Rotel 1576mkII vs Monoprice monolith HTP-1

[krizvi786]

Question for the forum:

As any one tried Rotel home theater processors vs. monoprice?

Was just curious if anyone else is comparing these two?

Thanks

 

[Vasr]

Rotel is typically about a year or more behind in features incorporating the latest for the full HT requirements or having the "luxury" items like balanced outs, etc. But if you don't need the latest and the greatest, they can be better value unless you compare them to a mass-market AVR to be used as pre-pro. Use of Dirac in the latest models would differentiate them from the latter.

 

[krizvi786]

thanks again

 

[Spocko]

When it comes to HT processors, forget "audiophile sound quality" and focus on setup and ease of use. Ultimately, if better quality sound is completely lost on frustratingly impossible room setup & bad bass management because you can't figure out the badly designed UI put together by people with NO CLUE about interface design, what's the point? I like how Monoprice's web based UI is set up and now their integration of Dirac and Dirac bass management is pretty solid. The reason I say forget about "audiophile" sound quality is because the home theater experience overwhelms the senses with bright flashing distracting visuals and HEAVY impact mid-bass which in my opinion completely masks any "audiophile" differences - this is why critical listening often is done in complete darkness to focus your hearing on the music. Good home theater experience instead should focus on the things that content creators spend all their time on: immersive spatial effects (Atmos or Auro3D) for true film immersion. Obviously, if you plan to use this pre/pro for multi-channel music listening too, then you are going to have to raise your budget significantly in order to nail down that last 2-3% of audio performance.

 

[Gui0507]

I actually have both the Rotel RSP-1576MKII and the Monolith HTP-1 right now. I initially got the Rotel but had some issues with Atmos showing “no audio” when streaming on Netflix and anything other than a Blu-ray/UHD disc. They don’t know why and are looking into it, being extremely new I doubt a fix anytime soon. Though I don’t have Atmos speakers, setting ATV4k to DD5.1 works fine. That being said, I ordered the HTP-1, so far everything works perfectly, “I think” the Rotel sounds a bit better, but I honestly in a blind test probably couldn’t tell. I like the HTP-1 actually has XLR outputs that can be used on the Rotel RMB-1585 amp I have (not sure why Rotel didn’t include XLR outs on their processor when the AMP has it). Also the web interface for HTP-1 is amazingly useful. I don’t know which I will keep, setting up Dirac on both tomorrow and see how that turns out.

 

[krizvi786]

Please let us know.

 

[livesound2]

I currently have the Rotel RSP-1582 in my system and considering the HTP-1, the MKII or the NAD M17 V2. After reading all the excellent reviews and comments on this fabulous site I suspect one should wait until a company releases a product that measures and preforms like it should for the price point. I prefer Audio over video and really like the sound of the Rotel in my room over that of my previous Marantz 8802A or the Integra DHC 80.3. Always chasing components that I can afford that will improve my listening experiences. I've found my DVD-A collection (over 100), to be the best sounding source although the come SACD and Blue-ray mixes are wonderful.
Looking forward to hearing from more members on this thread and thanks to all who support this forum.

 

[Gui0507]

I currently have the Rotel RSP-1582 in my system and considering the HTP-1, the MKII or the NAD M17 V2. After reading all the excellent reviews and comments on this fabulous site I suspect one should wait until a company releases a product that measures and preforms like it should for the price point. I prefer Audio over video and really like the sound of the Rotel in my room over that of my previous Marantz 8802A or the Integra DHC 80.3. Always chasing components that I can afford that will improve my listening experiences. I've found my DVD-A collection (over 100), to be the best sounding source although the come SACD and Blue-ray mixes are wonderful.
Looking forward to hearing from more members on this thread and thanks to all who support this forum.

If you like Rotel’s sound, you should explore the 1576MKII. I can tell you it sounds better than the HTP-1 (even after Dirac measurements), the Rotel out of the box sounds very good, maybe its synergy with the Rotel amp I have idk. That being said, I think the HTP-1 has some extra features but, at the end of the day it’s all about sound quality. Also, one thing I noticed on the HTP-1 the sound is just much ”lower” where I need to crank it up higher yet it still doesn’t feel as rich as the Rotel even at lower levels. I’m leaning Rotel right now.

