Alternatives to the Marantz AV8805?

[lovinthehd]

It isn't just a president who arranges such....it's a team effort. Good ol' Tricky D*ck led the way, tho.

 

[70sMac]

Sure, but the president I'm thinking of went against the basic tenets of his own party by promoting the biggest pro-business legislation I've seen in my lifetime (twice)...but, regardless of who fought for it, the result was the same. China: Infinity USA: 0 ...so back to our regularly scheduled programming...

 

[Trell]

Sure, but the president I'm thinking of went against the basic tenets of his own party by promoting the biggest pro-business legislation I've seen in my lifetime (twice)...but, regardless of who fought for it, the result was the same. China: Infinity USA: 0 ...so back to our regularly scheduled programming...

USA is not alone in moving manufacturing to low cost countries (i.e. bare subsistence level of wages, sweat shops) where China is just one of many, though dominant. Large swaths of European manufacture (including textiles) moved abroad as well, but Germany managed to keep at least substantial parts of it inside EU.

President Trump actually had some good opportunities to counter China, but then he went on to tariff the whole world, royally piss of very long-time allies, as well as withdrawing from Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). I think that withdrawing from TPP was the worst action, long term, for countering China.

Edit: Don't forget that China is a very brutal dictatorship that have no qualms about putting more than a million Uyghurs (about 10% of the population in that area) in concentration camps in an attempt at cultural genocide, along with forced female sterilization.

Probably this line of posts are better made in the Steam Vent.

 

[70sMac]

I was merely discussing the concept of US brands using foreign components in their audio gear...didn't mean to bring any president's names into this. By the way, I spent several years overseas on active duty, so please pardon me if I'm a bit dubious about foreign affairs lessons on an audio forum. Like I said..Now Back to our Regularly Scheduled Programming...

 

[DJ7675]

I've been a member of another A/V/D forum for a couple of years and have received a lot of helpful posts to consider, but I'm beginning to think that, when it comes to reasonably-priced AVPs, I'm not exactly on their "higher" audio plane. That's not a knock against said other forum, I just think that their tastes are a bit more on the ultra-expensive side -- especially when it comes to stereo audio -- so I'm not getting a lot of input there when it comes to AVPs.

Nevertheless, I have received several recommendations for the Marantz AVPs and, specifically, the AV8805 and the AV7705. Earlier today, I received a vote -- from a guy I believe knows his stuff -- for the Anthem AVM60.

As we're presently in a new house, we've been researching everything necessary to set up a [modest] 5.1 surround system in a room that has been designated for that purpose. As long time Mac stereo equipment owners, we plan to continue using our Mac MX-130 Pre-Pro with our Mac MC-300 power amp for stereo listening, but we need a new "control center" to continue our A/V room planning around. We've also owned B&W 800-series speakers for many years, and have recently added a new B&W HTM3S as our fifth (center) speaker. Although it might seem strange to some that we're coming from Mac and B&W -- and are presently looking for a "reasonable" AVP -- I can assure you that the "Mac or nothing" days are well behind us. We're simply too old to keep up with that kind of nonsense; hence, the reason I'm here.

We will be using our old B&W 802s as fronts and our old B&W 805s as rears in our humble 5.1 system. We own an Oppo 105D player for a DAC, which presently feeds its audio output to our Mac MX-130. In closing, we are short an AVP and a multichannel amp...but I think that it's wise to make a decision on an AVP before going down the power amp path, so If anyone has thoughts on the Marantz or the Anthem AVP(s) I mentioned -- or other competitive brands/models -- I'd really love to read it.

Thanks for your time

Lot’s of good comments here. But for my money, skip the AVP route and the the Denon x8500. Use the internal amps for the less important channels and add a 3 or 5 channel amp for the L/C/R. Even though it is an AVR, it beats both the 7705 and 8805 processors. In addition you can disconnect individual channels to get the best performance as well. It is the only AVR in the Denon/Marantz with this feature. In addition if you want to go 13 channels, you have that too as well as many other useful features. It can be had for $3k open box with full warranty from authorized dealers. It just seems like a much better value with 13 amps but you can add external amps of course if you need them, The only thing you would be giving up is XLR. But if you don’t have long runs or issues with ground loops I doubt would be an issue. Pair this with a monoprice monolith 5 channel amp or ATI NCXXX amp you have a very high performing system.

 

[70sMac]

Lot’s of good comments here. But for my money, skip the AVP route and the the Denon x8500. Use the internal amps for the less important channels and add a 3 or 5 channel amp for the L/C/R. Even though it is an AVR, it beats both the 7705 and 8805 processors. In addition you can disconnect individual channels to get the best performance as well. It is the only AVR in the Denon/Marantz with this feature. In addition if you want to go 13 channels, you have that too as well as many other useful features. It can be had for $3k open box with full warranty from authorized dealers. It just seems like a much better value with 13 amps but you can add external amps of course if you need them, The only thing you would be giving up is XLR. But if you don’t have long runs or issues with ground loops I doubt would be an issue. Pair this with a monoprice monolith 5 channel amp or ATI NCXXX amp you have a very high performing system.

I'm assuming that you meant to write "...get the Denon x8500" at the end of the first sentence, DJ.

Okay, so it's been a while since anyone made a specific suggestion, so good on ya, mate! Am I understanding you correctly? Is the unique value of this particular Denon AVR the feature that allows one to "...disconnect individual channels..." ? I'm used to balanced interconnections, but I will definitely give this AVR a good hard look. Great post!

 

[DJ7675]

I'm assuming the you meant to write "...get the Denon x8500" at the end of the first sentence, DJ.

Okay, so it's been a while since anyone made a specific suggestion, so good on ya, mate! Am I understanding you correctly? Is the unique value of this particular Denon AVR the feature that allows one to "...disconnect individual channels..." ? I'm used to balanced interconnections, but I will definitely give this AVR a good hard look. Great post!

Very welcome and thanks reading through my typo... yes it should be “get”.Besides the balanced connections I can’t see any reason to get either the 7705 or 8805 vs the Denon 8500. Good luck with your search.
Edit: You might consider the Monoprice HTP1. It is a 16 channel unit with Dirac. It seems to be more solid than others running Dirac on the AVP side of things.