Marantz M-CR610 in livingroom

[Vladimir]

If the livingroom is 36m2 the Dali speakers are too small and the Marantz too weak - even for normal listening.

Really? Even for normal listening?? Why do ipod speaker docks exist? Just for in a 3x3m bedroom?

Yes. The small Dali's and the mini MCR will sound like a Tivoli radio in your 36m2 room. It's the scale of things, SPLs etc. Small system for small room and big system for big room. Simple as that.

 

[skysounds]

If the livingroom is 36m2 the Dali speakers are too small and the Marantz too weak - even for normal listening.

Really? Even for normal listening?? Why do ipod speaker docks exist? Just for in a 3x3m bedroom?

As we have been trying to get across, this is all about expectations and suitability. Adjusting the system choices to take acount of this is what this is all about.

Given your roomsize, the first combination I would try would be the M-CR610 and the Q Acoustics 2050i, the speakers are floorstanders and not significantly more expensive than Zenzor 3s on decent stands.

They are pretty sensitive and easy to drive so the '610 will seem much more powerful, the combination filling the room with ease. There is a downside though, 2050is need planty of space and a decent sized room to work well, you have the room size, so if you are able to place them properly they should be really effective.

Oh right. I understand. My expectation is not that crazy high obviously..

2050is sound interesting. How much space do they need? I have got space on both sides next to my tv cabinet. My tv and speakers are placed.. how do I say that (sorry English is not my first language) at the long wall side, on the left there is like 1.5m space and on the right like 2.5m before there is a (low) cabinet. How far should they be placed from the wall?

Those q acoustics look very nice. I think they would suit my room just fine. Got to think about how it looks as well of course..

 

[Cypher]

I owned the Marantz M-CR603 for a while and one of the disappointments was the lack of power.

I would go for a cheap separates system if you can. (Marantz PM5004 + CD5004).

 

[skysounds]

I owned the Marantz M-CR603 for a while and one of the disappointments was the lack of power.

I would go for a cheap separates system if you can. (Marantz PM5004 + CD5004).

Looking at the specifications for the pm5004. Is it really a lot more powerful?

What speakers did you use with the mcr610?

 

[Cypher]

I owned the Marantz M-CR603 for a while and one of the disappointments was the lack of power.

I would go for a cheap separates system if you can. (Marantz PM5004 + CD5004).

Looking at the specifications for the pm5004. Is it really a lot more powerful?

What speakers did you use with the mcr610?

The PM5004 really is a lot more powerful and sounds much better IMO. In this case the specifications doesn't say anything.

With the M-CR603 I used Monitor Audio BX2 speakers.

 

[Esra]

You can also consider Indiana Line speakers,they are pretty high sensitive db usually.E.x. Tesi or Nota line.

 

[MajorFubar]

Probably nothing, but this website doesn't show photos like that in BB code. Maybe the new one will. But expect not.

 

[skysounds]

In this topic, im reading different things.

<a>http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/decisions-decisionsmcr610-with-floor-standers</a>

The OP has got a room of 11x8m!! Thats huge.

This is is my livingroom. Blue=couch/chairs:



My speakers are placed next to the white tv cabinet on the right,.so they are faced towards the couch. Does it help theyre placed like that? The wall theyre facing, is only 3.5m away. Also as you can see, there is a little wall at the right side of my kitchen.

The white shape on the left from tv cabinet is a desk, but its just a thin table top with 4 thin legs.

Edit: now what is wrong with my html codes? :O

 

[Vladimir]

If your system and listening position are located in the red area indicated on this picture, then you should have no problem enjoying your MCR and Zensors at normal listening levels.

Your whole apartment is 36m2, your living room is half that so a small system will be fine.

 

[skysounds]

I owned the Marantz M-CR603 for a while and one of the disappointments was the lack of power.

I would go for a cheap separates system if you can. (Marantz PM5004 + CD5004).

Looking at the specifications for the pm5004. Is it really a lot more powerful?

What speakers did you use with the mcr610?

The PM5004 really is a lot more powerful and sounds much better IMO. In this case the specifications doesn't say anything.

With the M-CR603 I used Monitor Audio BX2 speakers.

The PM5004 doesnt have digital inputs, so no network/streaming posibilities, it's no option. Streaming is the most important thing, that's why I started looking for a new system.

 

[skysounds]

You can also consider Indiana Line speakers,they are pretty high sensitive db usually.E.x. Tesi or Nota line.

Thank you, I will look at those.

