Pick a receiver? Marantz SR6300 vs. Pioneer Elite VSX-92TXH

[Hao]

I currently run a Marantz SR6300 with a pair of B&W DM601s. I only listen to stereo for music, no HT stuff.

I came across (separately, interestingly enough) a Pioneer Elite VSX-92TXH receiver and a pair of B&W 705s s1, both in mint condition.

Music I love listening to: Jazz, alt-rock, raggae...

Question: Which receiver is the better of the two to drive stereo music listening?

Question 1b: Is there a 4-speaker setup for music I should be aware of? I was just going to pair the DM601s with the lesser-of-the-two receiver and use it in my bedroom.

Thanks all.

 

[lovinthehd]

More equal than anything, if anything I'd wait for a better speaker upgrade but I'm not a particular fan of B&W either. There are quad recordings from old vinyl issues, now available sometimes on optical disc. I'd stick to just a pair of speakers in each room unless you want to use the surround features of an avr.

 

[DBA16S]

Hao. If you only use it for stereo music...why don't you go for a good stereo amplifier? Much better quality for even less money

Regards

 

[lovinthehd]

Hao. If you only use it for stereo music...why don't you go for a good stereo amplifier? Much better quality for even less money

Regards

Are you referring to adding a power amp? Or an integrated amp? If the latter how does that figure?

 

[Hao]

Are you referring to adding a power amp? Or an integrated amp? If the latter how does that figure?

interested to know as well. What is something you'd recommend? Is there an integrated preamp+amp, or are you talking about separates?

 

[lovinthehd]

interested to know as well. What is something you'd recommend? Is there an integrated preamp+amp, or are you talking about separates?

You already have an integrated pre-amp & amp in your receiver , either of them. You might consider a power amp if you feel your receivers' amp sections is inadequate I suppose, they both have pre-outs for such.

I was wondering what particular gear the other guy was referring to myself, tho....

 

[DBA16S]

What I meant is that if you only listen to stereo, and you do not use multichannel, why do you use an multichannle AVR instead of a stereo integrated amp from Marantz, Denon, Yamaha or so on?. You can have a much better quality for less money. Sometime since my last amp (an old Onkyo) but I've read good things about Marantz PM6006 and Denon DRA-800H. You have also good stuff from NAD or Cambridge Audio.

Other posiibility, if you want multichannel for films or TV and good quality for music is to have a multichannel AVR and add an integrated stereo (connected to preout) for front speakers and use it for your music sources as vinyl or CD in stereo.

 

[TLS Guy]

Those B & W 700 series speakers are a very difficult load. There is no receiver that can drive them safely.

 

[PENG]

Those B & W 700 series speakers are a very difficult load. There is no receiver that can drive them safely.

You are making unfounded blanket statement again?

To the OP, pleas try this Calculator to see if the Marantz or Pioneer can do the job for you. It depends heavily on:
- seating distance
- the individual's spl requirement from the main seat

I would agree the 705, is not the easiest speaker to drive but I don't see it being too difficult either compared to many speakers that can be powered with AVRs depending on the conditions listed above, and of all people I am sure you know that very well.

Also, regardless of the OP's spl requirement, say he need two Mc1.25KW McIntosh mono blocks, the safety you need to worry about it not really the amp but the speaker itself. On the other hand, if he listens to even just 10 dB below reference that is still loud for a lot of people, and sits 10 ft from the 705s, then even an AVR such as the 130 W rated Pioneer can drive those speakers adequately, based on an extremely conservative 130 W into 8 ohms and 65 W into 4 ohms capability.

B&W 705 specs:

B&W 705 loudspeaker Specifications | Stereophile.com

Sidebar 1: Specifications Description: Two-way, reflex-loaded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" (25mm) aluminum-alloy dome tweeter, 6.5" (165mm) woven-Kevlar cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 3.7kHz. Frequency response: 46Hz-25kHz, ±3dB; -6dB at 43Hz & 50kHz. Sensitivity: 89dB/2.83V/m...

www.stereophile.com

Sensitivity: 89 dB/2.83V/m
Power handling: 50-120W

Impedance/Phase angle vs frequency:

 

[slipperybidness]

That Pio model is getting loooong in the tooth, right?

By my memory, I think my Elite vsx82 was the step-down model from the 92. I think the big difference on the 92 was some networking ability that was fairly new and not very common back when that released.

So, why look for an older AVR??? New AVR = new features and modern decoding.

With that being said, the 82 is a beast! It has seen many hours of daily service for 14 years now. I would assume the 92 is also a beast of an AVR!