Rotel Electronics just introduced the RAP-1580 Home Theater Surround Amplified Processor with Dolby ATMOS and DTS:X. In other words, a fancy name for a $3800 reference-class A/V Receiver without the FM radio capabilities. Rotel calls it their finest home theater product for those who don’t have space for separate components, yet still desire uncompromising performance.
Sporting the latest HDMI2.0a hardware and Dolby Atmos and DTS-X 7.1.4 processing, its amplifier section is built upon a powerful class A/B design with 7 x 100 watts per channel, all channels driven into 8 ohms, anchored by a massive Rotel-made toroidal transformer.
The RAP-1580 utilizes high performance Wolfson 24bit/192kHz Digital-to-Analog Converters for all channels. These low noise, audiophile quality DACs are supported with premium-grade audio parts in circuits tuned by Rotel’s acoustic engineering team in the U.K.
Inputs include 8 x HDMI video inputs with 2 x HDMI video outputs all supporting 4K video with 3 of these inputs and both outputs enabled with HDCP 2.2. There is a seven-inch TFT display on the front panel to provide easy adjustments to all audio and video parameters without the need to turn on the television or video projection system. This makes it ideal for set-ups when the equipment rack is located separately from the video display. A full suite or custom integration features is on-board.
Other features include a front panel HDMI input with 4K video pass-through, front panel iPod USB input with 2.1A charging and integrated APTX enabled Bluetooth technology for higher fidelity. The RAP-1580 also includes a PC-USB input supporting 24 bit/192kHz audio, a quality MM phono stage input, CD input, XLR balanced input, Tuner input, 3 AUX analog inputs and multichannel input.
Doug Henderson, U.S. President of The B&W Group concludes, “Rotel’s RAP-1580 is simple to operate, powerful, flexible and refined. It is a state-of-the-art single chassis audio/video component that outperforms most separates. In stereo or surround sound, it is a serious audio component.”
Price and Availability
The Rotel RAP-1580 Home Theater Surround Amplified Processor will be available April 2017 for $3,800 (USD).
