Marantz 1606 with Bronze 2 and later Radius centre and rears and sub

[doifeellucky]

Hi

Due to limited space I was considering a sound bar with 5.1 potential like the Fidelio B5, but I'm looking for decent hi-fi sound.

Someone here suggested the 1606 or 1506 (which would fit in available space compared to standard AV which I don't have space for) and having just been to Sevenoaks they suggested the Concept 20's, with 7000i surrounds, centre and Rel T-zero sub (never heard of Rel) to be added later.

Would the Concept 20's be wasted on this amp? I was thinking of 3020's or MA Bronze 2's.

Key issue for rest of 5.1 (to come later) is limited space for centre and rears, for which the 7000i's or MA Mass, would be ideal. Would these be a significant compromise for music?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Leeps]

Continuing on from your other thread. The biggest issue I'd have with what Sevenoaks recommended to you is the centre speaker. I've heard the illustration before: imagine a person on a motorbike travelling left to right across the soundfield. With the above system he'd start out on a Harley, be on a Vespa in the middle and back on a Harley at the other side. The centre is really important to get right and in general, for soundfields to be convincing, you ideally need to keep the drivers across all your speakers the same. The centre carries so much dialogue that this works better with the biggest speaker you can get away with in your room.

In my own systems in the past, when I had a more compact centre speaker, the speech could sound a bit boxy and closed in. Having larger midrange drivers really does make a difference.

As I mentioned in your other thread, the MA Bronze series' rear speakers, the Bronze FX could sort your rear wall-mounting issues. But it's the centre that is the biggest hurdle for you, although that's often the hardest one to get right for most people. Could you either consider wall-mounting your TV, thus freeing up the top of your AV cabinet for a centre speaker? Or could you raise your TV slightly on blocks or a plinth so the centre speaker placed in front doesn't obscure the screen?

If the MA Bronze range is just too big, then take a look at MA Radius. They're pretty peppy with music, are exciting with surround and have a good range of speaker sizes to choose from and are very room-friendly attractive looking and stunningly finished speakers.

They do offer the Radius 270 floorstanders which would match in tonally with the rest of the Radius range (as they use identical drivers), but would offer the greater clout in stereo that you're looking for. If they're a little too pricey, take a look at their recent predecessors, the MA Radius 270HD used. You ought to pick them up for about the £350-£400 mark. They come up reasonably frequently on the 'Bay. Add the R180 centre, R90 rears and you're sorted. I had a system like this in the past. It was excellent for music and movies (in some respects I've not heard it bettered, even with the MA Gold GX50/GXC150 I owned afterwards) but my only criticism was the slight boxiness I mentioned in the centre speaker.

As always, do demo before pulling the trigger: people's tastes can vary enormously.

 

[doifeellucky]

Hi Leeps

Thanks for this and the comment in my other thread.

I think the 5.1 is always going to be a compromise, due to lack of space for full size amp, centre and rears.

As hi-fi is my priority I think I'm going to go try and demo the CA Minx xi against the Marantz 1506 or 1606 for music.

Over the weekend I got conflicting opinions regarding the Marantz. One guy in Sevenoaks said the 1606 would be far superior for music compared to the Marantz 610 or 6005. Someone in Richer Sounds said the 6005 would be best for music followed by the 610 with the 1506 (they don't have the 1606) being last due the the AV internals. Someone in another Sevenoaks shop said you'd have to spend £1000 on an AV amp before you get decent hi-fi sound, though he was very dismissive of anything with lesser value, apart from the QA Concept 20's, so I didn't pay much attention to that.

If it's close then I'll go with the 1506 or 1606. I definitely won't be doing 7.1 so probably best to save £140, based on current prices, and go with the 1506.

I'll then probably go with either the QA (3020) or MA (Bronze 2) route based on what you said about matching the centre, however my current space limitations mean I can't have the larger centre for either of these systems without wall mounting the TV which might not be an option.

Just need a bigger house.

Thanks again.

 

[Leeps]

My AV receiver has the option to turn on or off each speaker. If you turn off the centre speaker, the receiver can decode the information that would have been sent to the centre and forward it to the left and right channels. Unlike a conventional stereo amp, it's still correctly decoding the centre channel data, so it's pretty reasonable. Yes having a dedicated centre is better and it does improve panning too, but I'd suggest that not having a centre speaker at all (and your main left and right channels dealing with the centre information) would be more successful than having a comparatively weedy smaller centre channel speaker.

My experience has been with AV receivers that the law of diminishing returns applies much higher up the price range than stereo amps, although Marantz are known for the more musical of AV receivers. Whether it's musical enough for you can only be decided in a demo. Take your time and don't rush to get a deal. There'll always be another best deal tomorrow,

 

[doifeellucky]

Thanks Leeps, I'll look into that. It would definitely sway me back more towards the slimline Marantz AV if it can do that. The QA and MA centre's are just too big for the available space, 140 mm high.

 

[ROB2009]

Hi there, I'm about to upgrade my Marantz NR1606 and Monitor Audio Radius speakers in white, 4 x R90 and the R200 centre speaker. The Marantz is very musical for an AV receiver, and the speakers are fantastic especially for their size, great with movies and music, the multi-channel music setting really fills the room.

I was going to sell them online so if you're interested at all, just let me know. All items are in excellent condition as new, all purchased new from Music Matters about 12 months ago.

Rob

 

[doifeellucky]

Hi Rob

Thanks for your reply.

Funnily enough I just found that the Radius 200 is ideal for my needs, in terms of size, and am now considering the setup you have, but unfortunately white wouldn't really work with my existing equipment and furniture.

The only negative I've seen relating to your combo is the low sensitivity of the Radius 90's (I read a comment about it somewhere) with the relatively low (for AV) power of the Marantz. Has that been the case at all? My room is fairly small, 13ft by 9ft so I wouldn't expect it to be much of an issue.

Thanks