Onkyo vs. Marantz (1 Viewer)

[Scott VanAntwer]

I have slowly narrowed down my choice for recievers to the Onkyo txds898 or the Marantz sr8200 and I guess the Denon 3802 is still in the running too. Unfortunatly I don't have the ability to demo either of these products so your comments actually carry some weight. Pros and Cons for each are welcome. Thanks for your input.

Scott

 

[Daniel Martin]

Scott,

For what it's worth, we did a (single) blinded test at home between an Onkyo 696 and Marantz 7200. After all I read about the Marantz being more musical, I really expected we would hear a difference. Playing with them before the test, I had already selected a winner... it was so clear to me.

But... during the blinded test, we couldn't tell them apart reliably! (Test procedure: calibrated, stereo mode on paradigms studio 40's, 3 music segments of ~1 minute each, 10 try per segment, receivers disconnected then randomly reconnected, rating sound from 1 to 10).

From this, I learned that you absolutely need to listen to receivers and compare them in your environment. Everyone will have opinions about which receiver they prefer, but only you can decide with your ears.

Considering the amount of money you will be investing in one of those high end receivers, I would personnaly just buy them from local dealers with a no question ask return policy and compare them at home. Keep the winner and enjoy your home theater!

Daniel.

 

[EricHaas]

You might consider, in addition to what your ear tells you (always good advice), that the Marantz x200 line is reputed to have various problems, including especially an audible pop or click when the mute circuit is engaged (e.g. between tracks). There are other problems, but this latter problem seems to afflict the majority of units out there. Personally, I'd steer clear of the line, even though it has a great price/features ratio, especially in its lower end. There are numerous threads about it around here, including one I started recently called "Marantz receivers." You might consider the Denon 3802 and the Yamaha rx-v2200 alongside the Onkyo.

 

[Steve K.H.]

I tried to bump the Marantz thread, but it must be in the old format cuz it won't work.
Anyway, I'm between the 898 and the 8200 as well. I can get each for a great price, and within $100 from one to the other.
The 200 series supposedly has popping and blanking out problems. I don't know at this time if this is isolated to a few of the units, if it is on all the units or if it was on all the units and can be fixxed with a software upgrade.
Which brings us to a key point. The Onkyo TXDS 898 does NOT allow for software upgrades. Once you buy it, your stuck with the tech built in.
Point Two. Go to your dealer and listen to DPL2 and then have them switch to Circle Surround 5. This is pushing me over to the SR8200... With Digital Cable, and the inordinate widening of sound Circle Surround, it's a perfect fit.
Point Three. A touch screen, backlit, programmable remote. Some hate it, some love it. The Onkyo remote is dated.
Anyone else with thoughts?

 

[Troy LaMont]

During my receiver shopping experiences I tended to stay with the Onkyo line for sound. I also am one who likes their ease of set up and loads of features. Denon was a very close second.

Steve,

IMO, I don't think the Onkyo remote is at all dated. It's fully programmable and allows you to control up to 7 componentes including macros. I use this same remote in my HT and it works great.

Troy

 

[ChrisAG]

Scott, Eric,
Marantz repair reps say these problems have been fixed. See my other post for details.
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=41111

 

[Dennis B]

Scott,

While it's true several X200s had problems, mine hasn't and I can't say enough good things about the Marantz sound. If I were to sum it up in one word, I guess it would be 'addicting'.

Good luck,

 

[Pete Jennings]

"Addicting" is the perfect description of the sound of the Marantz line. After having a SR-7200 for one week, and then switching back to a Pioneer Elite while a SR-8200 was being shipped, I realized I was hooked. It sounded so good with my B&W 600 series 2 speakers! Despite all the problems I had with the SR-7200 I had to try the SR-8200. I am glad I did.

Pete

 

[Jacy Legault]

I have both receivers sitting at home for comparison. Note: these comments come after spending just a couple days with both receivers. I am not trying to compare specs and features that are advertised. I am not an expert and this is not a comprehensive and objective comparison.

Items of Note on the Marantz:

The Bad:

1) Large Speaker mode disables bass management

2) Remote is essentially the very flawed Phillips Neo, I can't get it to learn most of my other remotes - but I don't care, I have a Pronto. It also does not have a preprogrammed database, so it is essentially useless and cumbersome to use. Look in the RC3200 remote central forum and you will get a glimpse of everyone’s pain. There is no software available for this remote yet.

