Marantz SR9600

[admin_exported]

Looking at one of these as I've been offered 1st refusal on it by someone and at seemingly a good price £1500, whats it like is it any good?

Is it worth buying?

 

[kinda]

Don't know that particular Marantz amp, but in terms of getting more focused advice, what are you looking to upgrade from, or what do you want from the amp, (good with films, music, networking, upscaling, and so on)?

 

[Anonymous]

This former flagship receiver is stunning for 2-channel or multichannel. (driving my Vienna Acoustics Mozart/Maestro/Waltz & REL R305) Cannot recommend it enough for single room operation audio powerhouse; the best multichannel amp I have ever owned, great soundfield placement, strong imaging, terrific timbre....but.....

...be aware it is HDMI1.1. I used the Marantz VS3002 6x2 unit for video switching, using spdif for audio from source devices. Thus this older unit has no DTS Master Audio or Dolby TrueHD decoding. Also multi-zoning is just not worth using in these older Marantz units.

I set it to Pure Direct mode, so all video circuitry is turned off. Using optical out from my Sonos (best choice for network audio IMHO), HDCD-encoded tracks in FLAC format carry the HDCD into the receiver (the HDCD logo illuminates). Stunning sound.

So if your needs fit around these limitations; go for it! That "Marantz" sound is sublime. Hope this helps..