 

[davedotco]

A completely off the wall thought.

If you can manage without actually playing Cds, the Yamaha R-N500 has an awful lot of connectivity, greater power and onboard support for Spotify Connect.

Available under £400 in the UK, your market might vary...... :?

 

[skysounds]

If your system and listening position are located in the red area indicated on this picture, then you should have no problem enjoying your MCR and Zensors at normal listening levels.

Your whole apartment is 36m2, your living room is half that so a small system will be fine.

[/q]

Oh thanks for creating my music/tv area It is yes and it helps that there is this wall next to my kitchen, which makes the livingroom more separate and less open.

So no Tivoli radio? :roll:

 

[skysounds]

A completely off the wall thought.

If you can manage without actually playing Cds, the Yamaha R-N500 has an awful lot of connectivity, greater power and onboard support for Spotify Connect.

Available under £400 in the UK, your market might vary...... :?

Yes, good one. This is something Im still not sure about: 'with or without cd-player'.. Maybe I wont play cd's anymore because I can stream everything so easily.. could be.

It's 2 bad that the R-N500 doesnt have wifi.. and it seems that the wifi adapter thing doesn't work really well.

It costs €400 so that's a good price, €100 less than the marantz.

 

[Vladimir]

If your system and listening position are located in the red area indicated on this picture, then you should have no problem enjoying your MCR and Zensors at normal listening levels.

Your whole apartment is 36m2, your living room is half that so a small system will be fine.

[/q]

Oh thanks for creating my music/tv area It is yes and it helps that there is this wall next to my kitchen, which makes the livingroom more separate and less open.

So no Tivoli radio? :roll:

No Tivoli.

 

[MajorFubar]

There doesn't seem to be anything that touches the Marantz in terms of all-round functionality for the same price, ticking so many boxes. The only thing it usefully misses is bluetooth audio. Its isolation in the marketplace fascinates me. It's such a really obvious attractive bandwagon to jump on you'd think at least all the Japanese (etc) manufacturers would be on it even if the British manufacturers aren't (at that price).

 

[skysounds]

There doesn't seem to be anything that touches the Marantz in terms of all-round functionality for the same price, ticking so many boxes. The only thing it usefully misses is bluetooth audio. Its isolation in the marketplace fascinates me. It's such a really obvious attractive bandwagon to jump on you'd think at least all the Japanese (etc) manufacturers would be on it even if the British manufacturers aren't (at that price).

Very true, which is a little frustrating.
The Yamaha R-N500 doesnt even have gapless playback, the Marantz does. No DAB, not that that's very important to me, but still. So no wifi, No DAB, no gapless.. hmm

Wifi can be solved by using homeplugs, but I used those for my tv. It worked for a couple of months and then my channels started to freeze. Very annoying. I now have this cable, which Im not so happy with. I suppose its not possible to use 1 cable for tv and stereo receiver?

The marantz sounds like perfect, I'm just a little worried about the output. But what do I know about that, I have this cheapo miniset, I'm sure the amp/output from the Marantz is better than that. And my Sony speakers, don't know much about them..

Sorry for my questions.. Im trying to figure all out the posibilities and what's the best decision for me. To get the most out of the marantz, the q acoustics 2050i would be a better than option, than the zensor 5. What other speakers should I think of?

 

[davedotco]

There doesn't seem to be anything that touches the Marantz in terms of all-round functionality for the same price, ticking so many boxes. The only thing it usefully misses is bluetooth audio. Its isolation in the marketplace fascinates me. It's such a really obvious attractive bandwagon to jump on you'd think at least all the Japanese (etc) manufacturers would be on it even if the British manufacturers aren't (at that price).

Very true, which is a little frustrating.
The Yamaha R-N500 doesnt even have gapless playback, the Marantz does. No DAB, not that that's very important to me, but still. So no wifi, No DAB, no gapless.. hmm

Wifi can be solved by using homeplugs, but I used those for my tv. It worked for a couple of months and then my channels started to freeze. Very annoying. I now have this cable, which Im not so happy with. I suppose its not possible to use 1 cable for tv and stereo receiver?

The marantz sounds like perfect, I'm just a little worried about the output. But what do I know about that, I have this cheapo miniset, I'm sure the amp/output from the Marantz is better than that. And my Sony speakers, don't know much about them..

Sorry for my questions.. Im trying to figure all out the posibilities and what's the best decision for me. To get the most out of the marantz, the q acoustics 2050i would be a better than option, than the zensor 5. What other speakers should I think of?

