Rotel RSX-1560 A/V Receiver  

By Mark Fleischmann   
June, 2009

At A Glance:
- High end implementation of Class D amplification
- Among first Rotels with HDMI 1.3, lossless surround decoding
- Faroudja video processing but no auto setup
It’s Not Easy Being Green

Energy will likely be the defining challenge of our lifetimes. We use a lot of it but need to use less, so the ways in which we use it must become more responsible, creative, and resourceful. Will home theater continue to add to the quality of life in an energy-scarce future by bringing us closer to music and movies? Or will we write it off as just another accessory of sprawl, soon to be ruthlessly un-supersized? Is it possible to enjoy big pictures that are accompanied by big sound, while using less energy? This is the stage onto which the Rotel RSX-1560 A/V receiver walks, before an audience that is holding its breath.

Enter the RSX-1560. Yes, it is a Class D receiver, which uses a switch-mode power supply to efficiently feed high-current output devices. At $2,599, this receiver offers an opportunity to make a substantial investment in the future of home theater.

For me, this review was especially interesting, since the RSX-1560 is the direct replacement for a model line I revere, which includes the RSX-1067 and the RSX-1065. I’ve used the latter as my reference receiver since I reviewed it in 2001.

An advanced speaker setup menu lets you selectively override the master sub crossover and speaker size settings for the front, center, surround, and back-surround channels. It has separate adjustments for Dolby, DTS, stereo, and DSP. HDMI Audio mode has two adjustments. The Amp mode uses the receiver’s onboard surround processing, while the TV mode operates as an HDMI audio passthrough, allowing the display to do the surround decoding. A contour control adjusts the high and low frequencies. Rotel continues to offer a Cinema EQ mode that acts somewhat like the THX re-EQ feature (without certification). You may reconfigure the front channels for a second zone, substituting a two-channel museum piece for the front left and right. “We find a lot of audiophiles with ‘large’ loudspeakers favor this configuration,” Rotel notes.

The Rotel RSX-1560 is not just a science experiment in Class D amplification. It is a fine-tuned product that maintains the manufacturer’s effortlessly musical personality while projecting it onto a new amplifier topology. If I agonized over this receiver, I can only imagine how many sleepless nights Rotel’s designers spent trying to make it sound as good as its shiny front panel looks. With Mother Nature giving us dirty looks, it’s nice to know that such a thing is possible.

"http://hometheatermag.com/receivers/rotel_rsx-1560_av_receiver/index2.html"

"At A Glance: Unusual shapes and many choices of color • Better build quality than most sat/sub sets • Balanced performance

From People Who Do It Right

Whenever the depravity of the human race plunges me into despair, I think of Paris. Then I feel better.

That I cannot speak to French people in their own language is one of my lasting regrets. Whenever I try to speak even a few words, I sound like I have a ping-pong ball in my mouth. I order meals in French restaurants by pointing at things on the menu and gazing up at the waiter with a plea for mercy on my face.

Nonetheless, I am a Francophile of sorts. I like the French. I feel comfortable on French soil because the people who live there organize everything brilliantly. Their high-speed trains are the world’s fastest. Baron Haussmann’s redesign of the streets of Paris became the template for the 19th-century reorganization of other European cities. Of course, the food and wine are superb.

I knew I was in good company when I waltzed the Focal Dôme speaker system’s large carton into my listening room and began unpacking the speakers from their cartons and soft drawstring bags. The Dôme satellite and subwoofer are both French-manufactured works of art. They also happen to be excellent loudspeakers.

Grilled to Perfection
The Dôme satellite is available in Gloss Black with black grilles, Gloss White with white grilles, or Gloss Imperial Red with black grilles. Optional red, blue, or yellow grilles are available for $15 each. The sub is available in Gloss Black, White, or Red. As a down-firing design, it doesn’t have a grille.

At just above 4 pounds, the Dôme earns part of its price tag with solidity. My review sample’s extruded-aluminum enclosure had a beautiful Gloss Black finish that extends to its 5.75-inch pedestal. If you look very carefully at the top of the grille, you’ll see a stepped seam that runs down the back of the speaker. That allows a vertical angle adjustment, so the speaker can fire either straight ahead or at an upward angle. You can wall-mount it with the supplied bracket, or it can sit on a table with a flat-panel TV, perhaps with the center speaker on a shelf below the set, firing up toward the listening position. All five sats are identical, so with proper place- ment, side-to-side panning should not suffer from discontinuity.

Conclusion
The Focal Dôme is one of the best satellite/subwoofer sets I’ve ever heard. I’ve heard only a few others as good and none better. In every conceivable way, these speakers sparkle. The look is distinctive and, given the number of available color options, versatile. Of course, satellites are always easy to wall-mount, although you’d be proud to set these speakers on a table that holds a flat-panel TV. The build quality of the enclosure and drivers is top-drawer. And the sound is strong, with top-to-bottom consistency that’s rare in a sat/sub set. These speakers make the case for their category so convincingly that you may just decide that your system doesn’t need bigger ones after all. I’ve already said this in various ways, but I’ll say it one more time: These are great speakers."

- Home Theater Mag
http://www.hometheatermag.com 

Acoustix Complete Review - Australian Hi-Fi Magazine - Australia

30 Dec 2009

You could probably count on one hand the loudspeaker companies throughout the world that can make claim to offering a comprehensive range across the consumer, professional and commercial markets.

However, in our neck of the woods, we have a multitasking speaker manufacturer that can confidently lay claim to just such a rare achievement. That would be Krix of South Australia, of course. The company makes speakers that grace scores of cinema multiplexes throughout the world, are utilitarian tools for engineers in many recording studios, and of course, are the pride of a myriad of homes in music and home theatre systems.

The Equipment

The Acoustix speakers are a rather nicely proportioned two-way speaker with twin 130mm paper coned mid/woofers with high power handling 25mm voice coils wound around aluminium formers. The 28mm diameter ferro-fluid cooled neodymium magnet cloth tweeter sits between the two 130mm drivers in a D’Appolito/MTM configuration. The MTM drivers are very closely spaced so as to mimic a point-source and are crossed over at 2.1kHz. The speakers are rated as having a nominal impedance of 4 ohms and a sensitivity of 89dB SPL/w/m. Krix quotes the frequency response as being 50Hz to 20kHz ‘in-room’ but doesn’t reference any ±dB points, so it’s actually a frequency range ‘range’ rather than a ‘response’.

The Acoustix’s enclosures measure 450mm high by 180mm wide by 300mm deep, weigh 10kg and are vented via twin Krix-designed elliptical ports on the cabinets’ front baffle. The ports are positioned above and below the main drivers and have been designed to avoid chuffing and air flow noise. The rear of the cabinet houses a single set of binding posts.

The Acoustix speakers are available in vinyl veneer (which many will be hard pressed to pick as a vinyl veneer, rather than the real thing) at just $1,095. For only an extra hundred bucks you can upgrade the finish to one of a choice of several true timber veneers. Spend a bit more again (you’d have to contact Krix for exact pricing) and you can order your speakers in a specific custom exotic timber veneer to match other furniture in your room, or in a high gloss paint finish in any colour at all. My review samples came in a sumptuous red-tinged Jarrah wood veneer with a smooth and lovingly-oiled surface. Overall, these are extraordinarily assembled speakers with immaculate construction and finish. First rate, Krix.

Performance

The Acoustix’s tonal balance is dead neutral and this combination of drivers presents a very detailed sonic picture with delicate low level information and clear and natural sounding instruments.

