Streamer and cable recommendation for my Marantz PM-6007

[Will Brink]

ok i may be wrong to think that way.
so u mean if i take coax out from the streamer then the dac of that streamer wud also cm into the scene..is it wat u meant?
Assuming that u were referring to wat i have said above...no i dont want the dac of the streamer colouring the music any way.i intend just to use the dac on the marantz PM6007.but for that i have to use either the coax in or opt in on the marantz PM6007 rt?!thats why i wanted a coax out from streamer to connect to the opt in on my marantz.

I'm unclear why you feel the DAC/implementation in the PM6007 will be less coloured than that of the NA6006. I have not looked at the PM6007, so I can't say. Nice to try both and see which you like most, I agree there.

Sending digital signal to a unit (integrated, etc), that units DAC does the D2A work.

Using RCA from unit, DAC inside unit does the D2A and sends analog signal.

Say you have an old streamer and you just purchased a new pre amp that's got latest greatest DACs (that's another topic as to what audible differences exist but...) and higher end/better implementation of the DAC and you wanna use that units DAC, use coax or optical.

Have a good quality/new streamer, use RCA.

Here's my review of the NA6006 if interested:

 

[sand87]

You want a coax out on a streamer for an optical input on the integrated amp? You plan on converting them in between? Seems either a coax out or the optical out on the streamer would work....

nope coax out from streamer to coax in on the marantz pm 6007

 

[sand87]

The Q is, are you trying to intentionally bipass the DAC in the unit using coax? If so, why? The NA6006 seems a well designed product all around for the $, uses quality SABRE DACs, and implemented well from what I can gather not being an expert on the topic. Use RCA, enjoy the music, done.

well i am deciding btw the yamaha wxc-50 and arylic s50pro.though i guess both have sabres i dont want to use it.just want to use the marantz dac

 

[Will Brink]

well i am deciding btw the yamaha wxc-50 and arylic s50pro.though i guess both have sabres i dont want to use it.just want to use the marantz dac

I think if your plan for sure is to use the DAC in the PM6007, then something like that arylic s50pro might be a good choice. I have one in my budget system, and it works well. That would save some $. My short review of the arylic s50pro:

 

[lovinthehd]

nope coax out from streamer to coax in on the marantz pm 6007

But you said...... "thats why i wanted a coax out from streamer to connect to the opt in on my marantz.".

OTOH it's trivial either way of digital connection or analog connection, but multiple options are nice.

 

[highfigh]

You want a coax out on a streamer for an optical input on the integrated amp? You plan on converting them in between? Seems either a coax out or the optical out on the streamer would work....

Unless the other digital input(s) have been used. Converters work and they aren't terribly expensive- I have used them many times without problems.

 

[highfigh]

well i am deciding btw the yamaha wxc-50 and arylic s50pro.though i guess both have sabres i dont want to use it.just want to use the marantz dac

There's nothing wrong with the Yamaha's DAC- I use a WXC-50 as my preamp and I have no complaints about the sound. OTOH, I don't obsess over it.

 

[sand87]

But you said...... "thats why i wanted a coax out from streamer to connect to the opt in on my marantz.".

OTOH it's trivial either way of digital connection or analog connection, but multiple options are nice.

sorry i meant coax in...not opt in .my bad

 

[sand87]

There's nothing wrong with the Yamaha's DAC- I use a WXC-50 as my preamp and I have no complaints about the sound. OTOH, I don't obsess over it.

seems like i too have to go with the yamahas because the arylic S50pro has no support or service in india.the site diyaudiocart that sells it was very clear abt this part that once its sold am on my own

 

[sand87]

I think if your plan for sure is to use the DAC in the PM6007, then something like that arylic s50pro might be a good choice. I have one in my budget system, and it works well. That would save some $. My short review of the arylic s50pro:

the price and the spec seemed enticing.but sadly no support or service available for this in india.rang up the seller and he was very clear abt the part that once its sold hes done with it.theres no service.u r on ur own

 

[pcosmic]

There's nothing wrong with the Yamaha's DAC- I use a WXC-50 as my preamp and I have no complaints about the sound. OTOH, I don't obsess over it.

The WXC-50 is designed (design intent) is to be a streamer transport only. It is extremely feature rich for everything it offers and can be often picked up on sale for 200 bucks, a.k.a best bang for the buck streamer transport. But, the DAC on it not good. If you run its optical out or digital coax out into something (a.k.a use it as a transport only) as affordable as even a Topping E30 priced at 140 bucks, you could notice a fairly significant improvement in sound.

