Help required with marantz mcr603 & B&W asw610 sub

[admin_exported]

Recently bought a Marantz MCR 603 and was not very happy with the bass performance. Hence bought a B&W ASW610 sub, but even then the bass performance is not very clean and deep enough and it appears that the speakers is still driving some of the low frequency. My speakers are Boston A25 and have already done subwoofer crawling and has set the cross over frequency at around 60Hz. Now Iam wondering whether the Marantz amp is having the issue... Have any one encountered the similar and would appreciate if anyone can help me out with this,

rajeev

 

[Mr. Iceman]

Hi Rajeev, and welcome to the forum.

In adding a sub, the sub volume and the x-over frequency between it and the satellites should be carefully matched. Good news is that Marantz has decided to include 5 different settings for '603's bass response - Flat, Response 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Assuming yours is on Flat by default, you may wish to choose another setting to improve the synergy. According to the manual (page 34), Flat Response "enhances bass frequencies when speakers are placed directly on furniture or on a rack. If you feel that there is too much bass, select your favorite properties from among RESPONSE1 to RESPONSE4."

Other settings, such as Response 1, may be more appropriate for your system, as it "Cuts low frequencies 60 Hz or under by –12 dB/oct."

Have a play and let us know how it went.

EDIT: Forgot to add the change in settings only affect main speakers, not the sub output. In your case, both the main speakers and the sub are trying to reproduce sound below 60Hz and what you hear is the resultant mess. "Response 1" or another should help sort it out.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Iceman for your swift response. I tried the above recommendation, but Iam still not getting the expected bass out of the sub. The moment i increase the sub volume, then the bass becomes very boomy. Not sure, if Iam expecting too much out of this system or is it an issue with the Marantz itself.

regards

rajeev

 

[Mr. Iceman]

Did you try any other settings - any change in sound then?

Could be a number of things. Always pays to check that all cables go where they're supposed to - red to red, black to black etc. (sorry, I can't tell from your posts how "hifi savvy" you are). How do you connect speakers and sub to the Marantz? Looking at the subs manual, I would follow figure 3 as it is the simplest - sub out from Marantz to LEFT line in on the sub, then speakers from Marantz to your Bostons.

Distance between speakers and yours from them, position of sub, room acoustics all could and do affect to some extent what you hear. Check sub's phase setting.
Instructions in 610's manual seem fairly reasonable though I would start like this, once all properly connected: sub's volume at zero, 603's volume at "normal" - whatever it is to you and Response 1 selected; sub's low-pass filter to "In"; line and speaker level input to zero (note: speaker level should always be kept at zero as you are not connecting to sub's speaker posts, only to line in); low-pass frequency to 60; EQ to A (the manual is not clear about what B does - I suspect these are two different roll-off settings); bass extension to C (lowest), phase to zero. Then gradually start increasing the line in level on the sub until you start hearing the extended bass. If still not happy with it, try changing the phase to 180 etc, etc.

When properly set, sub should integrate with the sats seamlessly - you should only just keep the sub's volume high enough to hear it extend the frequency range from the satellites - anything higher and it is destined to go boomy...

Maybe someone else has another idea, but also think about the possibility that something is not working as it should - if new, you should be covered by warranty. Contact the person/dealer you bought it from for advice?

 

[f1only]

I would check out this link regarding setup of your ASW610 it may help Clicky it certainly helped me out earlier today with mine.

Regards..

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Iceman,

Not sure if Iam expecting too much out of this system, but I still fail to hear that distinct bass when the music is played out. The bass is there, but it's not very distinct nor puncy enough.I tried all the above suggestions and even reduced the bass on my speakers hoping that the bass will be much more visible from the sub. But things havent still improved much.

