A multistage setup has become indispensable in current turbomachinery rendering the rotor-stator interaction (RSI) to one of the interested fields of modern research. Its inherent complexity originating in its highly unsteady, three-dimensional and turbulent characteristic aggravates the thorough understanding of the underlying phenomena. In an attempt to simplify this interaction an experimental study has been carried out on a single axial rotor of a low speed research compressor (LSRC) utilizing two different wake generators (WG) to simulate incoming disturbances in the flow. Here, cylindrical bars and radially extracted symmetrical profiles generated to some extent isolated wakes without the complexity of secondary flows typically found downstream of a stator row. The rotor was examined at two different tip clearances (tip gap height/channel height= 1.25 %|4.17 %) for its design operating point. Various measuring techniques were conducted to capture steady and unsteady flow features in planes up- and downstream of the rotor. The influence of the wakes on the losses produced by the rotor are discussed including the unsteady effects on the underlying secondary flow phenomena. Here, in particular the tip leakage vortex (TLV) and the suction side separation of the flow near the hub endwall are examined.