Marantz AV7005 Networking A/V Processor Review

[AcuDefTechGuy]

i recently tried one of these when my anthem broke.

contrary to the other reviews, i absolutely hated this processor. save your money and buy the integra.

this has a dead flat soundstage, ZERO voice localization, and really weak surround features. the video scaler is unimpressive as well.

even in 2 speak mode, disks that generally image like crazy are flat and fake sounding. it's a truly horrible experience. i could not wait to get it out of here.

the reason this looks like such a bundle of features at a low price is that it's low quality. there was no setup, manual or automatic, that could get a 5.1 system to sound anything like it should, especially with a 110" screen.

to make kef reference speakers and a bel canto amp sound bad takes some real doing, but the marantz managed it and was even worse with my vandersteins, which are some of the warmest, best imaging speakers i've heard. it turned them into muddy, flat goop.

i have no idea what the purpose of this product is. it's far too low end for a serious system, but 2-3X the price of many alternatives for lower end without, as best i can tell, being any better.

Unless your Marantz pre-pro is defective or just set up wrong, I don't believe it.

It measures just like any pre-pro or AVR, and it should sound like any pre-pro or AVR, especially in direct/pure direct mode.

Which KEF Reference speakers do you have?

 

[Hocky]

Unless your Marantz pre-pro is defective or just set up wrong, I don't believe it.

It measures just like any pre-pro or AVR, and it should sound like any pre-pro or AVR, especially in direct/pure direct mode.

Which KEF Reference speakers do you have?

I think it is possible if he ran the audyssey set up and had a defective mic or did some really crazy combination of mic placement. But in direct mode, you're right, it should sound like the speakers.

 

[jcl]

Sounds like the polarity to one his mains is wrong, but I think audyssey would have caught that.

 

[cpp]

I had one and it worked flawlessly. Sounds like you might have had something within defective.

 

[davidtwotrees]

.......... I don't believe it. It measures just like any pre-pro or AVR, and it should sound like any pre-pro or AVR, especially in direct/pure direct mode.

That is really really a hard concept for a huge portion of this hobby to grasp.

0s and 1s are 0s and 1s. Amps are amps. Wires are wires. Get over it and move on.

See the speakers, be the speakers, hear the speakers.

 

[GranteedEV]

this has a dead flat soundstage,

How does a preamplifier have a soundstage?

ZERO voice localization,

...what?

and really weak surround features.

...so? I don't really care if it can't matrix 25.4 or whatever onkyo is at these days.

the video scaler is unimpressive as well.

It's an audio product. If I wanted video upscaling I would get my BDP, TV, or even an outbound HDMI based video unit to handle those things.

even in 2 speak mode, disks that generally image like crazy are flat and fake sounding.

How so?

to make kef reference speakers and a bel canto amp sound bad takes some real doing, but the marantz managed it and was even worse with my vandersteins, which are some of the warmest, best imaging speakers i've heard. it turned them into muddy, flat goop.

Sounds like you had a defective unit or as someone suggested, miswired connections.

 

[wlmmn]

What I loved about this review is that it's from the perspective of someone upgrading from a Marantz SR6003, which is exactly what I have. I love how it sounds, but I bought a factory refurbished one from Accessories4Less a couple of years ago and it's losing HDMI handshakes like crazy. Audio dropouts left and right, both with the Oppo player and when I hooked up my VCR to it a few nights ago. Sounds like it's time to have it serviced and then sell it on eBay and get a new Marantz.......that comes with the same crappy remote with a very limited horizontal range, but I suppose you can't have everything.

 

[PENG]

My AV7005 setup sounds just like/as good as my Denon 4308, 3805 and my separates. Amps amp, that's all they do, no magic about them as they are products of science of engineering. Facts rule in those worlds. People are the one who dream and imagine. That being said, as others mentioned, all bets are off if something go defective.