 

[pedrob]

When it comes to HT processors, forget "audiophile sound quality" and focus on setup and ease of use. Ultimately, if better quality sound is completely lost on frustratingly impossible room setup & bad bass management because you can't figure out the badly designed UI put together by people with NO CLUE about interface design, what's the point? I like how Monoprice's web based UI is set up and now their integration of Dirac and Dirac bass management is pretty solid. The reason I say forget about "audiophile" sound quality is because the home theater experience overwhelms the senses with bright flashing distracting visuals and HEAVY impact mid-bass which in my opinion completely masks any "audiophile" differences - this is why critical listening often is done in complete darkness to focus your hearing on the music. Good home theater experience instead should focus on the things that content creators spend all their time on: immersive spatial effects (Atmos or Auro3D) for true film immersion. Obviously, if you plan to use this pre/pro for multi-channel music listening too, then you are going to have to raise your budget significantly in order to nail down that last 2-3% of audio performance.

When you say significantly increase your budget for multi-channel music listening, are you referring only to pre/pros? Do you have any suggestions?

 

[Gui0507]

You could always go with Trinnov Altitude 16 power amp switching will make little to no difference in sound quality. Processor is where it’s at.

 

[pedrob]

Unfortunately the Trinnov Altitude 16 is beyond my budget. I read that Amir was impressed the latest Denon can turn it's amps off, which I'm sure would provide a cleaner more stable power supply to the processor. I agree it might be only minor, but then every little improvement can be beneficial.

Looking at the ones recommended here I'm struggling to find a worthwhile upgrade and I'm wondering if a pre/pro is better than a receiver. Probably sometimes yes, sometimes no. The amps must be reasonably cheap as a processor only model from the same manufacturer can be dearer. That would seem to imply separates should be better.

Any thoughts on the Marantz AV8805?

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...urements-of-marantz-av8805-av-processor.6926/
I would say buy the Marantz AV8805 because it has the features it has not because you think it will provide reference quality audio performance. It will not.

https://www.homecinemachoice.com/content/marantz-av8805-av-processor-review
Performance: 5/5
Design: 4.5/5
Features: 5/5
Overall: 5/5

 

[livesound2]

In my experience and budget I've found a decent pre-pro coupled with serious high power (and cheap) pro audio amps will get the most out of any decent speaker system. I also think learning to evaluate a systems performance is very dependent on a rooms sound signature. Making choices of speakers/ components should be done listening to your favorite sources in "your" room.

Being new to posting on this forum and perhaps this is the wrong thread to pose this question I ask - What determines "reference quality"?
I have a near field surround sound set up as well as a dedicated listening room and currently preparing to upgrade my pre-pro from a Rotel RSP-1582 to a Acurus Muse and wonder how far does one need to go before the returns begin to diminish.

 

[markus]

Though I don’t have Atmos speakers, setting ATV4k to DD5.1 works fine.

You don't want to set your ATV4K to Dolby Digital 5.1 if you're interested in getting the best audio quality as it will re-encode everything to lossy DD: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204069

 

[mant]

The best Dirac pre-pro at the moment are HTP-1 and StormAudio, the rest has to fight with many problems.
If someone is looking for something from the professional shelf, he won't be able to get past StormAudio or Trinnov, they are the only ones that decode more than 16 channels and have the same sound quality.

 

[pedrob]

StormAudio or Trinnov are way too expensive and the HTP-1 gets a fail at https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ce-htp-1-home-theater-processor-review.11416/.

From what I've been led to believe, most recommended processors are suitable https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?pages/Audio_Equipment_Reviews/ and the difference is in the amps and speakers.

 

[hmt]

Please read the whole review a do not look at he panthers only.

 

[pedrob]

Please read the whole review a do not look at he panthers only.

Some nice results but the panther says a lot as does the conclusion.

To each his own, but a recommendation suggests a worthwhile investment.

 

[hmt]

It does not in this case. Read and understand the review.

 

[pedrob]

This seems to be fairly definitive: Buy this product because you want its features, not because you think the $4,000 is bringing you superlative objective audio performance.

I'm the first to admit Denon doesn't give "superlative objective audio performance". Something that does would be awesome.

 

[hmt]

The HTP 1 is not worse in that respect. Again: read the review, understand the measurements and do not only read the conclusion.

Back of the envelope: You will not hear the difference bn 90 db or 100 db sinad.
The HTP-1 ist the best pre pro under 10k €. Period. It is not without some flaws but that do not matter for most users.