Discuss: S&V review of Marantz 5400 (2 Viewers)

[Wayne Ernst]

Last evening, I picked up the January 2004 edition of Sound and Vision magazine. I read through the review of the new 5400 receiver from Marantz. To my surprise, when I looked at the "In the Lab" section for the power output, I thought I was reading a review for a receiver by Harman Kardon.

Rated power by mfg. - 90 watts to 6 channels.

Actual output in the lab - 103 watts when 5 channels were driven.

I wonder if the whole new line of receivers from Marantz (x400) all feature "revised" power outputs when all channels are driven? I seem to recall the chart from the earlier verions of Marantz receivers where they were putting out anemic power compared to the advertised power.

Anyway, now it appears Marantz might be back in the game of reporting "actual" power like Harman Kardon (and a few others.) Bravo!!

 

[Shane Martin]

Quote:
I wonder if the whole new line of receivers from Marantz (x400) all feature "revised" power outputs when all channels are driven? Or I wonder if the one they tested previously was defective.

Either way Go Marantz!

 

[Bob_M]

How did it fair on the Noise? Thanks Bob

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Bob, the noise levels were as follows:

Dolby Digital Performance:
Distortion @ 1 watt (THD+N, 1 kHz)
- 8 ohms - 0.03%
- 4 ohms - 0.04%
Noise level (A-wtd): -73.9 dB
Excess Noise (with sine tone): 16-bit (EN16): +2 dB



Multichannel Performance - Analog Input
Distortion (THD+N, 1 kHz, 8 Ohms): 0.03%
Noise Level (A-wtd): -80.3 dB

 

[John Garcia]

None of my Marantz receivers or amps (a total of 5 in the last 3 years) have ever had a lack of power or disappointed in the sound department

 

[Lewis Besze]

Yes I saw this too, good job Marantz.
There are very few receivers that measures their rated output,let alone surpass.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

I should also point out that when the Marantz SR7200 was tested, it only produced 27 watts to 6 channels -- even though it was rated @ 105W x 6.

Source: Power Outputs

I remembered seeing those numbers before for the SR7200, so needless to say, this recent review on the 5400 caught me by surprise when it came to the "in the lab" section.

 

[Lewis Besze]

Yeah, I posted those results here a couple years ago.
It stirred a lot of anger from Marantz users/fans even a dealer.Someone even cracked a joke that my "wife ran away with someone named Marantz" claiming that I had some sort of axe to grind.
Nonesense! I'm glad this lower end model did well.

 

[Shiu]

Wayne, I would be careful with the numbers reported in that "source" that people keep referring to. I know they were simply reporting numbers tested by S&V, but errors could have been made when the information was transferred.
I find it hard to believe the SR7200 could only produce 27X6.

 

[Lewis Besze]

Quote:
I find it hard to believe the SR7200 could only produce 27X6. That's what S&V has reported in their magazine.It was never claimed as typo by them later,so it stands.

 

[Chu Gai]

Makes you wonder if there's going some kind of announcement forthcoming from the FCC regarding standardization with regards to power claims in multichannel receivers. But yes, good job by Marantz indeed.

 

[Shiu]

Lewis, the link that gets posted here many times take us to a table that appears to have been posted somewhere in Geocities.com Have you seen the test results for the Marantz in the S&V itself? I am sure most of the results posted are correct, I am just too suspicious of a couple of them, one being the 27X6 for the SR7200. 27X6=162W,that's at clipping!?? and for a Marantz?

 

[John Garcia]

Phil Iturralde is the one who originally started compliling the S&V data from the magazines. I trust that the data is correct as reported. The actual performance of the units with speakers is another story. At the time the data for the 7200 was reported, I had a 6200 and I NEVER had any issues with power. I wouldn't dwell on numbers for a model that is now 2 generations old.

