Marants SR-6004 or Rotel RSP-1570??

[Timmy245]

Hey guys

Still in the process of trying to work out what to buy for my new setup. I think a while back i said i was set on the Studio 100 v.5s and now i just need to finalise amplification.

So i want to be able to watch movies as well as listen to music, therefore the option of a stereo pre amp and power amp is gone. So im asking what you guys think will be the best Pre amp. I am almost positive that the power amp will be the Anthem MCA-20 unless of course you can convince me otherwise , but have been told by my local dealer that for less money the Marantz is the better pre-amp with better pre-staging then the Rotel RSP-1570 which he believes is not as good quality wise or sound wise.

What do you guys think?

Thanks alot!!

Tim

 

[Seth=L]

The advantages of getting the Marantz for function are nice as well. It has built in amplifiers, so a amplifier isn't needed right away and maybe all you'll need is a stereo amp for the fronts and you can allow the Marantz to handle the rest.

The SR6004 was recently reviewed by Audioholics and was shown to have excellent measured performance in the preamp section. The amplifier section is robust as well, more than capable of handling Center and Surround speakers while a separate amplifier handles your front speakers.

The MCA-20 looks impressive with it's ability to handle virtually any load you might impose on it. I'm slightly confused by the capacitor resevoirs though. I would have expected slightly more than 16,400uF per channel on an amplifier this size. The Rotel amp I used to have had 20,000uF per channel it was a mere 60 watt per channel amplifier. Granted certain amplifiers place focus on different parts of the amplifier. The transformer in the MCA-20 is larger as well are the amount and size of the transistors. The Anthem amplifiers have typically performed well on the bench and with it's power ratings I doubt you'd run out of headroom with it.

 

[stl1cjg]

The advantages of getting the Marantz for function are nice as well. It has built in amplifiers, so a amplifier isn't needed right away and maybe all you'll need is a stereo amp for the fronts and you can allow the Marantz to handle the rest.

BAsed on this, do you think that I would be better off getting the XPA2 vs XPA3? I have a SR6003 and am running Studio 60's v5. I have read many reviews that say although the xpa 3 is good, the XPA 2 is in a whole other ball park. Whther this is true or not, I don;t know. Based on your comment above I would lean towrds the XPA2. My only concern is that the center (CC690) would sound a little different because of being powered with the AVR. The XPA2 could power the FLR and the AVR can power the center and 2 surrounds. I do not plan on running 7.1 yet.

Did not mean to hijak the thread, but I see no use in starting another thread.

As always thanks,

 

[Seth=L]

The advantages of getting the Marantz for function are nice as well. It has built in amplifiers, so a amplifier isn't needed right away and maybe all you'll need is a stereo amp for the fronts and you can allow the Marantz to handle the rest.

BAsed on this, do you think that I would be better off getting the XPA2 vs XPA3? I have a SR6003 and am running Studio 60's v5. I have read many reviews that say although the xpa 3 is good, the XPA 2 is in a whole other ball park. Whther this is true or not, I don;t know. Based on your comment above I would lean towrds the XPA2. My only concern is that the center (CC690) would sound a little different because of being powered with the AVR. The XPA2 could power the FLR and the AVR can power the center and 2 surrounds. I do not plan on running 7.1 yet.

Did not mean to hijak the thread, but I see no use in starting another thread.

As always thanks,

I don't think the center would sound different because it was being powered by the receiver. With the front left and right freed up the reserve power goes only to the center and surround channels. You have to realize that these receivers to deliver large amounts of power beyond their RMS ratings into 1 channel. The surrounds rarely use more than a few watts leaving plenty of power for the center channel. I see almost no reason to have a 3 or 5 channel amplifier unless the receiver is particularly weak (your's is not), the speakers are difficult to drive or are not very sensitive, or the room is very large.

 

[Timmy245]

The advantages of getting the Marantz for function are nice as well. It has built in amplifiers, so a amplifier isn't needed right away and maybe all you'll need is a stereo amp for the fronts and you can allow the Marantz to handle the rest.

The SR6004 was recently reviewed by Audioholics and was shown to have excellent measured performance in the preamp section. The amplifier section is robust as well, more than capable of handling Center and Surround speakers while a separate amplifier handles your front speakers.

The MCA-20 looks impressive with it's ability to handle virtually any load you might impose on it. I'm slightly confused by the capacitor resevoirs though. I would have expected slightly more than 16,400uF per channel on an amplifier this size. The Rotel amp I used to have had 20,000uF per channel it was a mere 60 watt per channel amplifier. Granted certain amplifiers place focus on different parts of the amplifier. The transformer in the MCA-20 is larger as well are the amount and size of the transistors. The Anthem amplifiers have typically performed well on the bench and with it's power ratings I doubt you'd run out of headroom with it.

Thanks Seth

Do you think that this is the best option for me to go considering, i want to be able to listen to music and watch movies. I have been looking around and just cant justify the price of some dedicated Pre/Pros, how much difference is there, going with a dedicated surround pre/processor + power amp/s vs a receiver, with alot more features for the money such as the Marantz 6004 + power amp/s

Thanks again !

 

[CHUCKKY 78]

I have had the RSP1570 for 11 years put it away late 2020 to use a marantz SR6014 receiver been enjoying it but miss my RMB 1565 and RSP1570 compo and I am putting them back into operation tomorrow. It going to feel stupid to some has i am taking away alot of features the receiver has but I am only interested in a 5.1 system not dolby atmos and will be putting my nvidia shield hdmi into a Cambridge CXUHD for pictures to tv and audio the RSP1570 and out to the RMB 1565 5 channel D class amp it just sounds better dynamically spacious and detailed.