Marantz av10 vs anthem 90

[Klipschoholic]

Hello, can anyone give me any insight on which of these processors have better sound quality?
Thank you

 

[lovinthehd]

The sound quality differences will lie with different implementation of dsp/room eq, which is largely going to be personal preference. Do you prefer the dsp options or flexibility in one vs the other?

 

[Klipschoholic]

The sound quality differences will lie with different implementation of dsp/room eq, which is largely going to be personal preference. Do you prefer the dsp options or flexibility in one vs the other?

If I wasn't to use room eq at all just straight out of the box wonder which one would give me a better sound. I'm interested in the av10 more as it allows me to run some lfe in all of my lcr towers and surround towers and choose the db of that. They are so close in functions though so to me it comes down to sound quality.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

If I wasn't to use room eq at all just straight out of the box wonder which one would give me a better sound. I'm interested in the av10 more as it allows me to run some lfe in all of my lcr towers and surround towers and choose the db of that. They are so close in functions though so to me it comes down to sound quality.

In Pure Direct Mode without any kind of EQ/DSP and using the exact volume, they would sound equally great.

In terms of measurements, I don’t think anyone has measured the AVM90, but the AVM70 has a SINAD of 99dB (THD+N 0.001%).

The Marantz AV10 has a SINAD of 106dB to 108dB (THD+N 0.0003%).

So both have great measurements and both will sound equally great.

I would compare other things like features, bugs, customer support, etc.

 

[Klipschoholic]

In Pure Direct Mode without any kind of EQ/DSP and using the exact volume, they would sound equally great.

In terms of measurements, I don’t think anyone has measured the AVM90, but the AVM70 has a SINAD of 99dB (THD+N 0.001%).

The Marantz AV10 has a SINAD of 106dB to 108dB (THD+N 0.0003%).

So both have great measurements and both will sound equally great.

I would compare other things like features, bugs, customer support, etc.

Yeah to me on paper I was leaning towards the Marantz. I know you guys are avid members on here. Do you have a preference between the two? I'm betting you guys have done deeper digging between the two.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Yeah to me on paper I was leaning towards the Marantz. I know you guys are avid members on here. Do you have a preference between the two? I'm betting you guys have done deeper digging between the two.

I’m a Yamaha guy. Yamaha is the biggest audio company in the whole wide world.

But in general, since all these high-end AVP sound equally great when they are setup optimally, I would look at other things.

In general, much bigger companies like Masimo (Marantz/Denon), Sony, and Yamaha will have much more money for research, development, and continued support. Thus, products from much bigger companies will have less bugs/issues than products from smaller companies.

Before spending this much money, I would do a lot of research. A lot. Leave no stone unturned.

Have you made a list of factors that are salient to you?

 

[Cos]

To reiterate what has already been said, as far as sound quality is concerned 99 vs 106 SINAD, I doubt very highly you would be have to tell the difference. (AVM90 not tested yet)

My opinion, you might be best served with the Marantz if debating the two. They are pretty evenly equally matched and I would be surprised if you could hear the difference between the two all things being equal. That being said, I would demo the heck out of both before I spent that much

Why Marantz:

• Slightly lower price point
• If you want DTS:X Pro
• More options for room correction Audyssey MultEQ XT32 w/ option to upgrade to Full DIRAC
• Easier learning curve than the Anthem ARC Genesis, ARC works great for me, but requires a lot more tweaking and it's debatable if Audyssey or Dirac are better The general consensus seems to be that they are from people on this site who have tested much more extensively than me. I have also had issues with my subs and ARC Genesis
• Should be less buggy, Anthem was plagued at the launch of the AVM70, but finding it now to be 99% bug free would assume the same for the AVM90
• On screen display vs using an App on tablet or Laptop (though I like this)
• If you use eARC Marantz seems to work a lot better, have had issues with my AMV70
• Supports up to 17.4 (though only 15.4 speakers support processing)
• Sevice/Repair centers, they have quite a few that are US based, vs having to send into Canada

I have owned a few Marantz Pre/Pros and never really had issues with any, though in my experience on their other gear like their Blu-ray players (a while back) I found customer support terrible. I have always received excellent support from Anthem/Paradigm.

I will add, I am happy with my AVM70, it sounds great, have managed to work through the bugs, and I love the way it looks/performs. I am equally happy with my Marantz integrated 40n. If the build quality of the AV10 is on the same level as the 40n, you will be completely happy.

