This elite amplified pre/pro was built for A/V enthusiasts who want stellar performance plus room to grow.
Rotel’s home theater masterpiece
Rotel has a penchant for creating high-performance components that are simple to operate. An excellent example is the RAP-1580MKII amplified home theater processor. This elite unit delivers lifelike picture and sound, thanks in part to ultra-clean amplification, a beefy custom-built toroidal power supply, and intuitive controls.
Everything you need, and nothing you don’t
Conventional home theater receivers often sport a roster of features that may not be directly relevant for a home theater setup, like multi-zone distribution, or an AM/FM tuner.
The RAP-1580MKII is not a receiver in the traditional sense, since it doesn’t have a built-in tuner. It’s what Rotel calls a “surround amplified processor,” a specialized design engineered to deliver reference-quality sound in one zone from a single chassis.
Want to expand? Consider Rotel’s matching power amps
The RAP-1580MKII will power up to seven speakers at the same time, including side and rear surround channels.
If you want to expand — say to a 7.1.4-channel Dolby Atmos system — you can feed the overhead effects information to your choice of external power amps using unbalanced (RCA) cables.
Rotel’s lineup of premium power amps is a particularly good match with the RAP-1580MKII, and that’s the direction I’d go if I was building a high-performance Rotel system.
Advanced room calibration with Dirac Live®
The RAP-1580MKII uses Dirac Live’s highly acclaimed audio calibration system — one of the industry’s best room correction platforms. It measures the acoustics of your room with the included microphone, and then fine-tunes the output of your system to best match the unique sonic characteristics of your space.
Note: You’ll need to install the Dirac Live software on your Mac® or PC prior to calibration. The included LE (limited edition) license provides corrections for the most critical frequency range (20-500 Hz).
An optional Dirac Live upgrade can be purchased for full-frequency correction (20-20,000 Hz), plus improved dialogue and musical imaging.
Who is Rotel?
Rotel has been crafting high-performance gear for music and home theater enthusiasts since 1961. They focus on creating the best signal path possible, using premium capacitors, transistors, diode bridges, and custom toroidal power supplies to get the most from music and movie soundtracks. Crutchfield is proud to offer a diverse selection of Rotel components including preamps, amplifiers, CD players, and home theater processors.
Product highlights:
Power and processing:
- 7-channel amplifier
- 135 watts per channel into 8 ohms (20-20,000 Hz) at 0.05% THD, with 2 channels driven
- 200 watts per channel into 4 ohms (20-20,000 Hz) at 0.05% THD, with 2 channels driven
- Dolby® and DTS® surround sound decoding
- Dolby Atmos® and DTS:X processing for use with in-ceiling or “height” speakers for more enveloping home theater sound
- supports a 7.1.4-channel Atmos setup with optional external power amplifiers
- Dirac Live® advanced speaker calibration system helps fine-tune your system to best match your room’s acoustics
- requires installation of Dirac Live software on a Mac or PC prior to calibration
- included LE (limited edition) license provides corrections for the most critical frequency range (20-500 Hz)
- optional Dirac Live upgrade can be purchased for full-frequency correction (20-20,000 Hz), plus improved dialogue and musical imaging
- custom-built toroidal power supply ensures low-noise, high-performance picture and sound
- large front-panel display gives you easy-to-read status updates at a glance
- six audiophile-grade 24-bit/192kHz Wolfson DACs (digital to analog converters)
HDMI features:
- HDMI 2.0b audio/video switching: 8 in, 2 out, including 1 front-panel input
- 3 inputs and 2 outputs support HDCP 2.2 technology for compatibility with Ultra HD sources and TVs, including 4K/60Hz video
- these HDMI connections are HDR-compatible for extended picture contrast and brightness with compatible TVs and HDR-encoded content
- Audio Return Channel (ARC) function receives digital audio signals from a compatible HDTV’s tuner or “smart” content via HDMI
Other connections:
- digital audio inputs: 3 Toslink optical, 3 coaxial
- 3 analog stereo RCA audio inputs
- 1 stereo balanced XLR input
- MM (moving magnet) phono input for connecting a turntable
- rear-panel Type-B USB input for high-resolution music playback from a computer (up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution)
- 7.1-channel preamp inputs
- 11.2-channel RCA preamp outputs
- outputs for 7 speakers (Front L/R, Center, Surround L/R, Center Back L/R)
- built-in Bluetooth with aptX™ for wireless music listening with smartphones, tablets, and compatible computers
- USB Type-A port on front panel handles audio signals from an iPod®, iPhone®, or iPad®
- Ethernet port connects the amp to your home network for software updates and integration with 3rd-party control systems
- RS-232 port for use with third-party control systems
