Marantz NR1509/1609 Slimline AV Receivers Aren't Slim on Features

[PENG]

I know what you're saying, and I agree, but I don't think that's what we're seeing. For example, my wife is currently binge-watching NCIS, and she's in season 9, which I think pre-dates 4K TV source material availability, and she noticed a substantial difference. While I'm not a fan of speculation on technical matters, if I had to guess at the reason for the surprising visual differences I would say there are strategies Netflix could be using to justify that extra $60/year. For example, they might have more 4K rendered material than we would have guessed. Or Netflix might have very effective upscaling software for HD material, and 4K subscribers are literally getting a different bit stream all of the time.

We don't have any 4K Blurays yet. Comcast is not supporting 4K for any of its own streaming content yet. Amazon Prime has some 4K content, but I haven't tested Prime yet to see if we get an effect similar to that as from Netflix. Since we have a Roku box, I'll also be checking the Roku Channel. I'll post some results soon.

That makes a lot of sense to me.. Thanks.

 

[PENG]

Nice, the cynic in me speculates that they might "dumb down" the regular feed so the 4K feed looks better (when 4K would not actually change the perceived appearance).
BTW, did turning on ECO mode get the AVR into the same temperature range as the Outlaw 975, or does it still run hotter? I'd guess it runs hotter since there is more processing going on.

I bet it will be close, a bigger box means more room to breathe, that should compensate for the little heat produced by the idling power amp section being at lowered rail voltage, but I am interested in irv's measurements too if you can convince him to do it.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Nice, the cynic in me speculates that they might "dumb down" the regular feed so the 4K feed looks better (when 4K would not actually change the perceived appearance).
BTW, did turning on ECO mode get the AVR into the same temperature range as the Outlaw 975, or does it still run hotter? I'd guess it runs hotter since there is more processing going on.

I understand the skepticism. Since I wasn't expecting such a dramatic difference either, my first reaction was something like: WTF?

I haven't tested the temperature of the Marantz after a few hours of operation since enabling the ECO mode, but it has a nifty little graphical display that told me I'm now saving more energy. The Outlaw didn't really put out any heat; as you can see from Outlaw's photos on their web site it's unvented. If I remember I'll stick my hand on the Marantz when I think of it. I'm sorry, @PENG, I haven't yet spent $15 on an infrared thermometer (you would think a car guy would have one),so I can't do measurements at this time.

 

[Irvrobinson]

That makes a lot of sense to me.. Thanks.

Earlier today I did a few other tests. It turns out the Roku unit has what is essentially a 4K search channel, and it points you to 4K content on other channels. Most of the search results were on Amazon for rentals, and I wasn't in the mood to pay for the test. I did find that Amazon's Bosch series was streamed at 2160p, and since I like that series anyway I watched a bit. The results versus HD were much closer to what I expected from 4K. Frankly, it made the Bosch episode look like the quality I get from a standard Bluray disc; better than an HD stream but not totally different. I did notice that motion seemed substantially smoother than we're used to on an HD stream, but that's not very scientific either. What I can say is that an Amazon 4K stream seems to be noticeably better than an Amazon HD stream.

What Netflix is doing is still mystery to me, but our sample space so far is very small. Perhaps we just happened to choose some highly reprocessed material.

Whatever. I'm pleasantly surprised that we're seeing a noticeable improvement from 4K. I'm thinking of starting a 4K versus HD thread to have a more general discussion, and get the views of others.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I bet it will be close, a bigger box means more room to breathe, that should compensate for the little heat produced by the idling power amp section being at lowered rail voltage, but I am interested in irv's measurements too if you can convince him to do it.

I felt the top of the Marantz after about four hours of operation last night. ECO mode is engaged. The Marantz definitely runs warmer than the Outlaw did, but it's not annoying in any way, like my old Benchmark Media DAC1 HDR was. (The DAC3 is a lot better, and has a sleep mode. The DAC1 just sat there and cooked 24/7.) The Marantz also has a sleep mode, and given our average duty cycle is relatively short, I think that's what is really important.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I felt the top of the Marantz after about four hours of operation last night. ECO mode is engaged. The Marantz definitely runs warmer than the Outlaw did, but it's not annoying in any way...

It was warmer here today, and the room temperature hit 76F. In the equipment cabinet, which is vented but does not have fans, the Marantz was definitely hot. I would estimate at least 90F. There's about three inches of space above it. Perhaps I need to get one of those fans ADTG touts.