 

[Klipschoholic]

Lol I suppose I can look at more options. I have a emotiva rmc and I've just about had enough of the ARC issues with it.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Lol I suppose I can look at more options. I have a emotiva rmc and I've just about had enough of the ARC issues with it.

Emotiva is another example of small companies not having the same resources and support as much bigger companies.

The 3 biggest audio companies have to be Yamaha, Sony, and Masimo. And right now, Yamaha and Sony don’t even have an AVP.

 

[Cos]

Lol I suppose I can look at more options. I have a emotiva rmc and I've just about had enough of the ARC issues with it.

My AV8802A had 0 issues with ARC, it was the only pre/pro that worked flawlessly for me.

 

[multisport4me]

Yeah to me on paper I was leaning towards the Marantz. I know you guys are avid members on here. Do you have a preference between the two? I'm betting you guys have done deeper digging between the two.

I love me some Anthem stuff but I'm not a fan of ARC and need another microphone in my collection like a hole in the head. As mentioned above, I would think both pieces are sonically fantastic pieces so it comes down to features, bugs, support, and price that you can get on them. That said, before the AV10 was announced and I bought it, I was leaning heavily toward making the leap to Anthem. I'm glad I didn't as I get to use the the two RC and mics plus I got a killer AVP so ... no regrets (or for fans of the movie, "We're the Millers"...ragrets). lol

 

[lovinthehd]

Yeah to me on paper I was leaning towards the Marantz. I know you guys are avid members on here. Do you have a preference between the two? I'm betting you guys have done deeper digging between the two.

I don't need anything at the moment but if I need a power amp I just use one of my avrs anyways. I'd lean towards Marantz, particularly as I'm more familiar with how they work via my Denon avrs plus the bugginess of the boutique brands is something to consider.

 

[multisport4me]

...plus the bugginess of the boutique brands is something to consider.

Major consideration. Many of them don't even do their own designs - they rely on a design house (MDS) - and the record of upgrades, bug fixes, etc. is not good. Not good at all. I'm excluding Trinnov and Storm from that comment...

 

[Klipschoholic]

I think I'll be getting the Marantz av10 it's something I can rely on and it looks very nice also lol. Coming from this emotiva where everyday I have to disconnect the hdmi cables from it, hit the power switch in the back just to make hdmi arc to work is driving me nuts.

 

[lovinthehd]

I think I'll be getting the Marantz av10 it's something I can rely on and it looks very nice also lol. Coming from this emotiva where everyday I have to disconnect the hdmi cables from it, hit the power switch in the back just to make hdmi arc to work is driving me nuts.

I understand but why in a good system would you need ARC at all?

 

[Klipschoholic]

I understand but why in a good system would you need ARC at all?

Well its mostly for when the wife is just watching her apps on the tv and if I want to play xbox.

 

[lovinthehd]

Well its mostly for when the wife is just watching her apps on the tv and if I want to play xbox.

Wouldn't a universal remote work as well for the wife? Why do you put the xbox thru the tv?

ps even without the universal remote, I'd rather use apps in a streamer attached to an avr/pre-pro rather than tv apps at all.

 

[Klipschoholic]

Wouldn't a universal remote work as well for the wife? Why do you put the xbox thru the tv?

ps even without the universal remote, I'd rather use apps in a streamer attached to an avr/pre-pro rather than tv apps at all.

So the emotiva can't pass 4k 120hz so have to put it directly to the tv to get 120hz playing games. I did try the nvidia shield and hated it. Is there a streamer you recommend? I find just watching Amazon, Netflix, hulu through the xbox is pretty good.

 

[lovinthehd]

So the emotiva can't pass 4k 120hz so have to put it directly to the tv to get 120hz playing games. I did try the nvidia shield and hated it. Is there a streamer you recommend? I find just watching Amazon, Netflix, hulu through the xbox is pretty good.

I don't play games, so not sure of what even the basics are these days let alone what's coming up. I use Amazon Firesticks myself, cheap and adequate and access to just about any "channel" you want plus the basic service (and am a longtime Amazon Prime customer even these days with the large annual fee, still works for me) I used to use a PS3 a few years back, but the app selection was limited, just find a standalone streamer better than tv or disc/game player device apps provide.

 

[Klipschoholic]

I'll have to check that out. I know with this xbox series x the audio engineers don't get enough credit with the hardware in this system. Lol I know it seems silly just using the system partially for crappy tv apps she likes, but she's grown to love the system and can't stand tv speakers anymore.