3) Remote is 2-way, and much of the valuable data it displays by polling the receiver does not appear on the on screen display – so those of you with a remote location setup (I have mine in a closet up stairs) will be wondering what the heck is going on sometimes

3) Very difficult to find at a good price, and marantz seems to be very diligent on validating where you got the receiver from for warranty work. I ended up paying $1500 including tax – not the $1100 you can get them oneline for, but I did not have a lot of choice in dealers, there is only one in Austin.

4) Weak(er) Internal Design. I took all my receivers apart to see how these things are built. I am not an electrical engineering, so take my comments with a grain of salt. The power supply in the marantz was smaller than my Denon AVR3600, 3300, and the 898. It is rated at 3.6amps, vs, 7+ for the others. The internal fuse was also smaller, at 10amps, vs 11+ for the others. The power transistors were also smaller in size, about ½ the physical size of the others, and about 1/10 the size of the ones in my Sony 9000ES amp. The layout was clean and modular. I don’t know if this has an impact on sound quality, but it almost certainly will have an impact on the power output compared to the other receivers.

5) No On screen display of volume in DB, just a bar.

6) Only 6 channels of power

The Good:

1)Menu system is cleaner

2)Display on the unit is more informative

3)External build quality seems higher (binding posts, front facia)

4)Seems to Sound better though this is most likely due to the way the unit is setup to play “stock”. I did not fiddle much with the DSP and tone controls.

5)Easy to switch between Multiroom speaker and 7.1 surround modes.

6)Capacitors are larger by about 30,000 than the 898.

7)UPGRADABLE!!! In this day and age of new formats every 3 months, this is good to have on a $1.5K receiver.

8)RS232 Interface for home automation

9)SRS 8 channel Surround modes are cool

Items of Note on the Onkyo:

The Bad

1)The Onkyo makes it VERY difficult to use the receiver as a Multiroom amp, plus an 8 channel receiver, even if you have outboard amps for the theater.

2)Menu background cannot be black, (very bright red, green, blue only)

3)Cheap external and internal construction

4)Also a poor remote, very large and too many buttons visible.

5)Not upgradeable

The Good

1)Looks like more power (but I don’t really care)

2)Video/Audio sync – very useful for people with video scalar issues

3)More choices for merchants. Should be able to gets this for $1000 and still have a warranty.

4)Good onscreen display

5)7 Channels of power (that I will never use because of the Multiroom problem)

6)More digital inputs (8 vs. 7) and outputs (2 vs 1) than the Marantz

I favor the marantz over the onkyo for its superior multiroom setup and upgradability. It's a good things because the place here in Austin that I purchased it from does not allow auditions of Marantz products.....very strange for high end gear. I hope they do something about the remote. I am still toying with the idea of getting the Denon 4802 -after seeing the guts of both of these receivers I feel my money is not being spent on component and hardware design quality. These boys are feature heavy, and I’m afraid that this may be coming at the expense of quality.

Side Note: PLEASE someone make a receiver at a fair price that can play digital signals in the other zones!!

If anyone has any questions let me know.

 

[Thomas_Berg]

the Marantz x200 line is reputed to have various problems

i believe the 8200 did not have these problems. if i remember correctly, only the lower models (7200 and below) had the issues regarding audio dropouts. another thing to note is that my local dealer has not experienced any problems at all with ANY of the new Marantz products.

 

[Scott Hayes]

I have the Marantz 6200, wish I had the 8200. I was able to bring the Marantz home as well as the comprable Onkyo,cant remember the model number though. I thought the sound was much more refined from the Marantz. I listen to alot of music and to my ears the sound was more precise with the marantz. I have had it since June and have had no problems with it.

 

[Steve K.H.]

Jacy, nice post...

 

[Troy LaMont]

Jacy,

3) Cheap external and internal construction

Not sure where this is coming from, but Onkyo has never been known to built cheap quality components. Check the reviews both professional and non-professional.

Troy

 

[Jacy Legault]

That's "relative" and subjective - Compared to the other components I took apart (AVR3300, AVR3600, 9000ES, and SR8200). I wish I had not lost my digital Camera, I could have shown pictures.