Marantz NR1601 big mistake or faulty?

[admin_exported]

Hi

I just got my Marantz NR1601 paired upto some MA BX2's and well it sounds muddy! I'm running it on some qed original speaker cable have ran audio set up with the mic and tried every possible setting yet it still sounds unclear!

I was expecting a nice clean sparkly sound but it sounds as if I got my fingers blocking my ears and the headphone out is next to useless its muffled to hell!

Also ive tried 3 HDMI cables now on HDMI-ARC and they keep scrambling as soon as you gently touch the connector the TV loses sync!

 

[ID.]

Didn't you audition it first? Maybe give it some time to run in, but reviews seem to indicate a rich and warm sound rather than clear and sparkly...

 

[Anonymous]

Hi

No I did not, none local to me I went of reviews of how great they sound I naturaly thought that it would be simlar if not better to the Denon Ceol hifi I sent back seeing as there under the same company etc but its not a patch on it yet its larger,heavyand was near the same price!

It may have 100 settings and great looking front panel but the connections are rather poor and cheap feeling there not even gold plated and the HDMI-ports are that sensitive and shallow if I nudge the desk ive got it on I lose handshake with the TV!

The volume control is abismal it loses the dB reading goes off scale to the actual volume if I turn it up quicker it will jump from really low to high and every few steps I get a strange faint crackling in the speakers.

 

[ID.]

asimo82:
Hi

No I did not, none local to me I went of reviews of how great they sound I naturaly thought that it would be simlar if not better to the Denon Ceol hifi I sent back seeing as there under the same company etc

So you thought a completely different product in a different class made by a completely different company and completely different people would sound the same? (being owned by the same holding company does not make them the same company). Either way, even buying within the Denon brand, I wouldn't necessarily expect all products to have the same character and sound, especially for products in different classes.

From the reviews, rather than look at what they said about the sound and whether that was in line with your expectations you just saw that it sounded great (i.e. it suited the reviewers' tastes, rather than yours) and bought it on that basis?

Still, it does sound like you are having quality issues rather than just the sound not being on the style you wanted, so maybe you could look to get a refund or exchange. If you haven't been running it or the speakers very long you might want to wait until you have 30-40 hrs on them before making a decision if your main issue is the sound. If it is build quality, I'd definitely be in touch with where you bought it from.

 

[bigboss]

Looks like a problem with the settings, although I'm not sure about the loose HDMI connections which looks like a fault to me.

Performance of a receiver is also dependent on the speakers it's connected to. You cannot just pick any receiver & any speakers based to excellent reviews and expect the system to perform as well as the reviews say. What's more important is if they tonally match with each other.

 

[manicm]

I would say do not panic, and ask your dealer if he could check the settings at your home?

 

[richardw42]

I'd be really surprised if the two didn't go well together.

I had a NR1501 and used it with MA BR5s & RS6s and it sounded great with movies or music..

Perhaps you have got a faulty unit, or maybe there's a major prob in your settings somewhere. Re. ARC, never used it but does it not require specific HDMI cables ?

I'm sure if you speak to the dealer / seller they'll help you out.

Despite what you're thinking at the moment it's a nice receiver you've got. I base that on my experioences with its predecessor.

 

[Anonymous]

Have you tried turning off any audessy settings that have been applied by the auto setup it might be applying some compression that does not suite your tastes?