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RSX-03 Surround Sound Receiver

About Rotel

A family whose passionate interest in music

led them to manufacture high ﬁdelity com

ponents of uncompromising quality founded

Rotel over forty years ago. Through the years

that passion has remained undiminished and

the family goal of providing exceptional

value for audiophiles and music lovers re

gardless of their budget, is shared by all

Rotel employees.

The engineers work as a close team, listening

to, and ﬁne tuning each new product until it

reaches their exacting musical standards. They

are free to choose components from around

the world in order to make that product the

best they can. You are likely to ﬁnd capacitors

from the United Kingdom and Germany, semi

conductors from Japan or the United States,

while toroidal power transformers are manu

factured in Rotel’s own factory.

Rotel’s reputation for excellence has been

earned through hundreds of good reviews

and awards from the most respected review

ers in the industry, who listen to music every

day. Their comments keep the company true

to its goal - the pursuit of equipment that is

musical, reliable and affordable.

All of us at Rotel, thank you for buying this

product and hope it will bring you many

years of enjoyment.

Getting Started

Thank you for purchasing the Rotel RSX-03

Surround Sound Receiver. The RSX-03 is four

products in one:

1. A digital audio/video processor for a

wide range of formats including Dolby

Surround

, Dolby Digital

, DTS

and

HDCD

source material.

2. A full-featured audio/video control cen

ter for analog and digital source compo

nents.

3. A high-quality AM/FM tuner with RDS

capability.

4. A 5-channel power ampliﬁer to drive two

front speakers (or two center back speak

ers), a center channel speaker, and two

rear surround speakers.

Key Features

• Rotel’s Balanced Design Concept combines

advanced circuit board layout, compre

hensive parts evaluation, and extensive

listening tests for superior sound and long

term reliability.

• Dolby

Pro Logic IIx

decoding (for 5.1,

6.1, and 7.1 channel systems) with im

proved separation and frequency response

for Dolby Surround

matrix encoded re-

cordings. Can be optimized for Music or

Cinema sources.

• Automatic Dolby Digital

decoding Dolby

Digital

2.0, Dolby Digital

5.1, and Dolby

Digital Surround EX

recordings.

• Automatic decoding for DTS

5.1 chan-

nel, DTS-ES

Matrix 6.1 channel, and

DTS-ES

Discrete 6.1 channel, digital

recordings.

• Rotel XS (eXtended Surround) automatically

ensures proper decoding and optimum

performance from any multichannel digital

signal on 6.1 and 7.1 channel systems.

Always active in any system with center

back speaker(s), Rotel XS even works with

signals that would not otherwise activate

the proper decoding (such as non-ﬂagged

Dolby Surround EX discs) or for which

there is no extended surround decoder

(such as DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, and

even Dolby Pro Logic II decoded Dolby

Digital 2.0 recordings).

• DTS

Neo:6

Surround modes for deriv-

ing surround channels for 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1

channel systems from 2-channel stereo or

matrix surround recordings. Can be opti

mized for Music or Cinema sources.

• Automatic HDCD

decoding for signals

from High Deﬁnition Compatible Digital

compact discs.

• Surround modes for playback of surround

sound material on 2 channel and 3 chan

nel systems for total compatibility.

• Automatic decoding of digital signals from

MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3) players.

• Digital and analog input and output con

nections for digital signals, composite

video, S-Video, and Component Video.

• Five built-in ampliﬁer channels, each de

livering 40 watts (all channels driven).

• AM/FM tuner with 30 station presets,

direct access tuning, and auto-tuning.

• RDS (Radio Data Systems) and RBDS (Ra

dio Broadcast Data Service) capability.

• MULTI Input for outboard adaptor and

future upgradeabilty

• User friendly ON-SCREEN DISPLAY with

programmable labels for video compo

nents. Choice of languages.

• Universal learning remote control to oper

ate the RSX-03 and other components.

• Upgradeable microprocessor software to

accommodate future upgrades.

Unpacking

Remove the unit carefully from its packing.

Find the remote control and other acces

sories. Save the box as it will protect the

RSX-03 if you move or need to return it for

maintenance.

Placement

Place the RSX-03 on a solid, level surface

away from sunlight, heat, moisture, or vibra

tion. Make sure that the shelf can support the

weight of the unit.

Place the RSX-03 close to the other compo

nents in your system and, if possible, on its

own shelf. This will make initial hookup, and

subsequent system changes easier.

The RSX-03 can generate heat during normal

operation. Do not block ventilation open

ings. Allow a minimum of 10 cm or 4

inches of unobstructed space around

the unit. If installed in a cabinet, make sure

that there is adequate ventilation.

Don’t stack other components or objects on

top of the RSX-03. Don’t let any liquid fall

into the unit.

“DTS”, “DTS-ES Extended Surround”, “DTS ES

Matrix 6.1”,

and “DTS ES

Discrete 6.1”, and “DTS Neo:6

”are trade-

marks of Digital Theater Systems, Inc.

Manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories. “Dol

by”, “Pro Logic”, and the double-D symbol are trademarks of

Dolby Laboratories.

, HDCD

, High Deﬁnition Compatible Digital

and

Paciﬁc Microsonics™ are either registered trademarks or

trademarks of Paciﬁc Microsonics, Inc. in the United States

and/or other countries. HDCD system manufactured under

license from Paciﬁc Microsonics, Inc. This product is covered

by one or more of the following: In the USA: 5,479,168,

5,638,074, 5,640,161, 5,808,574, 5,838,274,

5,854,600, 5,864,311, 5,872,531, and in Australia:

669114. Other patents pending.