OP could run the WXC 50's optical out into the Marantz unit if he likes the Marantz's DAC.

 

[lovinthehd]

sorry i meant coax in...not opt in .my bad

I think perhaps you're overthinking things too.....it's driving you nuts!

 

[highfigh]

The WXC-50 is designed (design intent) is to be a streamer transport only. It is extremely feature rich for everything it offers and can be often picked up on sale for 200 bucks, a.k.a best bang for the buck streamer transport. But, the DAC on it not good. If you run its optical out or digital coax out into something (a.k.a use it as a transport only) as affordable as even a Topping E30 priced at 140 bucks, you could notice a fairly significant improvement in sound.

OP could run the WXC 50's optical out into the Marantz unit if he likes the Marantz's DAC.

Where did you get your info about their design intent? If they only meant it to be a transport, they wouldn't have included a preamp mode, for connecting it to a power amp. It's on page 13 of the manual-

https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/6/805546/web_WXC-50_Advanced_om_UCABGLV_En.pdf

What DAC is in it? I'm not seeing any info, while I look for it. How bad is it?

Where are you seeing it priced at $200?

 

[PENG]

the price and the spec seemed enticing.but sadly no support or service available for this in india.rang up the seller and he was very clear abt the part that once its sold hes done with it.theres no service.u r on ur own

Hello Sand87, I think this is a tough one, there just aren't many streamer boxes that does not have a built in DAC. After doing some search, I came across one that may do the job, but it won't be cheap.
PI2AES - PRO AUDIO SHIELD - Pi2 Design

Honestly, unless you have highly efficient speakers, in a small room and don't listen loud, you could have done better with something like the Yamaha WXC-50 and a two channel power amp, or just the WXA-50. The PM6007 offers only 45 W, no pre outs, no bass management at all, but at least price seems reasonable and a slightly better DAC chip, but the chip itself is most likely not the bottleneck for such an integrated amp. The Yamaha WXA-50 measured very well on the ASR test bench, better than any Marantz products measured so far, including the Marantz HD-AMP1.

Marantz HD-AMP1 DAC and Integrated Amplifier | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
Review and Measurements of Yamaha WXA-50 Streaming Amp | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum

Sorry if it sounds outrageous, but my honest opinion is that if your PM6007 is still within the return window, you may want to consider the WXA-50 as a viable option. For under US$500, I have yet to see any better value in this category.

 

[pcosmic]

Where did you get your info about their design intent? If they only meant it to be a transport, they wouldn't have included a preamp mode, for connecting it to a power amp. It's on page 13 of the manual-

https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/6/805546/web_WXC-50_Advanced_om_UCABGLV_En.pdf

What DAC is in it? I'm not seeing any info, while I look for it. How bad is it?

Where are you seeing it priced at $200?

Many standalone Dacs come with a preamp mode too (and they can be used that way, but, it doesn't meant it's the primary design intent)... In fact, they tend to sound better in pure DAC mode (preamp disabled). If you have a integrated amp like the Yam A-S801, A-S1200, A-S2200 etc, it would be a poor assumption to think that the "preamp" on the WXC-50 can keep up with the preamp sections on these integrated amps.

Yammy does make some very good sounding DACs..aka the DACs in their higher priced CD players (CD-S1000, CD-S2100, higher end aventage receivers, etc). But, the WXC 50 isn't one of them. There's only so much you can do at that price point. But, there is no better bang for the buck streamer transport than the WXC 50 period. In fact, i even use it in my reference setup WXC50 ---> Denfrips Venus Dac ---> Luxman amps/TAD speakers ( a 200 dollar transport paired with other $$$$$ components..it is that good).

You wouldn't need a separate DAC with something like the Technics ST-C700 streamer because the DAC implementation on it is reallly good. That model is trickle down from their $$$$ reference gear. But, the ST-C700 also costs a 1000ish bucks (not exactly cheap).

Almost always, it is cheaper to get a cheap streamer transport or CD transport and pair it with a relatively affordable standalone DAC for good sound. When you put them both (transport and DAC) in the same box, the price almost always gets higher to get to the same sound quality of the former. Hope that makes sense.


Amazon had the WXC 50 on sale for 200 bucks when i bought it. I bought 2 of them.

 

[highfigh]

Many standalone Dacs come with a preamp mode too (and they can be used that way, but, it doesn't meant it's the primary design intent)... In fact, they tend to sound better in pure DAC mode (preamp disabled). If you have a integrated amp like the Yam A-S801, A-S1200, A-S2200 etc, it would be a poor assumption to think that the "preamp" on the WXC-50 can keep up with the preamp sections on these integrated amps.

