Buy a Marantz PM6003 or get a Sony STR-DA1200ES for Free??

[admin_exported]

Hi all am hoping some of you guys here can help me make my mind up, I have just managed to snag a pair of new BR2's for the bargain price of £99

and am now trying to decide which Amp to put with them.

I had pretty much decided to go for the PM6003 and a CA DAC,all sorted and mind made up, then a buddy of mine just let me know that he is no longer using his STR-DA1200ES and that i could have it gratis.

I did a bit of research online and the PM6003 gets 5 starts here and is generally as a good 2 channel amp, but I decided it can't hurt to ask before deciding what to do. I will be using either of them for music only and I have an SR6003 and MA'HD's for my movies.

Can anyone offer any opinions on theSony, I know it was well regarded when it came out and it has the advantage of the various digital inputs and outputs... but I suppose my main question is would thePM6003 plus CA DAC be a better choice or go for the free STR-DA1200ES?

Main music sources will be CD player and my PC ..... decisions decisions !!

thanks in advance

 

[ear]

if it is free..take it before it goes...You can biwire front speakers...and the get youserlf a demo with the pm6003. and see if it makes much difference

 

[matthewpiano]

The 1200ES is a very musical amp. Like ear says, if it is free you should at least give it a go.

 

[ear]

and looks beautiful.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies, I will probably get the sony from my friend for a test at least, but am wondering if anyone out there has had the chance to ever compare both, as this will only be for music there will only be 2 speakers connected, I believe there is a rule of thumb out there that says an AV amp will only be as good musically as a 2 channel amp worth about 3 times as much....

Ideally I would like to demo the Marantz before spending money on it but I can't do that where I live, saying that though I have had a number of Marantz amps over the years and am a big fan of their sound, be nice to hear from someone who uses the Sony for 2 channel sound

thanks

 

[ear]

only a few month ago there was a review on the sony site of that amp . I remenbered it said it matched a 300 pound stereo amp.I've had the pm4002 for a few days and hated it.

 

[Anonymous]

ear:only a few month ago there was a review on the sony site of that amp . I remenbered it said it matched a 300 pound stereo amp.I've had the pm4002 for a few days and hated it.

I had a google but can't find the sony review, don't suppose you have a link to it by any chance?

 

[ear]

sorry it doesnt seem to be available anymore...but Im sure...this amp was show on the stereo amps section.ES series..very good actually

 

[ear]

well memory fails..it actually said a 300 pound amp would do a better job...but....yet...very musical indeed...

 

[Anonymous]

ok so, think I'll have to try and do some extra googling then, thanks for you input it never hurts to put these questions out there

 

[Andrew Everard]

I think a free STR-DA1200ES is a much better bargain than the Marantz amp. And as noted above, by the standards of its class it's a very musical piece of AV kit.

Gramophone review here (apologies for a few OCR glitches in the copy!)

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the link Andrew, I knew someone would have a link to an article about the Sony, I should be getting the Amp this weekend from my friend so I'll be having a listen to it soon enough, it'd be nice to hear the Marantz and the CA DacMagic together as well but unfortunately it's not something I can get a demo of here in Ireland as Hi-Fi shops with demo rooms are practically non-existent

It'd be great to hear if anyone has this amp and DAC combo up and running.

The reason I am posting this is because i have budgeted for the Marantz and the DAC, then along came my friend and threw a very generous spanner into the works with the Sony, I am just torn between the best sound quality really......

 

[John Duncan]

The WHF review said:

"What the Onkyo can't do is offer as convincing a stereo voice [as the Sony]. The '1200 isn't a match for £250-worth of two-channel amplifier, but it's a nimble and vivid music-maker on its own terms: the pace and detail of Gossip's Standing in the Way of Control are more apparent here than in the TX-SR605."

Five stars.

 

[John Duncan]

I could put it back on the site, but that's an editorial thing, I might get into trouble...

 

[Gerrardasnails]

JohnDuncan:The WHF review said:

"What the Onkyo can't do is offer as convincing a stereo voice [as the Sony]. The '1200 isn't a match for £250-worth of two-channel amplifier, but it's a nimble and vivid music-maker on its own terms: the pace and detail of Gossip's Standing in the Way of Control are more apparent here than in the TX-SR605."

Five stars.

I was just about to say, I had a 1200es and although it's very good in stereo mode (2 channel direct), it's not as good as a £300 stereo amp as implied earlier. I do agree with Andrew though that it's free and the Marantz amp isn't going be that much better for £200 or so extra!

 

[Andy Clough]

Thanks for posting the quote John. For the record, Mr D is making some technical improvements to our database, so we'll soon be able to re-instate some of our archived reviews.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Kao123:
Hi all am hoping some of you guys here can help me make my mind up, I have just managed to snag a pair of new BR2's for the bargain price of £99

and am now trying to decide which Amp to put with them.

I had pretty much decided to go for the PM6003 and a CA DAC,all sorted and mind made up, then a buddy of mine just let me know that he is no longer using his STR-DA1200ES and that i could have it gratis.

I did a bit of research online and the PM6003 gets 5 starts here and is generally as a good 2 channel amp, but I decided it can't hurt to ask before deciding what to do. I will be using either of them for music only and I have an SR6003 and MA'HD's for my movies.

Can anyone offer any opinions on theSony, I know it was well regarded when it came out and it has the advantage of the various digital inputs and outputs... but I suppose my main question is would thePM6003 plus CA DAC be a better choice or go for the free STR-DA1200ES?

Main music sources will be CD player and my PC ..... decisions decisions !!

thanks in advance

Any reason you are not going to use the SR6003 for music?

 

[John Duncan]

Andy Clough:Thanks for posting the quote John. For the record, Mr D is making some technical improvements to our database, so we'll soon be able to re-instate some of our archived reviews.

In fact we already did - in the interest of fairness, the first to go live was the Arcam CD192.

I just haven't got round to working out which ones are in a state to be, er, reinstated.

 

[Anonymous]

Gerrardasnails:Kao123:

Hi all am hoping some of you guys here can help me make my mind up, I have just managed to snag a pair of new BR2's for the bargain price of £99

and am now trying to decide which Amp to put with them.

I had pretty much decided to go for the PM6003 and a CA DAC,all sorted and mind made up, then a buddy of mine just let me know that he is no longer using his STR-DA1200ES and that i could have it gratis.

I did a bit of research online and the PM6003 gets 5 starts here and is generally as a good 2 channel amp, but I decided it can't hurt to ask before deciding what to do. I will be using either of them for music only and I have an SR6003 and MA'HD's for my movies.

Can anyone offer any opinions on theSony, I know it was well regarded when it came out and it has the advantage of the various digital inputs and outputs... but I suppose my main question is would thePM6003 plus CA DAC be a better choice or go for the free STR-DA1200ES?

Main music sources will be CD player and my PC ..... decisions decisions !!

thanks in advance

Any reason you are not going to use the SR6003 for music?

The SR6003 is in the sitting room and my new stereo setup is going into a different room upstairs and is going to be purely for listening to music.

Having a look at the sony manual and I see it supports bi-amping so it might actually be better than I thought, that's if it makes any difference, guess I'll have to do some testing tonight then