Marantz AV 10 - Initial Impressions (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

@John Dirk Do you have a thread on your AV10? It just registered that I posted the video and kicked off this conversation in your old Anthem thread, even though I had in mind you switched to the Marantz AV10.

 

[Robert Crawford]

@John Dirk Do you have a thread on your AV10? It just registered that I posted the video and kicked off this conversation in your old Anthem thread, even though I had in mind you switched to the Marantz AV10.

Marantz AV 10 - Initial Impressions

I’m still waiting for Marantz to launch a Pre/Pro Separates line equivalent to the new Cinema Receiver series. A bit cryptic, Dave. :cool: Please elaborate.

www.hometheaterforum.com

 

[DaveF]

(moved posts. I meant to post here originally but goofed up )

 

[John Dirk]

We need you buy the Audyssey expansion and figure it out and report back if it is not "barely perceptible sonic improvements" but in fact rather substantial as the video guys suggest. You have to do this. For Science. For HTF.

I spent a little time studying the features of MultEQ X. Whether it provides minor or major benefits over the app can be debated but it definitely lacks bass control, which is the main area I'd be willing to pay for some improvements. I have to give it to Anthem on that point. ARC Genesis [at it's advertised best] handles sub integration automatically. Audyssey MultEQ X does nothing for phase control, etc. and there's a learning curve to boot.

If I'm going to go the "learning curve" route I think I'd opt for the full Dirac suite. Adding it to the AV10 makes it only slightly more expensive than the AVM90.

 

[DaveF]

I keep hoping Marantz will release an AV20 priced and featured to compete / compare with the Anthem AVM70.

I’m not going to spend $7000+ on a new pre-pro. But I think I can go for a $4000 processor. But right now that’s only Anthem. I wish Marantz had something in that range too.

 

[JohnRice]

I keep hoping Marantz will release an AV20 priced and featured to compete / compare with the Anthem AVM70.

I’m not going to spend $7000+ on a new pre-pro. But I think I can go for a $4000 processor. But right now that’s only Anthem. I wish Marantz had something in that range too.

They do. Just not in the new ownership line.

 

[John Dirk]

I keep hoping Marantz will release an AV20 priced and featured to compete / compare with the Anthem AVM70.

I’m not going to spend $7000+ on a new pre-pro. But I think I can go for a $4000 processor. But right now that’s only Anthem. I wish Marantz had something in that range too.

I think Marantz considers the AV8805A to be that product.

 

[JohnRice]

There’s also the 7706

 

[John Dirk]

There’s also the 7706

True but that's an 11.2 processor, so not a direct competitor to the AVM70.

 

[DaveF]

I guess? Given the rebranding with the Cinema line and the AV line, it's hard to see the 770x and 880x as anything than "old". They don't support Dirac. And there's no advertising anywhere about if/how they work with the MultEQ-X system.

I thought Marantz intended to expand the AV line to be its new processor branding and naming. I'm guessing the pandemic and all that upset their plans. But here we are in 2024 and Marantz will do what it wants, but they're ignoring a market segment now IMO.

But if I really wanted to upgrade on a "budget" I could get the 7706 at A4L and add on MultEQ-X, and be all in for $2200, a bit more than half the price of anything else.

 

[John Dirk]

Looks like Denon and Marantz (Sound United) may be busy with more important concerns at the moment.

Masimo Board 'Authorizes' Management to Prepare Spin-Off of Consumer Unit

Late Friday, Masimo announced that the Board of Directors has "authorized" company management to plan a spin-off of its Consumer Business.

www.strata-gee.com

 

[JohnRice]

Looks like Denon and Marantz (Sound United) may be busy with more important concerns at the moment.

Masimo Board 'Authorizes' Management to Prepare Spin-Off of Consumer Unit

Late Friday, Masimo announced that the Board of Directors has "authorized" company management to plan a spin-off of its Consumer Business.

www.strata-gee.com

So NOT surprised.

Not only is the consumer market a complete disconnect from the company’s main professional healthcare markets – the business fundamentals are entirely different.

Wait, do they mean that consumer products and professional medical devices are different in some significant way? Who could have known?

I mean, except for anyone with an ounce of functioning grey matter.

 

[John Dirk]

Phil Jones and Cam Valentine do a deep dive into Audyssey MultEQ X and Pro. other than Phil's insistence on calling it MultIQ instead of MultEQ throughout, it's very informative. For me it's also confirmation this is not a path I want to take as I have no interest in becoming an audio calibrator. I thought I was paying Audyssey to do that.

 

[DaveF]

Looks like it can be click-and-play as easy as normal Audyssey, maybe more so with the ability to label measurements and re-take them. And then there’s a bunch of extra controls you can add on incrementally as desired. Maybe the app does a bunch of that already. But given the choice between heritage Audyssey and that, I’d definitely pay the $200 to move past old-and-busted vanilla Audyssey.

 

[Robert Saccone]

Looks like it can be click-and-play as easy as normal Audyssey, maybe more so with the ability to label measurements and re-take them. And then there’s a bunch of extra controls you can add on incrementally as desired. Maybe the app does a bunch of that already. But given the choice between heritage Audyssey and that, I’d definitely pay the $200 to move past old-and-busted vanilla Audyssey.

I use MultEQ-X on my Marantz Sr-8015. The ability to label and retake measurements as well as exclude measurements and easily try out settings changes is a game changer. It took me some time to learn but with it I was able to get my system to perform in ways the built in Audyssey never could. By adding custom curves and a low shelf bass boost my sound stage became so much wider than the physical speaker placement along with tight bass that sounded so much better than what I got by just simply boosting the bass trims with the built in Audyssey.

 

[John Dirk]

I use MultEQ-X on my Marantz Sr-8015. The ability to label and retake measurements as well as exclude measurements and easily try out settings changes is a game changer. It took me some time to learn but with it I was able to get my system to perform in ways the built in Audyssey never could. By adding custom curves and a low shelf bass boost my sound stage became so much wider than the physical speaker placement along with tight bass that sounded so much better than what I got by just simply boosting the bass trims with the built in Audyssey.

Maybe the app does a bunch of that already. But given the choice between heritage Audyssey and that, I’d definitely pay the $200 to move past old-and-busted vanilla Audyssey.

Here you guys go applying logic where I was [for the moment at least] more comfortable with emotion. The app is a lot better than stock Audyssey but a gradual approach with this tool is clearly the better choice.