Going through the articles, now ive got a feeling that bass management may probably better out in AVR rather than an amp or a micro system and is considering buying one!!

cheers

rajeev

 

[Anonymous]

Spoke to my dealer and he has agreed to take this back.I've just ordered for a Marantz SR7007 A/V Receiver.hope this satisfies my needs

cheers
rajeev

 

[Mr. Iceman]

Sorry to hear the little Marantz didn't work for you Rajeev (I am extremely happy with mine :dance: ). Glad though you've found a better solution and that's what matters after all. Good luck with the new amp.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Iceman,

just out of curiosity - May I know which speakers and sub you use along with marantz mcr603. Iam supposed to give the marantz back tomorrow, but I do love this cute little device...

cheers

rajeev

 

[Mr. Iceman]

Currently pairing it with Diamonds 9.1 and no sub. I tried adding Wharfedale Powercube SPC10 but prefer more cohesive sound with only the 9.1s. Of other speakers I tried it with, it really shined with Wharfedale Jade 5 which are moderately large floorstanders (and 4x the price of '603), but I ended up using them in my AV system as fronts as they can take, and deserve, much better amplification.

There are lots of threads on here with Marantz owners discussing various other speaker combination, just do a little search.

IMHO, there's little out there that beats the Marantz for the money. It's a great sounding convenient little box packed with features.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks Iceman. finally decided not to return the marantz. went today back to the dealer and auditioned B&W CM1 & Dali Ikon 2 MK2 speakers. Whilst both of them are good in their own ways, selected Dali due to their improved sound quality. now awaiting for the delivery until tomorrow. will keep you posted on the outcome.

rajeev

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Iceman,

finally my issues are resolved. Replaced my A25 with Dali ikon MK2 and it's perfect now. The sound is so clear and since this speaker is low on bass, the sub is now serving all the bass and both of them works harmoniously. Iam quite suprised why the Dali speakers are not reviewed much as I've compared this with B&W 685, CM1 & CM5 and the IKON MK2 is way better on Marantz mcr 603. I think the twin tweeters in Dali does a wonderful job and Iam now very pleased with my system. many thanks for your assistance.

cheers

rajeev

 

[Mr. Iceman]

You're very welcome Rajeev, great to hear you are now happy with your system.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Rajeev glad to hear that you've sorted your speakers sub setup.

I've thought that I'll share my experience with asw610 if anyone will need it.

I used to have denon m38 with MA BR2 speakers and wasn't,t happy with the bass performance so I bought asw610 this solved my problem straight away. You need to remember thought that if there is no low frequency bass in the music you listening it won't be reproduced (unless you alter low-pas filter) and that's a very good thing because it let you set your sub and speakers in the way that they merging seamlessly and low tones are not boomy at all in fact people who would never use sub for music will be surprised what they loosing. I believe in the most realistic music reproduction (that I can afford ) and if the low frequencies were in the original music it means they meant to be there and therefore you need a sub to reproduce it.

My configuration with m38 and BR2 was volume (line) around 11hr, speaker line at zero, low pass filter around 60-70Hz, low-pass filter switch Set to IN, bass extension A and for high volumes B but I never listen it to very high volumes, EQ set to B I would use A if sub would be placed in the corner of the room, and phase switch to 0* as the sub facing same direction as the speakers.

When I've changed my m38 to Yamaha A-S500 and my speakers to Dynaudio DM2/7 I've changed my setting to:

Volume line to around 10hrs, low pass filter to around 55Hz, rest of the settings stays the same.

You always need to play a little bit to get that seamless soundstage and a very small adjustments can make all the difference.

Also I got my speakers and sub mass loaded with cut to size granite base and top plates. This on its own make a difference and not only to the low frequencies but to speaker, sub performance in general.

I found that Alanise Morissette - "Thank you" is a good track to configure your subwoofer settings.

For more info on how to config sub and two speakers you can have a look to asw610 manual page 10of13

http://www.ehifi.com.au/downloads/product-files/Owners%20Manual%20-%20ASW608_2b55.pdf

My m38 was in sound direct mode and my Yamaha is in pure direct mode all the time.