As always, it depends what your priorities are. I have had a recent encounter with Spotify Connect which the Yamaha has, very impressive, blows the Sonos away for usability so a hugh plus for me.

The wireless thing is not an issue for me, I prefer a wired connection for music, though the gapless playback might well be.

I like the 2050i in larger rooms, which you have. They are very sensitive so if they work well and are to your taste you will have no power issues.

The Zensor 5 are less sensitive, noticeably so, you will need at least twice the amplifier power to get the same levels as the 2050i, this might be important in a large room.

 

[chebby]

There are people with room sizes / typical volume & bass levels enjoyed / preferred speakers etc. for whom the M-CR610 is either a stretch or simply a bad idea.

I am one of the people for whom it (in my case the M-CR603) is a perfect fit.

I listen at 8 feet distance across the 14.5 foot width of a 21 foot long living room and prefer moderate volumes using fairly efficent (89dB) speakers.

I've hardly ever used the CD player part, but it's there and sounded fine when tested. It has excellent FM performance with our rooftop aerial and decent reception (DAB is good at least as far as it can be).

AirPlay is the star and - with excepttion of FM - is what I use most of the time with my iPhone and iPad (and an iMac) with a mixture of 320K AAC VBR, Apple Lossless and BBC iPlayer Radio content.

I spent a lot of time looking around for a system with the exact connectivity that I required before I bought the Marantz three and a half years ago. Nothing else below £2K could match the Marantz in this respect. (And even the £2K option needed an additional ATV or AEX.)

I was replacing a traditional seperates system (Naim Nait 5i, CD5i, NAT05, Beresford TC-7520 DAC) and wanted something that was compact, good looking and that would serve my connectivity needs exactly.

My Naim system was already overpowered (9 o'clock on the volume was 'blasting' it) so the M-CR603's power was not a concern for me.

If the M-CR610 is going to represent any kind of compromise for you and your music and your room, then don't go near it. Strike it off the list and look again.

I got fed up (in the past) with M-CR603 owners who didn't do their research before they bought and then subsequently slagged off the kit because it wouldn't do the same job as a 100Wpc seperates system!

 

[davedotco]

There are people with room sizes / typical volume & bass levels enjoyed / preferred speakers etc. for whom the M-CR610 is either a stretch or simply a bad idea.

I am one of the people for whom it (in my case the M-CR603) is a perfect fit.

I listen at 8 feet distance across the 14.5 foot width of a 21 foot long living room and prefer moderate volumes using fairly efficent (89dB) speakers.

I've hardly ever used the CD player part, but it's there and sounded fine when tested. It has excellent FM performance with our rooftop aerial and decent reception (DAB is good at least as far as it can be).

AirPlay is the star and - with excepttion of FM - is what I use most of the time with my iPhone and iPad (and an iMac) with a mixture of 320K AAC VBR, Apple Lossless and BBC iPlayer Radio content.

I spent a lot of time looking around for a system with the exact connectivity that I required before I bought the Marantz three and a half years ago. Nothing else below £2K could match the Marantz in this respect. (And even the £2K option needed an additional ATV or AEX.)

I was replacing a traditional seperates system (Naim Nait 5i, CD5i, NAT05, Beresford TC-7520 DAC) and wanted something that was compact, good looking and that would serve my connectivity needs exactly.

My Naim system was already overpowered (9 o'clock on the volume was 'blasting' it) so the M-CR603's power was not a concern for me.

If the M-CR610 is going to represent any kind of compromise for you and your music and your room, then don't go near it. Strike it off the list and look again.

I got fed up (in the past) with M-CR603 owners who didn't do their research before they bought and then subsequently slagged off the kit because it wouldn't do the same job as a 100Wpc seperates system!

Well said. The M-CRs are smashing systems when used within their capabilities.

There was a time, a while ago now, when they were being over hyped with people talking about pairing them with PMCs and even small ATCs.

No wonder there was some disappointment.

However with reasonably sensitive, easy to drive speakers such as those under discussion, they will do fine. :cheer:

 

[skysounds]

As always, it depends what your priorities are. I have had a recent encounter with Spotify Connect which the Yamaha has, very impressive, blows the Sonos away for usability so a hugh plus for me.

The wireless thing is not an issue for me, I prefer a wired connection for music, though the gapless playback might well be.

I like the 2050i in larger rooms, which you have. They are very sensitive so if they work well and are to your taste you will have no power issues.

