DENON AVR-X2200W or MARANTZ NR1606???

[tom83cat]

It's been so long since I logged into the forums that it would appear that my account had been removed... some of you might remember me *bye* .... but anyway....

I am looking into upgrading my Onkyo SR605 and after trawling the forum and the ever reliable WhatHifi reviews, I have narrowed it down to the 2015 Award winning Denon AVR-X2200W or the Marantz NR1606.

I understand that they are made by the same people but reviews for Marantz AV receivers are a little sparse due to the manufacturer preferring to give out the Denon amps for AV reviews and the Marantz amps for Hifi reviews. I was wondering if anyone had any opinons on these two.

They look very similar on paper and I think I prefer the lower profile appearance of the NR1606, but the fact that the Denon won a WhatHifi award last year is making me think twice.

Any thoughts???

 

[doifeellucky]

I'd like to get some feedback on the NR1606 too. I've not got space for a standard AV receiver and was thinking of just going stereo only with something like a MCR 610 or CA Minx xi to improve my TV speakers, but concentrate on better music quality, with something like MA Bronze 2's or QA Concept 20's. Currently using an Orbitsound M9 which is not great for music, just ok TV.

If I went for the 1606 would start with fronts, then centre, then sub, then rears, space permitting.

 

[tom83cat]

Well in the absence of any comments at all, I decided to get the Marantz from Peter Tyson for £399 with free delivery and a free QED 1.0m HDMI cable (To prevent any bias, the Denon was available for £429 also with free delivery and cable).

It is currently sitting in my front room waiting for me to take the time out to hook it up. I will be feeding it with an Amazon Fire TV 4k box and a Sky HD 2tb box to my Panny TX-55CX680 and Monitor Audio BR2AV 5.1 set-up.

It is looking pretty good out of the box. Remote control is a bit pants compared to the 6 year old Onkyo remote but I am hoping that the App functionality with more than make up for this. Obviously, the Denon remote, albeit a different colour, is identically pants to the Marantz offering.

Watch this space for a review based on my limited knowledge/experience.... (which might be better than the current standpoint of "nothing").....