 

[Bill Will]

What I want to know is why S&V seems now only to be reporting 5 Channels driven & why aren't they also reporting on 6 Channels driven? Maybe this is where the watts are really dropping off so they have stoped reporting on the 6 channels driven to keep the electronic companies happy.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Quote:
What I want to know is why S&V seems now only to be reporting 5 Channels driven & why aren't they also reporting on 6 Channels driven?
Just a thought ...

S&V performs their tests with both two channels driven and 5 channels driven. This shows how the receiver should perform with stereo material. When it comes to the 5 channel test, I suspect that they do this because there is only a limited amount of 6-channel or 7-channel material available -- but, a majority of the movies are encoded for 5.1-channel playback.

I would suspect that their testing methodologies would change in the future when more people migrate to systems with more than 5 speakers and more movies are encoded for such use. I might be a bit off in my thoughts on why they only perform the 5-channel tests in addition to the stereo tests, but I suspect that I'm not too far off.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

OMG with this old S&V report. We're STILL discussing this? Wasn't this resolved? There was a bad batch of caps if i recall correctly, and S&V received a faulty unit. I'm not rushing to defend marantz, and while I own one of their receivers, you should not expect only 27watts per channel with a 7300. Though be free to discuss the quality control that there would be faulty units that might.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Quote:
I wouldn't dwell on numbers for a model that is now 2 generations old.
John, I hear ya. However, I am still excited that things could be changing within Marantz and the manner that they are producing their amplification. I read plenty of reviews where equipment falls short, but got pretty excited when I read this review for a receiver that doesn't cost an arm and a leg - and puts out some decent power.

 

[Francois]

Hi guys,

Quote from lab results (on their website)

'...it delivered impressive power all around, exceeding its 90-watt rating even with all six channels driven.'

Home Cinema choice also tested the 5400, together with the Denon 1803, Onkyo TX-SR701E, Pioneer VSX-D012-S and Yamaha DSP-AX640SE, you can download the results from their website. The 5400 results:

2ch driven: 110W into 8ohm
5ch driven: 85W into 8ohm
Fidelity firewall: 105W into 8ohm (0.05% thd)

WHY the difference in 5ch results??

S&V also tested the Denon 2803 (rated at 90Wx7):

5ch driven: 83W
6ch driven: 75W

What Hi-Fi only gave the 5400 3 stars!

CNET also reviewed the 5400, see on their website.

I thought about the 2803, but for half the price I can get the 5400 in South Africa with this excellent power results!

Going for the 5400, but only problem is the crossover, Denon has 40...120, and the 5300 had 100hz fixed, WHAT DOES THE 5400 HAVE?? I realy hope 80hz. The marantz website is not usefull.

We do not get the S&V mag in South Africa, is it possible to scan and post the article, or email me??

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Quote:
Going for the 5400, but only problem is the crossover, Denon has 40...120, and the 5300 had 100hz fixed, WHAT DOES THE 5400 HAVE?? I realy hope 80hz. The marantz website is not usefull.
Francois,

The crossover on the 5400 is adjustable. From the article: "When you select "small" for any speakers, you can set the high-pass crossover to 80, 100, or 120 Hz, redirecting bass below those frequencies from those speakers to the sub."

 

[Jack Briggs]

I'm sure Chu Gai remembers this, but are you all aware of how inflated power ratings were a major controversy back in the late '60s and early '70s, until the FTC intervened? In those two-channel days, consumers were insulted by such meaningless power ratings as "IHF dynamic power" and "EIA peak power" (mostly applied to those underperforming and extinct pieces of furniture called "stereo consoles," resulting in outrageous claims of "500 watts!" and so on).

But the manufacturers cleaned up their act and by the mid-'70s honest, RMS continuous power ratings were the norm.

Multichannel home-theater audio, however, has encouraged the OEMs to resort again to deceptions, because power ratings must be lower when six or more channels are driven. Some use 6 ohm-based ratings, others just cite the power output at 1 kHz with only one channel driven, etc.

Yep, the confusion needs to be cleared and honesty made popular once again.