The Zensor 5 are less sensitive, noticeably so, you will need at least twice the amplifier power to get the same levels as the 2050i, this might be important in a large room.

Twice? The zensors are 88dB, the acoustics 92dB. Didn't know the difference is that big.

 

[davedotco]

As always, it depends what your priorities are. I have had a recent encounter with Spotify Connect which the Yamaha has, very impressive, blows the Sonos away for usability so a hugh plus for me.

The wireless thing is not an issue for me, I prefer a wired connection for music, though the gapless playback might well be.

I like the 2050i in larger rooms, which you have. They are very sensitive so if they work well and are to your taste you will have no power issues.

The Zensor 5 are less sensitive, noticeably so, you will need at least twice the amplifier power to get the same levels as the 2050i, this might be important in a large room.

Twice? The zensors are 88dB, the acoustics 92dB. Didn't know the difference is that big.

Astonishingly this is quite correct.......!

If a speaker is 3dB less sensitive than another it will require twice the amplifier power to produce the same levels, we have a 4dB difference here, I was being conservative.

For many setups this is not an issue, but in a big room like yours it could make a big difference. Not in shear volume, but the ability to effortlessly fill a big room like yours.

 

[skysounds]

As always, it depends what your priorities are. I have had a recent encounter with Spotify Connect which the Yamaha has, very impressive, blows the Sonos away for usability so a hugh plus for me.

The wireless thing is not an issue for me, I prefer a wired connection for music, though the gapless playback might well be.

I like the 2050i in larger rooms, which you have. They are very sensitive so if they work well and are to your taste you will have no power issues.

The Zensor 5 are less sensitive, noticeably so, you will need at least twice the amplifier power to get the same levels as the 2050i, this might be important in a large room.

Twice? The zensors are 88dB, the acoustics 92dB. Didn't know the difference is that big.

Astonishingly this is quite correct.......!

If a speaker is 3dB less sensitive than another it will require twice the amplifier power to produce the same levels, we have a 4dB difference here, I was being conservative.

For many setups this is not an issue, but in a big room like yours it could make a big difference. Not in shear volume, but the ability to effortlessly fill a big room like yours.

oh wow, thanks for explaining!

 

[skysounds]

There are people with room sizes / typical volume & bass levels enjoyed / preferred speakers etc. for whom the M-CR610 is either a stretch or simply a bad idea.

I am one of the people for whom it (in my case the M-CR603) is a perfect fit.

I listen at 8 feet distance across the 14.5 foot width of a 21 foot long living room and prefer moderate volumes using fairly efficent (89dB) speakers.

I've hardly ever used the CD player part, but it's there and sounded fine when tested. It has excellent FM performance with our rooftop aerial and decent reception (DAB is good at least as far as it can be).

AirPlay is the star and - with excepttion of FM - is what I use most of the time with my iPhone and iPad (and an iMac) with a mixture of 320K AAC VBR, Apple Lossless and BBC iPlayer Radio content.

I spent a lot of time looking around for a system with the exact connectivity that I required before I bought the Marantz three and a half years ago. Nothing else below £2K could match the Marantz in this respect. (And even the £2K option needed an additional ATV or AEX.)

I was replacing a traditional seperates system (Naim Nait 5i, CD5i, NAT05, Beresford TC-7520 DAC) and wanted something that was compact, good looking and that would serve my connectivity needs exactly.

My Naim system was already overpowered (9 o'clock on the volume was 'blasting' it) so the M-CR603's power was not a concern for me.

If the M-CR610 is going to represent any kind of compromise for you and your music and your room, then don't go near it. Strike it off the list and look again.

I got fed up (in the past) with M-CR603 owners who didn't do their research before they bought and then subsequently slagged off the kit because it wouldn't do the same job as a 100Wpc seperates system!

Wow, I believe there are a few people on this forum that went from separates to the Marantz. Interesting!
I don't get how people would compare this to a much more powerful system.. doesnt make much sense.

Im not coming from separates, how can I be dissapointed..

I see your room is not that small too, what speakers do you use?

If the 2050i speakers are going to give me enough sound, and I can't really imagen that they won't because I'm not looking for a party system, then I think it would be just perfect for me.

 

[davedotco]

Sky, be aware.

Just because the M-CR610 and 2050i are a good match technically, it does not mean that they will work to your liking.

As always, listening is the key, try them, the Dalis and anything else you can that is in the same ballpark.

Understand what the limitations are but try for yourself, most important...... :cheer: