Resurecting Rotel Integrated RX 820 -help?

peterlo · 19th December 2009, 01:38 AM

Hi guys,

I'm at it again, just love the looks & feel of the old stuff, mostly acquired for only a few $$.
Anyway this baby (lovely 40 position log volume control pot) fires up but I have a number of problems:
1) The number of local FM stations it can pull is roughly half what my other equipment can manage with the same Rabbit Ears antenna in the same location. There is provision for a 75 & 300 Ohm antenna connection & "reception" seems about the same with the aerial mentioned. Also this unit has incorporated on the back panel a fold out (about 7" long) Ferrite aerial (think that's the correct term). Should this be disconnected whilst trying the Rabbits ears?
And what connections should the antenna be set to?
2) The back panel indicates only speakers equal to or above 4 Ohm should be connected. At the moment I am testing using a pair of Logiteck PC speakers which do not show the speaker impedance. Am I risking anything using such speakers set of course at low volume.
3) On the several FM stations whose signal I can receive the speakers are producing quite a bit of background noise mainly hissing. What is the most likely cause of this given that they don't hiss on other equipment.
Hope someone with some real knowledge can offer some guidelines or list of things to check.
THanks
Peter O

Mooly · 23rd December 2009, 11:40 AM

1. The ferrite aerial will be for AM and if connected correctly should not interact with the FM side of things.
75 ohm connection is for a "proper" aerial and coax feed.
Sensitivity of tuners varies and unless you can try it on a known signal level it's meaningless saying it's not as good using rabbit ears etc. It may well be fully up to spec.
2. No problem with the speakers... most speakers are 8 ohm. Speakers intended for use with low voltage amps etc (Car stereos etc) can be lower impedance to get more power from a given voltage. And the figure is nominal anyway... it varies greatly with frequency.
3. Is it switching to stereo... and then hissing due to lack of signal.

Is there a DX/Local switch to alter the sensitivity

19th December 2009, 01:38 AM	#1
peterlo diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2007	Resurecting Rotel Integrated RX 820 -help? Hi guys, I'm at it again, just love the looks & feel of the old stuff, mostly acquired for only a few $$. Anyway this baby (lovely 40 position log volume control pot) fires up but I have a number of problems: 1) The number of local FM stations it can pull is roughly half what my other equipment can manage with the same Rabbit Ears antenna in the same location. There is provision for a 75 & 300 Ohm antenna connection & "reception" seems about the same with the aerial mentioned. Also this unit has incorporated on the back panel a fold out (about 7" long) Ferrite aerial (think that's the correct term). Should this be disconnected whilst trying the Rabbits ears? And what connections should the antenna be set to? 2) The back panel indicates only speakers equal to or above 4 Ohm should be connected. At the moment I am testing using a pair of Logiteck PC speakers which do not show the speaker impedance. Am I risking anything using such speakers set of course at low volume. 3) On the several FM stations whose signal I can receive the speakers are producing quite a bit of background noise mainly hissing. What is the most likely cause of this given that they don't hiss on other equipment. Hope someone with some real knowledge can offer some guidelines or list of things to check. THanks Peter O

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23rd December 2009, 11:40 AM	#2
Mooly diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2007	1. The ferrite aerial will be for AM and if connected correctly should not interact with the FM side of things. 75 ohm connection is for a "proper" aerial and coax feed. Sensitivity of tuners varies and unless you can try it on a known signal level it's meaningless saying it's not as good using rabbit ears etc. It may well be fully up to spec. 2. No problem with the speakers... most speakers are 8 ohm. Speakers intended for use with low voltage amps etc (Car stereos etc) can be lower impedance to get more power from a given voltage. And the figure is nominal anyway... it varies greatly with frequency. 3. Is it switching to stereo... and then hissing due to lack of signal. Is there a DX/Local switch to alter the sensitivity

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