly cleaner amplification. Again, the bottom line is amplifying 20Hz-20KHz with flat frequency response and inaudibly low noise and distortion. There're no mysterious factors beyond those.

Gotcha. Makes sense to me.

Cheers
peter

I personally would go with the denon.. but that is b/c I am a happy 3808 owner. Never owned a rotel but I am sure they are good as well.

Also, keep in mind that 6ave.com sells the 3808 for $1100 with tax and shipping (you have to call to get the price). If your set on the 5308 You might call them and ask for the price. I am not sure if they even sell the 5308 but I would guess they do.

I didn't realize Rotel had a Pre out that would handle HDMI.

I have a soft spot for Rotel. I'll have to read up on this one....

The 5308 is a beast and comes with the Realta VP. Pretty tough to beat this AVR.

Dave, you don't have to ask for that price anymore. They are selling them for under $1100 now on the website, same as AVSforum pricing.

My only cautionary tale about Rotel is the features list. A good friend went with a Rotel AVR over the Denon 4308 and, in hindsight, it was the wrong choice. That Rotel did not pass all the HDMI material the Denon did, and his subsequent Blu Ray purchased required lots of additional wire runs, etc. All this is to say, compare the core features and upgrade-ability closely. You will never hear a problem with Rotel's sound, etc., but they can't/don't always keep up with Denon, et al., on some key features.