Marantz or Yamaha? (1 Viewer)

[John Roger]

need help to decide.How are marantz nd yamaha compared to onkyo hk etc??

 

[John Garcia]

In the same price ranges, they are all quite similar, though each posesses a slight difference in sound due to DACs, and other brand specific characteristics. I'm a big fan of Marantz, and have been buying them for years.

 

[Marty M]

It all boils down to personal preferences. I am a big Yamaha fan. I owned a Onkyo Pro Logic receiver, but have enjoyed Yamaha receivers for over 6 years now.

If you use the FM tuner, IMO, Yamaha is better than Onkyo.

 

[David G Greene]

I would take Yamaha.

 

[Daman]

Yamaha rules and with so many features the current line of their recievers provide i went their way with all my past 3 recievers.

 

[John Roger]

Here i have marantz model 4300 vs Yamaha RX V430.

Which is better in sound?Features?

The price is close, though the marantz a bit costly.But the marantz is 6.1 and yamaha only 5.1. I doubt if there is any need to put in the extra money for 6.1 as my seating is close to the wall.Any advice?

 

[John Garcia]

Soundwise, I'd personally go with the Marantz, but either should do fine. I've installed two 4200s with very good results.

 

[Alan Wise]

John,
As others have said, both companies (and others like Denon, H/K, Pioneer Elite, etc...) produce excellent products in various price catagories.
Matching to your speakers and room size should be a big driver in your decision. Also, add in how many other pieces of equipment are going to be connected to you receiver. Do you want auto calibration? Make a list of what you think you want, and what you need.

Good Luck, Al. Wise

 

[John Roger]

Alan,
My room is small and i have jbl 3 ways(8inch) for fronts and jbl center and surrounds.Sony sub.

Equipments : DVD player,VHS, TV out(for cable TV).

Auto calibration is not essential.

I would like good DSP features and somethin to spread mono sources to the fronts.

Most important is bass management.I need bass management with many options.

 

[Alan Wise]

John,
I have never owned a Marantz receiver, but prior to my current Denon 3805 I had a Yamaha RX-V640. During my speaker auditions I felt that JBL's sounded too bright (thin?) with the Yamaha. However, I have heard JBL's driven by Denon and H/K receivers and thought they sounded great.
To me that was the fun of upgrading, getting to match up and test all that I could find within my price range and make my decision based upon what my ears told me.

Al. Wise

 

[Yohan Pamudji]

Matching components is key. I don't have experience with those JBLs, but the Marantz sound is generally considered neutral to laid back, and I would agree with that as I have an old Marantz SR-7000 receiver and that's how it sounds to me. It's a good mix with my Paradigm Studio 80s, which I consider a bit forward.

I haven't listened to Yamaha receivers, but general consensus is that they are a bit brighter sounding. As always, listen for yourself if at all possible, because everybody's ears are different. You might like your system bright-sounding where others like me lean more toward neutral.

 

[John Roger]

I think my JBLs (esp fronts) sound very bright with my current sony amp.

So can anyone tell me which ones will be good match for JBLs??



Does that mean the Marantz sound bad or just warmer?

 

[Chu Gai]

John, for the forum to tell you which has the better feature set between the two receivers that you're presently considering, and for you to base your decision upon that, may be a sure way of you not getting the receiver that best suits you. I realize, as I'm sure that you do also, that even inexpensive receivers have a lot of bells and whistles and that this complicates your purchasing decision.

Rather than let any of us, or even more disastrous, let a salesperson make up your mind, you need to step back and sit down with paper and pen and work on defining your needs and wants followed by prioritizing them. Ask yourself some basic questions like,

if you're a gamer, do you want all the various games you have...xbox, playstation, etc. run through the receiver?
if so, is the bandwidth of the receiver great enough to handle the resolution of the games and/or dvd?
does the receiver have enough input and output connections for you?
does the receiver have all the decoding capabilities you're looking for?
what's the bass management like? any limitations?
is the fm tuner performance important?
do you need an input for a turntable?
how's the menu navigation?
what about the remote?
any issues with the particular model you're considering?
sufficient power to drive your present speakers?
warranty good?
what's involved if you need it serviced? many a person here has bought a receiver only to find out that service is 400 miles away and they're staring at 2-3 month turn around times.
will your dealer give you a loaner?
what about the DAC's? Looking for 192's or...?
are new models about to be introduced? if so, a little patience might find your unit heavily discounted shortly.
will you be changing your speakers shortly? if so give some thought as to whether you might need slightly different power/impedance requirements.
are you adverse to reconditioned units? accessories4less, onecall, etc. might have something very attractive for you and allow you to get a 'better' (whatever that means) receiver for the money.

That's for starters. A lot of questions that you might have can be answered in the forum FAQs and if you haven't gone there, it's a good place to start. I think you're going to be a much happier camper if you can define your needs and find a product that best meets them. You can always post here to get clarification or to run various thoughts you've got but don't let us make up your thoughts for you. We've all got our personal favorites and regardless of what you buy, there'll be people who have bought your unit or something quite similar that can help you get the most out of it. Don't rush the process. Good prices that are here today will be here tomorrow ('cept fot that killer Polk deal over at Frys!) and 4th of July sales are coming and so are the Labor Day ones.

As far as your speakers being bright, that's a separate issue and has more to do with the specific models you own, where you sit in relation to them, the nature of your room (hard reflective surfaces), if you've calibrated with a test disc and a Radio Shack SPL...etc.

 

[ScottCHI]

chu has spoken

 

[Drew_W]

The Marantz has preouts so you can add external amps to it later, so if you upgrade, chances are you'll get more life out of it. The Yamaha doesn't have this, so its life in your system could be very short.

Depends whether you want to upgrade. But preouts are a *HUGE HUGE HUGE* feature to have, and Marantz knows this and puts them on every model. They get huge praise from me for doing that.

 

[Drew_W]

Oh, by the way, that Marantz is a model year old, the Yamaha is two models year old...in case you didn't know.

 

[John Roger]

Thanks guys, i took the marantz since it was a generation ahead of the yamaha having 6.1.(now i need a good place to put a back speaker).The price was also reasonable.Infact my JBLs were very bright when used with my old sony amp now it sounds better.I think the yamaha would have made it sound bright.

There is a lack of proper bass management in the marantz(xover fixed at 100hz) but i've given "large" for the fronts.So its fine.

Anyway the whole things sounds much better than my previous sony htib amp.And works well with my JBLs.

Ya the pre outs are a good thing too.

No ES/EX without surround back selected.I am looking for a good place to fix a back surround.Any advice?

 

[Drew_W]

You don't *NEED* 6.1 since very few titles actually have the 6th channel track.

 

[Mark C.]

Try setting your speakers to small just to experiment. You might be surprised.

 

[Drew_W]

With a Sony sub crossed over at 100Hz (fixed) ?