Marantz Slimline AV Receivers

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Hello,

I'm looking to buy a new AV receiver due to missing HDMI in- and outputs on my current receiver. right now I'm looking at two options. Either buying a Denon AVR X2300 award winning receiver or go for the Marantz NR1606 ot NR1607 (whatever is available) and later buy the Award winning Marantz PM6006 to drive the front.

I live in Belgium and while it is no problem listening to a Denon receiver and see and hear it in action, I can't find a dealer that has the Slimline Marantz Receivers in stock for a demo.

Why the Slimline and not another Marantz AVR receiver? Well, space is one thing, I can hold one large AV receiver in the cabinet but adding a stereo receiver to drive the front is no option then. So I thought it would be nice to have an slim AV receiver and a slim stereo receiver to upgrade the front.

I know Denon and Marantz share many components so as far as quality goes, I guess both will be almost equal at this price range. But both have a different approach when it comes to app control, remote control and settings. So here are a few questions I have, hoping some fellow readers will come up with good insights and helpfull tips.

1. The most obvious difference between the Denon and the Marantz is power. I have no experience what so ever with these brands so I wonder how Marantz handles my speakers (see setup below) with only 50W per channel at 8 ohm (and then later combined with the 45W of the PM6006) compared with the 95W at 8 ohm from the Denon in the pretty small space they operate (also see setup below). I don't listen to heavy dance tracks but I do like a bit of volume. While looking for detail in well recorder tracks in stereo mode, I'm a movie fan too and I like to sit in the movie (no neighbours). But I don't crank the volume all the way up off course (nobody should). I know from reading about it that 45W is actually not such a big difference in dB but I can't really say I understand what that means in real life.

2. This is my first receiver with MultEQ and the Denon has a newer more complex version MultEQ XT. Is that something to look at? Should it change my choice? My sound sources are pretty good so I don't know if this is something I will use. You can find as many pro as con this technology.

3. And then I come to the user experience. How is the app control and remote or the on screen interface? Who has put the most work into these user interfaces. What brand has the most intuitive GUI and remote? Also, I really wish that my amp turns on when the TV is turned (and off when turned off) but that might not work with this old TV although it does have ARC and CEC. I find things like that just user friendly in daily use. So,other examples of that kind of things are more then welcome.

Setup:

My room is 9m (29ft) by 5m (16ft) and the ceiling is only 2.25m (7ft) high. An old country house/farm. But the TV area and speaker area is only half of that.

TV: Samsung UE40EX6100 (will be replaced after new receivers)

Speakers: Front Q Acoustics 2010 (6 ohm), Q Acoustics 2000c center speaker, Q Acoustics 2070s active subwoofer, Cambridge Audio Minx Min 20 BMR driver speakers as surround speakers. All connected with QED cables.

looking forward to your insights.

Moz-Art

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

You can't fit a quart into a pint pot, as the saying goes, so the slimline receivers can't house a large transformer and / or the power capacitors needed for a more powerful power amplifier section.

That having been said, I doubt there is very much difference in the pre-amp section, and from expereince with my Marantz SR-7010, the on-screen setup and remote for the Marantz are just fine. I also found the remote control app to work pretty well on an Amazon Fire tablet for basic tasks like selecting inputs and turning the volume up and down. I'm hoping, when funds allow, to add a 1607 to run the "Musac" for the downstairs of our house with four speakers in the living room, two speakers in the dining room and two on the patio. Whether I run the four in the living room as two parallel pairs or buy a separate power amp for the patio has yet to be decided, but the Mrs won't allow a nine channel receiver's size, so....

As for sound level, I suspect you probably won't notice much difference, except, perhaps, that the sudden huge "kaboom" moments in action movies won't be quite as dynamic (if that's the right word) or "kaboom" as they would be with a higher power unit. You can probably get around that if, like you say, you add a stereo receiver to your setup later. Then you route the pre-amp outputs from the front left and front right of the AV receiver to the AV or Aux inputs of the stereo amplifier, which takes over drving the front left and front right speakers. The AV receiver's power amplifiers (and transformer) then only have to drive the surround channels and the receiver has more headroom to do so as a result. Luckily, the Marantz 1607 has pre-amp outputs just for this option.

 

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Thanks for sharing your experience. That was what I was thinking too. If I go for the two slimlines by Marantz, I will have a stereo amp specialized in driving only the front and therefor doing a better job then the Denon would wich is made for home theater. So in Stereo mode I should end up with a better sound.

when you connect the Pre outs to the PM6006, do you really disable the two channels of the front in the NR1607? In other words, does it really stop driving the two channels making more amp room to drive the other channels. I have no experience with settings like that. And what about the automated setup of the speakers from the NR1607? Can you still run that while the PM6006 is connected and make it do all the distance calculation of the speakers? I don't think the NR1607 knows what volume of the PM6006 is at any time. So does the Audyssey still work?

you mention the app is only good for basic control such as choosing the input. Is that all it is capable of? Can you also control the 2nd zone? Or make changes to the EQ?

Also, on the website of Marantz, it says the 1607 does have CEC to control the TV and Vice versa. But I can't find it in the description of the 1606.

Very strange by the way, the the price difference between last years model and current models is almost non existant with the Marantz.

kind regards

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Q1- bypassing the fronts:
Not sure. On my 7010 you can set the thing up on screen, telling the receiver you're using an external amp though. Unless you plan on using one pair of fronts for AV and a second for stereo, it shouldn't matter though. In either case with no speakers attached, the amps won't draw any power, leaving more headroom for the surround channels.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Q2 - audio setup with the speakers connected to the 6006:
Yes, I think the Audessy takes care of that. The setup uses a microphone to measure the output from the speakers irrespective of how they are driven. A stereo amp with an "AV bypass" means you don't have to adjust the volume on the stereo amp all the time as well.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Q3 - the remote app:
Don't know, haven't tried, but I suspect you will need the proper remote to do the setup.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Q4 - CIC:
Don't know. Wouldn't surprise me though if the newer model is more user friendly.

Q5 - prices:

The 1606 should be cheaper, but probably not much. The 1607 would be a better buy.

 

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Thanks benedict-Arnold for the replies. That is helpfull information. Still looking for someone who has a 1607 or/and a PM6006 in use.

 

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The 1607 would be the better buy. They still ask the same price for last years model. I don't get that strategy. Look at this store, and it isn't the only one here in Belgium.

http://www.dimonaco.be/shops/dimonaco_nieuw/producten.php?merkid=3091&pageno=1

 

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Anybody else wanna step in?

 

[bigboss]

I would personally go for a good beefy AV receiver such as the Marantz SR7010 or SR6010 instead of a slimline AV receiver with a stereo amplifier. The quality of AV receivers are excellent. I was part of the Big Question series of What Hi Fi? magazine few years ago when we compared a stereo amplifier with AV receivers at different price points. Although the stereo amplifier won, I had to listen very very carefully (which isn't normal listening). The AV receivers were excellent performers. Remember that there is a compromise to the AV receiver if the focus is to make it slim. Plus, they will run fairly hot as compared to an AV receiver with a larger box. The amplifiers in the 7010 for example are far superior to the 1607.