Anyone know anything about the new Marantz PM8005 amplifier?

[Longjohn]

Dear all,

I notice that a new Marantz PM8005 is now available in Europe. It seems to sell at the same price as the older Marantz Pearl Lite.

The PM8005 is, I guess, an update of the PM8004 that was sold in the States in lieu of the PM-KI Pearl Lite. The Americans seemed to think that the PM8004 was a PM-KI produced for the US market. The difference was, if I remember correctly, that the PM-KI was made in Japan, while the PM8004 was outsourced to a lower cost manufacturer, so some people thought that the Europeans were getting the better deal in terms of quality, probably because the latter were prepared to pay a higher price.

So now the PM8005 is being sold in Europe, does it represent an improvement to the PM-KI, or is it simply something that fills the space between the PM7004 amp and the PM-KI?

I cannot find any reviews on the PM8005, except the usual marketing blurb on German HiFi websites. It does not appear to be mentioned on any of the national Marantz websites.

Click on these links for details & pricing info:

http://skinflint.co.uk/eu/marantz-pm8005-amplifier-black-a975263.html

http://www.justhifi.de/Marantz_PM8005_a8062.html?r=gei8062&var=25052

Kind regards,

Long John

 

[Cypher]

I've read somewhere that it will be coming out in december.

A Marantz PM7005 will be nice too......the PM7004 is a couple of years old now.

 

[Longjohn]

Dear all,

Any more comments on this, or will the thread die owing to complete and utter lack of interest?

Regards to all who summon up the courage to reply,

LJ

 

[Covenanter]

It's hard to know what to say! I will be interested to know more when information is available but there isn't much to look at yet.

Chris

 

[magnus78]

No DAC unlike the PM6005.

http://m.marantz.co.uk/Assets/CataloguePDFs/Range_UK_web.pdf

 

[JZC]

Now that the Marantz PM8005 is available I though I'd search the net for some reviews, I've not found many but I have read one that was very positive.

I note however that a US seller advetisies it for $1,199 (currently about £734) whereas the UK price is £999. Presumably they are essentially the same except for the input voltage setting, so I don't why why there's such a significant difference in price. Possibly after a while Marantz may offer a 'discount' on it so the prices will be similar.

US: http://www.audioadvisor.com/Marantz-PM-8005-Integrated-Amplifer/productinfo/MAPM8005/

UK: http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-14324-marantz-pm8005-integrated-amplifier-silver.aspx

 

[BigH]

Now that the Marantz PM8005 is available I though I'd search the net for some reviews, I've not found many but I have read one that was very positive.

I note however that a US seller advetisies it for $1,199 (currently about £734) whereas the UK price is £999. Presumably they are essentially the same except for the input voltage setting, so I don't why why there's such a significant difference in price. Possibly after a while Marantz may offer a 'discount' on it so the prices will be similar.

US: http://www.audioadvisor.com/Marantz-PM-8005-Integrated-Amplifer/productinfo/MAPM8005/

UK: http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-14324-marantz-pm8005-integrated-amplifier-silver.aspx

US prices don't usually inc. tax but UK already have VAT inc. Still cheaper in the states which is often the way.

 

[mikeparker59]

Now that the Marantz PM8005 is available I though I'd search the net for some reviews, I've not found many but I have read one that was very positive.

I note however that a US seller advetisies it for $1,199 (currently about £734) whereas the UK price is £999. Presumably they are essentially the same except for the input voltage setting, so I don't why why there's such a significant difference in price. Possibly after a while Marantz may offer a 'discount' on it so the prices will be similar.

US: http://www.audioadvisor.com/Marantz-PM-8005-Integrated-Amplifer/productinfo/MAPM8005/

UK: http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-14324-marantz-pm8005-integrated-amplifier-silver.aspx

Aren't most things cheaper in the States anyway? Cameras Computers, software, etc as they have a bigger potential matket?

 

[BigH]

Now that the Marantz PM8005 is available I though I'd search the net for some reviews, I've not found many but I have read one that was very positive.

