Harman Kardon AVR520 vs Marantz SR6200 (1 Viewer)

[JasonWaddington]

Ok, ive narrowed my receiver search to these. Which is the better product? I can get the HK for around 600 or the Marantz for around 500. I use my system for %80 music.

 

[MikeRP]

SEARCH FOR THE 520 THREAD ON THIS AND AVSFORUM- IT'LL GIVE YOU THE FLEXIBILTY OF THE 520. I LUVED THE ONE I HAD.

MIKE

 

[Pablo Abularach]

I have the maratz Sr6200, and for me is very musical and warm, I only heard the AVR320, and was very good also for music. I like more Marantz than H/K, but aution both, I think both are very musical. Maybe you could wait for the new X300 series, that is due next month.

 

[Angelo.M]

Pablo:

Are there any bass-management issues one would have to be aware of when comparing the 6200 and the 320/520. I use towers for fronts (JBL N38II) and have no intention of buying a subwoofer. Is there anything that would push me toward the Marantz or the H/K, with respect to bass management?

Thanks.

 

[ThomasL]

Angelo, I know that the Marantz SR5200 had a fixed crossover of 100Hz - the SR6200 probably does as well - but if you're not going to get a sub and plan to set the mains to Large then the issue of receiver crossovers shouldn't come into play.

Jason, if you're buying locally, buy one and audition it with your setup. As long as you have a nice return policy such as 30 or 45 days, you can run it through the paces. Speakers are the greatest factor in how things sound, in my opinion, thus testing out how the receiver sounds with your speakers in your room is the only way to truly tell if you'll like it or not.

cheers,


--tom

 

[John Garcia]

The lack of bass management is a minor drawback of the x200 series. With any decent speakers, this should not be an issue. With the x-over fixed at 100Hz (though I'm pretty sure the 8200 and 9200 are 80hz because they are THX select), you will be best suited by mains that handle to 50Hz effectively, but I have not found the x-over to be an issue. I get no sub localization, and my mains sound fine set to small or large. I am very pleased with my 6200.

I compared the 6200 to the 510, not the 520, and the 510 was a very good performer. I went with the 6200 because it was actually quite a bit less expensive and had 6.1, which the 510 did not. I would rate them very closely.

I agree with the auditioning in home if possible, as this is really the best way to tell how something works in your setup/room.

I use towers for fronts (JBL N38II) and have no intention of buying a subwoofer.

Angelo.M - With a -3dB of 45Hz on the N38s, you are basically missing out on the bottom octave. This octave is extremely important for realism in movies. This is not necessarily the same for music, but there is plenty of music that easily goes into the low 30s.

 

[Angelo.M]

John:

Thanks for the information. I'm aware of what I'm giving up with a subwoofer as I've had one in my set-up. My two year old, however, treated it as, among other things, her step-stool, her table, her seat, etc and so on.

I'm really interested in picking up a Marantz as the last unit in my ongoing 'weekly auditions', to compare with the NAD I'm now using. The only local Marantz dealer, however, has a no-return (unless defective) policy, which seems absurd. I'll probably order one from hifi.com. Any experience with them?

--AM

 

[James D]

Angelo-hifi.com is top shelf. They have a 30 day price protection policy and are an authorized Marantz dealer. Their best policy is a 45 day in home audition. You can return your purchase for a full refund, including the return shipping, for up to 45 days. They usually have free shipping and quite often have coupons. You can check fatwallet.com for the current coupons. They have one now for 10% off of a $200 or higher purchase. The code is hifi10. BTW, I love my Marantz SR-14EX. Good luck.

 

[Angelo.M]

James:

That's terrific information. I appreciate your input.

--AM

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

The price of the AVR520 has dropped to $577.21 with free fedex shipping from Onecall this week. You can check your favorite deals sites for the discount link that drops it down to this price and gets you the free shipping.

 

[Pablo Abularach]

Angelo,

Are there any bass-management issues one would have to be aware of when comparing the 6200 and the 320/520. I use towers for fronts (JBL N38II) and have no intention of buying a subwoofer. Is there anything that would push me toward the Marantz or the H/K, with respect to bass management?

John is completly right, the crossover of the reciever is 100HZ, I have S26 that could go much lower than this, and I wished that marantz could consider including 80Hz in the next series. But dont get me wrong, is still sound amazing.

I dont know in the crossover of the 320/520, maybe someone can tell you this, but for me both are very similar. To be honest with you, I bought marantz because in guatemala we dont have may stores that sells this kind of equipment (only two), and the price is super high, almost double of what you could get in the states. But he offer me two things that sold me beside the way it sounds, one was upgrade to next series with a little amount of money. And warranty, which will be very difficult to get online. But for me the sound you get from Marantz is very particular, no other brand can get close, well maybe Harman Kardon. But from now on I will only buy Marantz, I'm just waiting for the SR7300 to be out and I will upgrade.

Hope this helps,
Pablo Abularach

 

[John Garcia]

I'm waiting for the 7300 as well
$577 is very good for the 520. That's a $22 less than I paid for my 6200 about a year ago, when the 510 was MSRP $899.
The x-over setup for the 325/520 is not bad:

Subwoofer Crossover Frequency: when the front speakers have been set to Large, the crossover choices are 40Hz or 60Hz to match the typical crossover points of full range speakers. When the front speakers have been set to Small, the crossover choices are 80Hz or 100Hz to match the typical crossover points of the smaller speakers used in satellite speaker systems.

 

[Pablo Abularach]

John,

Do you know what crossover SR7300 will have?

And do you know the cross over that the SR6200 has when you set your speakers to Large?

Thanks,
Pablo

 

[Dongwook]

Gabriel_Lam,
I checked the price for AVR 520 in onecall.com.
But, I just found it is $809.10.
Do I need special promotion code?

 

[John Garcia]

Pablo - preliminary info on the 7300 looks to have the x-over fixed at 100Hz still, but I only know what I've read and I don't know how reliable that is. The 6200 is fixed at 100Hz when set to large, which will give you roughly one octave above that point (~200Hz) for the sub and one octave below (~50Hz) for those set to small. I don't know the slope of the x-over, but this is a good guess for the rolloff, because even with a 6dB/octave slope, there would be very little sound by the time you reach those points.

 

[Pablo Abularach]

Thanks John,

I do hope maratz SR7300 will have a 80Hz crossover.

Maybe when you buy your SR7300 you could post your thought, it is always great hear from someone that know the subject.

Thanks
Pablo

 

[John Garcia]

I will audition the 7300, and see what it really has to offer. Then I will decide if it will be worth it to upgrade, otherwise I will wait a bit longer to see what the 8300 has to offer. I may just stick with the 6200 for another year...

 

[MikeRP]

John:

Check out the Pioneer 45 tx.

I really like it.

Mike

 

[John Garcia]

Price of the 45? I listened to the 49TX (WAY outside of my budget) but I thought it sounded very good.

 

[MikeRP]

Paid $1000 at soundwaves in Cincinnati. Internet looks like $900.