The sister duo that is the vocal team for most of The Waif’s musical treats illustrated the resolute sound the Acoustix are capable of. Their voices – when singing in unison – were well separated and tonally distinct; there’s no mistaking Donna for Vikki Simpson on any of their tracks on their album SunDirtWater. Sure, compared to much more expensive systems there’s a tad of midrange nasality to the vocals (both male and female) and some dynamic restriction, but as I said, this only applies in comparison with much more expensive speaker systems using far more complex enclosures and far higher-tech drivers.

Krix’s tweeter is a bit of a beauty. In this implementation, the tweeter was all about absolute clarity and accurate timbral quality; elements that resulted in an experience that connected me, as the listener, directly to the music. This usually occurs when a speaker system treads that fine line between accuracy and musicality. Having said that, the Acoustix are revealing enough to tell you when you’re playing a badly produced recording…but never in a way that makes them sound harsh or unpalatable – they just sound, well…as you’d expect…brighter and more compressed.

Given the size of the drivers used and the relatively modest size of the enclosure, bass will never be overwhelming (damn those pesky laws of physics!). However, when placed close to the boundaries of the room – which is acceptable with this front-ported design – the little Acoustix can surprise; certainly in terms of punch…if not depth. Doug McLeod’s track Black Pony from his ‘Whose Truth’, ‘Whose Lies’ CD illustrates this succinctly. The kick drum and electric bass power along quite nicely at a fast and tight pace, giving a satisfying impression at the low-end frequencies. What’s more, there’s plenty of detail offered here – and frequency-wide as I made clear earlier – with superb tonality.

True to its design topology, the soundfield is seamless and the speakers are difficult to identify as the source of the sound being reproduced. This in no doubt is due to the proximity and spatial relationships of the drivers.

Conclusion

Krix has managed to produce a small speaker that can provide a seamless sonic picture and that excels at reproducing detail and resolution of complex and dense music mixes. Also noteworthy is the Acoustix’s ability to punch out bass. As stated above, it’s not the deepest bass (enclosure size is the limitation) but above the two lowest octaves, boy does it kick! Hey Mr Krix, I think your Acoustix are truly terrifix.

- Australian HiFi - Australia , Edgar Kramer

New range of Krix loud speakers.

The KDX series are now being replaced by the Acoustix (Mains) and Graphix (Centre). These are completely new models with front ports, internal cabinet braceing and the new tweeter (as used in the rest of the range) for improved acoustic matching. The team at Krix have also used new medium-density foam for internal dampining which exhibits exhibits execellent acoustic characteristics, as well as a complimentary all new crossover.

We should see the speakers in the second week of Septenber…

You can expect better presence and fuller mid range, tighter bass and better high frequency definition with a soother response. Imaging has also been improved.

The Neo ProLink iPod adapter gives you high quality audio, power and charging of all iPods and iPhones as well as control on the radio and steering wheel (if equipped).  When the iPod is connected, it will be disabled but direct mode can be accessed from the radio. Your iPod and screen will NOT be disabled when connected in direct mode.  You will be able to access and use the menu, click wheel, track and play/pause buttons.  There is no special playlists that need to be setup, and you are not limited in anyway.  You will have access to your entire music collection from playlists, artists, albums, and songs.  This adapter also has an AUX port on it so that you can connect a DVD, SAT, or any audio device of your choice.

Ask one of the 'OFE' team for a quote on your car today!

Oak Flats electronics is proud to announce that their newly launched OFE show car was awarded 1st place at the 2008 Shoalhaven Motor-Lifestyle Expo. The award was presented for best installation and best sound quality for the Street Pro Category.
It was an exciting day for the team at OFE as it proved their ability and committment to produce the best car audio installations in the region. What made the day even more exciting were the array of cars supporting Oak Flats Electronics. There were a number of cars entered from the OFE VIP Club, two receiving encouragement awards in the same category. The OFE Show car was definately the center piece of the day receiving much attention and admiration from the car enthusiasts.
Keep an eye on our sight for the OFE Show car photos - Prepare to be amazed!