haha agreed...I'm trying to make the amp sound horrible to him

I don't find it all that complicated. Perhaps it's all the audio choices. I just like to find something that works well and stick with it. Right now, using one of the THX modes that supports upgrading 5.1 to 6.1, called THX extended, I think.

I guess if you played in the amp menus often, got used to the GUI & how it all works & what the often undecipherable options are, then it becomes second nature; however, when I dabble inside my Denon every 6 months or so & have forgotten everything from before, I find it to be stressful & yes, complicated...

TAM

quick question:

My power amp is 4ohm capable
If my receiver is not, will this be a problem?

Nick, your question isn't entirely clear. All amplification is "4ohm capable" in varying degrees, certainly including the SC-68 to a very substantial degree. Also, if your plan is still to actually drive your Axioms with the 1095, then the capability of the receiver is a moot point.

well many amps claim to not be able to drive 40hm loads without shutting off.

I was talking hypothetically...if I didn't have the sc-68...IF I had a receiver that shuts down driving M80's, would it matter if they are running through the 1095 anyway?

Hi Mad,

No, it wouldn't matter if you're using a receiver as a preamp (even if it's a receiver that shuts down driving 4-ohm loads) because the preamp output is a low-level signal (a couple of volts) incapable of powering speakers. It only has to drive the input section of your 1095 power amplifier, which it can do with 1 volt.

When you hook up an AV receiver to use its pre-out signals only, the amplifier section in the receiver goes unused.

Regards,
Alan

ok thanks, I figured as much. It felt silly asking but I had to ask.

I'm "thinking" of replacing my Rotel RMB-1095.

It's having issues and I learned a little more history about it, I don't feel comfortable hooking up all this nice new equipment to it.

This is the on going problem with the amp(I've just become aware of it).

The front right channel intermittently starts to lose volume. Like all of a sudden, over the course of a cd for example, I'll suddenly become aware that the left channel sounds quite a bit louder then the right channel. I noticed this last week. When I turn it down to "just above audible" on the left channel(using the balance on the receiver) and set the balance to the right, you can hear absoulutely nothing. The left channel is definitely quieter. It doesn't happen all the time though. It's very odd.

My dad has never told me about this before, but apparently it was an on going problem. He said he thought it was his receiver, so he hooked up the Rotel to other receivers for a period of time. Same problem started to creep it's way back.

He brought it down to a local repair guy)just a little hole in the wall electronics place with a good reputation) and he can't make heads or tails of it from the sounds of it. The second time it was brought in, he took out some of the safety features of the amp, thinking there was something going wrong there. I don't know the exact specifics and this all new news to me.

If it was me who was fixing peoples expensive equipment and I can't figure it out...wouldn't it make sense to contact the manufacturer for suggestions? Apparently my dad phoned Rotels technical line, but they couldn't really help without sending it away.

So now that I know the safety features of the amp may be possible compromised, plus the added fact that I'm getting weird volume fluctuations...I don't know if I feel comfortable hooking up equipment to it anymore.

Would it be worth it to pay for all the shipping and costs associated with and send it to Rotel for repair? Or should I put it in storage and buy an Emotiva XPA-3?

I should say I know it's worth it either way to get it fixed, but I'm thinking about just shelving it for now.

If I'm reading this thread right, it looks like you're getting a Pioneer SC-68. That's all the pre-amp and amp you need.