I note however that a US seller advetisies it for $1,199 (currently about £734) whereas the UK price is £999. Presumably they are essentially the same except for the input voltage setting, so I don't why why there's such a significant difference in price. Possibly after a while Marantz may offer a 'discount' on it so the prices will be similar.

US: http://www.audioadvisor.com/Marantz-PM-8005-Integrated-Amplifer/productinfo/MAPM8005/

UK: http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-14324-marantz-pm8005-integrated-amplifier-silver.aspx

Aren't most things cheaper in the States anyway? Cameras Computers, software, etc as they have a bigger potential matket?

Depends where they are made, but yes generally they are, think this is partly do to tax.

 

[Longjohn]

Dear all,

Under the thread "Calling Pearl Lite amp owners" I mentioned the first user review I could find for this amp. I will give it out again:

http://www.engadget.com/products/marantz/pm8005/reviews/110o/

It's fairly positive.

Best,

LJ

 

[JZC]

Thanks for posting the link LJ, I had seen that review and tried to include the link in my previous post but I got a spam message and couldn't post until I removed the link.

Thanks to others who mentioned the US sales tax which may account for some of the difference in price but it would have to be as high as around 35% to account for all of it.

I've since compared the specification of the PM8005 and the PM-KI Pearl Lite and they are very similar. I'll have to try and audition both together to see if I can hear any difference between them.

 

[dalus4]

RE: Anyone know anything about the new Marantz PM8005 amplifier?

Thanks for posting the link LJ, I had seen that review and tried to include the link in my previous post but I got a spam message and couldn't post until I removed the link.

Thanks to others who mentioned the US sales tax which may account for some of the difference in price but it would have to be as high as around 35% to account for all of it.

I've since compared the specification of the PM8005 and the PM-KI Pearl Lite and they are very similar. I'll have to try and audition both together to see if I can hear any difference between them.

please let us know your decision.

 

[Covenanter]

See my thread:

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/an-audition

Chris

 

[Cypher]

There is also a PM7005 amp coming in the next few months. It has a built in DAC with coaxial, optical and USB inputs.

 

[Vladimir]

I auditioned the PM8004 which looks fairly the same as the 8005 under the hood. The same showroom sells Rotel, Harman, Yamaha, JBL, Mcintosh, MS and B&W. The Rotel's sounded best by far (aside from the Macs ofc), especially impressive was the Rotel RC-1580/RB-1582 combo.

 

[cannibal_ox77]

If the 8005 is any improvement on the pearl lite/8004 then it should be truly excellent. Source and speaker matching is make or break though. I found the more "clinical" audiolab as a source/preamp along with monitor audio speakers to provide great balance. Also heard the pearl lite amp with the matching cd player through kef ls50's and thought that sounded fantastic too.

How long before the price of the 8005 drops to £900, then £700, £650 though...? Woukd have been good to add the wooden cheeks the pearl lite had for the asking price of the 8005 - its already a solid well built unit but the cheeks definity add a touch of luxury and cost about £100+ for a pair if you can find them

 

[Happy_Listner]

I owned the Marantz PM8004 here in the States, bought it here, and I can tell you that it is made in Japan just like the PM-KI Pearl Lite was.

There are no differences between the two amps on the outside. If you look at the pictures of both amplifiers on the inside the only difference that I can see is that the PM-KI Pearl Lite has copper plating for the chassis. Just like Marantz did to my old 63SE CD player. Other than that the parts look identical. Maybe someone else knows if other parts were used/upgraded but they look the same to me.

As to the PM8004/PM8005 comparison these two amps look identical inside and out. They are both made in Japan. The only difference is the PM8005 badge and a $200 price increase. The parts look identical so if they tweaked the circuit in anyway with very small parts or adjustments then maybe someone else can answer that as well. My guess though is they did not.

In the States the PM5004 was the only amp in the PM range that was outsourced to another country. The PM6004 and 8004 were made in Japan. Now the PM6005 is being outsourced as well but the PM8005 and up are still made in Japan.

 

[matthewpiano]

The PM6003 was made outside Japan as well. The PM6004 was an exception in that 6000 series run of models for some reason.