Marantz AV8003 internal DAC

[aliEnRIK]

Ive not had the av amp long but ive recently been 'playing about' with it

I keep hearing of people getting all excited over certain DACS so I thought id run a little test of my own

I have the Arcam CD32 cd player which when it came out was the mutts nuts (And still holds VERY well today). The cd player was connected using solid silver braided cable to my av amp (I know some think they dont make any difference ~ well these most certainly do). The sound is a HUGH step up from the denon av amp I used before and ive had it like this since I got the 8003

So my test first was to use the internal DAC of the marantz via my Pioneer dvd player and van den hul hdmi. I didnt test it for too long but the sound was very much the same so far as I could tell.

Now I couldnt imagine much of a difference playing a cd through my pioneer of my cd player if im using the DAC of the marantz. If it sounds pretty much the same then I could take the braided cables and use them inbetween my av amp and power amp (I was going to buy some more before the tests)

So I then hooked up my cd23 to my av amp using a coax digital cable (solid silver HGA). I was listening to cds ALL NIGHT! The sound was so much better in detail and smoothness I was quite shocked.

So the result is that the DAC in my av amp is FAR better than my CD23 (Which is shocking in itself to me). And that even using digital cables theres quite a step between my pioneer dvd player and my CD23. Clearly there must be quite a difference in 'transport mechanisms' between the 2 by why is it that a computers cheapy cd player can take the WHOLE of a cds information in a couple of minutes and put it on my hardrive when 2 dedicated hifi players that play in 'real time' cant? Why is the pioneer 'losing' more information (or adding more 'jitter') then my dedicated cd player?

It seems to me that there must be inherent flaws with hifi digital cables. Perhaps they should start connecting everything via sata cables and use the same 'error correction' system?

Also ~ does anyone with experience have any clue what cd players ARE better than using an AV8003s DAC? Im kinda intrigued how much more id have to spend to get better quality.

 

[TKratz]

Hi aliEnRIK

This is very interesting reading!

When I tested surround receivers last week I came to the opposite conclusion which honestly surpriced me a bit.

Running the signal through the optical connection neither the Denon AVR 4308, Sony DA5400ES or the Yamaha DSP-Z7 could compete with my Denon DVD-1600 through analog cables.

But perhaps the Marantz is simply better? I haven't tested this receiver myself.

 

[aliEnRIK]

Hi TKratz ~

Moneys fluctuating as you know, but googling the denon you mention it comes at around 2k to buy now. The av8003 is 2.5k and its ONLY a pre amp (So about 4.5k with the amp included, except I use an arcam amp instead)

I was using a denon as a pre amp for a few years and decided I wanted to get into hidef sound so looked around and saw 3 possibilities at the time. I already had the Arcam P1000 power amp so just wanted an av pre amp that did everything I wanted. There was a denon at 5k (too much), an onkyo around 1300 (More my style) and Marantz at 2.5k (Pushing it). By some weird twist of fate I helped a company remove a virus from their website and I got a discount so ended up getting the AV8003 for £1550

My dad bought the high end denon pre amp. Now that IS a piece of kit. But dont get me wrong, the Marantz is awesome for the money

 

[pwiles1968]

I have recently been playing with my cables, I have the SR6003 (Bit lower down the scale than the 8003 I know

), I Bi-Amp my Front end via some marantz MA6100 Monoblocks, all fed with a CD6000KiSig.

A Friend at work lent me some RA attenuated silver interconnects which run around £250, I was not initially impressed when I tried them but remembered I have a cheaper QED Qunex1 between AV Amp and MonoBlocks, I took my Qunex3 and put them in instead with the RA between CD and AV, the difference was immediate. I played around for a few days with this setup then I do not know why compared the RA against a Coax digital interconnect using the 6003 DAC and 6000 as transport only, I was quite surprised there was little or no difference between the two (Altering Volume made it impossible to switch live between he two). I know that the 6000 is a few years old now but the DAC in the AV amp is on a par in my opinion, I am continuing running the 6000 as a transport at the moment and want to have a play with the interconnects from AV to monoblocks, I have to say though I am very impressed with the Marantz AV amp capability.

 

[aliEnRIK]

Hi pwiles

Cables certainly DO make a difference. In fact the biggest difference when I was testing them was to my denon av amp of which I swopped the MAINS cable for a solid silver 16 core braided type (braids reduce RFI from the mains)

The difference was staggering ~ it was like listening to a completely different amp (I was expecting 'some' difference but not much as the original mains cable was 'hard wired' to the unit so I had to cut the cable and add a male IEC then add the cable, meaning some of the original cable was still IN the unit). Maybe something youd be interested at looking into?

Ive never been impressed with QEDs cables personally. Initially I bought some interconnects off ebay for around 50 quid a pop (silver plated 4 core braid). And they were FAR better than the QED silver spiral I had been using.

 

[pwiles1968]

I am not totally settled with the Quenex3 the system is more detailed now but is a little too direct at higher volumes it is there because it is currently the best I have around me, am going to be borrowing a few different cables to try, and have chunky interconnects or whatever they are marked in my e-bay watch list if all else fails.

I have also been looking at Mains, I have a tacima 6 way but am investigating lead upgrades, will be looking at a kettle lead for my AV Amp, but was not keen on cutting cables off of my CD Player and Mono Blocks as both are hard wired, I may shorten thease and already have quite a few ferrites wrapped round them.

I only recently started looking at my interconnects and mains, a recent visit to Teddington sparked my interest in these areas

.