Yammy does make some very good sounding DACs..aka the DACs in their higher priced CD players (CD-S1000, CD-S2100, higher end aventage receivers, etc). But, the WXC 50 isn't one of them. There's only so much you can do at that price point. But, there is no better bang for the buck streamer transport than the WXC 50 period. In fact, i even use it in my reference setup WXC50 ---> Denfrips Venus Dac ---> Luxman amps/TAD speakers ( a 200 dollar transport paired with other $$$$$ components..it is that good).

You wouldn't need a separate DAC with something like the Technics ST-C700 streamer because the DAC implementation on it is reallly good. That model is trickle down from their $$$$ reference gear. But, the ST-C700 also costs a 1000ish bucks (not exactly cheap).

Almost always, it is cheaper to get a cheap streamer transport or CD transport and pair it with a relatively affordable standalone DAC for good sound. When you put them both (transport and DAC) in the same box, the price almost always gets higher to get to the same sound quality of the former. Hope that makes sense.


Amazon had the WXC 50 on sale for 200 bucks when i bought it. I bought 2 of them.

Again, for the millionth time, if there's nothing to compare with, a DAC works just fine. Defining the differences is almost impossible without comparison and if someone wanted to spend $1000, they would. I don't.

You didn't answer my question about which DAC is in the Yamaha.

 

[pcosmic]

Again, for the millionth time, if there's nothing to compare with, a DAC works just fine. Defining the differences is almost impossible without comparison and if someone wanted to spend $1000, they would. I don't.

You didn't answer my question about which DAC is in the Yamaha.

The WXC 50 uses 2 DAC chips, a BurrBrown PCM5101 chip for the optical input/source and a ESS Sabre 9006 chip for all the other sources (NAS, USB input, musiccast, etc).

You are right for the millionth time. If there is nothing to compare with or if one didn't audit something that sounded better, one could be happy with the WXC50's DAC implementation. The stuff i mentioned (Topping, Technics, Denafrips, etc) was from the comparisons i made. If one's speakers/other components are not very resolving, it is a waste to throw any money at a DAC.

 

[PENG]

Again, for the millionth time, if there's nothing to compare with, a DAC works just fine. Defining the differences is almost impossible without comparison and if someone wanted to spend $1000, they would. I don't.

You didn't answer my question about which DAC is in the Yamaha.

I can tell you it is the ES9006, by ESS Technology Inc. The AK4490 is 10 dB lower in THD+N, DNR are the same for both. Regardless, based on specs and available measurements, it is highly unlikely that either one would be the weak link relative to the power amps, and even the HDAMs in the Marantz.

As for the claims about one sounding better than the other, we cannot dispute such claims because it is subjective. People are entitled to their opinions.

 

[pcosmic]

I can tell you it is the ES9006, by ESS Technology Inc. The AK4490 is 10 dB lower in THD+N, DNR are the same for both. Regardless, based on specs and available measurements, it is highly unlikely that either one would be the weak link relative to the power amps, and even the HDAMs in the Marantz.

As for the claims about one sounding better than the other, we cannot dispute such claims because it is subjective. People are entitled to their opinions.

The specs on a chip mean very little if you don't factor in the quality of the power supply/isolation, output stages, etc...for a DAC.
I use a $$$$ R2R Dac in my reference setup and it won't measure as great by virtue of the R2R topology. But, if you claim that some crappy chip DAC sounds better because it measured better on a set of limited measurements you took, well, that could be just your opinion. We could prove things like these be securing you to a polygraph and administering a set of blind tests. Polygraph is very essential to cut through the indoctrination embedded in some test subjects.

 

[highfigh]

I can tell you it is the ES9006, by ESS Technology Inc. The AK4490 is 10 dB lower in THD+N, DNR are the same for both. Regardless, based on specs and available measurements, it is highly unlikely that either one would be the weak link relative to the power amps, and even the HDAMs in the Marantz.

As for the claims about one sounding better than the other, we cannot dispute such claims because it is subjective. People are entitled to their opinions.

How easy is it to hear the 10dB difference when the furnace is blowing, the fridge compressor and fan are operating or ears ring? ALL of these will mask it, as does the music. The S/N spec is pretty good- anything over 90dB will be indistinguishable between devices in a normal room, IMO.

I find it hard to call it the 'weak link' when it's better than ANYTHING that was available ten years ago. How did we ever put up with that crap?