 

[sterling shoote]

Folks gravitate to the Marantz brand, perceiving the brand's credentials, dating back to the late 1960's, will assure satisfaction today. Thing is, the market's perspective does not really allow for a good understanding of the brand before buying into it. My first experience with the brand was in the mid 1970's. It was a mixed bag then; and, as it appears, it's still a mixed bag today. My advice, don't buy without being able to return for a full credit. And, if you do need to return the product don't repeat your mistake.

I too am a sucker for name brands. Reading my signature you can see my affinity for Sony components.
This brand has proven itself with me, with most components in my system operating as advertised for at least a decade while others have been providing flawless service for over 30 years.

 

[TLS Guy]

Folks gravitate to the Marantz brand, perceiving the brand's credentials, dating back to the late 1960's, will assure satisfaction today. Thing is, the market's perspective does not really allow for a good understanding of the brand before buying into it. My first experience with the brand was in the mid 1970's. It was a mixed bag then; and, as it appears, it's still a mixed bag today. My advice, don't buy without being able to return for a full credit. And, if you do need to return the product don't repeat your mistake.

It's what happens when you have a problem that counts.

My Marantz 8003 was purchased new and came with a three year warranty,

Half way through the warranty period the power supply failed and it would not power up.

The service center in Chicago had it up and running and shipped back promptly. They gave me a report and had to change one component.

This was good service and I did not have to pay shipping.

There are thousands of components in a product like this and Marantz will likely make none of them, certainly not the solid state components.

All it takes is a small impurity to get into a semiconductor during manufacture and it will fail. In this case a voltage regulator.

Issues arise when products get known for a particular failure that affects lots of the same model and the same fault recurs after service. Those types of faults indicate a design issue.

 

[maverick11359]

Not impressed with the AV7005 Soundstage.

i recently tried one of these when my anthem broke.

contrary to the other reviews, i absolutely hated this processor. save your money and buy the integra.

this has a dead flat soundstage, ZERO voice localization, and really weak surround features. the video scaler is unimpressive as well.

even in 2 speak mode, disks that generally image like crazy are flat and fake sounding. it's a truly horrible experience. i could not wait to get it out of here.

the reason this looks like such a bundle of features at a low price is that it's low quality. there was no setup, manual or automatic, that could get a 5.1 system to sound anything like it should, especially with a 110" screen.

to make kef reference speakers and a bel canto amp sound bad takes some real doing, but the marantz managed it and was even worse with my vandersteins, which are some of the warmest, best imaging speakers i've heard. it turned them into muddy, flat goop.

i have no idea what the purpose of this product is. it's far too low end for a serious system, but 2-3X the price of many alternatives for lower end without, as best i can tell, being any better.

Sorry to say but I have to agree with everything morganovich states,I wish I had read his post proir to purchasing one.

I owned an AV7005 for just one week determined that it was a good processor.

Little on my history;
I'm an electrical contractor that used to install hometheatre systems upto a few years ago ,so I have some expertice when it comes to getting the best out of systems with setup ,cabling, resonnance tunning,cable RF and EMF protection and room accoustics,I use the tools of the trade to callibrate and get the best out of systems.

Why I purchased an AV7005?
Last year after spending $400 on repairs to my beloved old Sony Flagship STR-VA333ES the centre of my A/V system setup in 2003, I decided I would update it when finances allowed in the near future (i'm struggling alittle for cash these days). To try to update to a PC harddrive music storage system,connected to a pre pro system .

So not being able to listen to an Marantz AV7005 in shop because of where I live in regional Australia and also my local dealer and friend was not a Marantz dealer ,a few week back I took a gamble and purchased a
VA7005 via the telephone through a series of my old contacts.Mainly due to its cheap price.

Rather than go in to the same details as Morganovich I will just say the soundstage from the AV7005 has to be one of the most disappointing I've ever listen to, all my expertice could not bring it close to the clarity/quality of the old Sony VA-ES. So after one week I returned it and luckily retrieved my cash back.
I then spent another $1000 dollars ontop of the AV7005 price and now have a Integra ahc 80.3 controlling my system.The Integra is a whole different processor and belts way above the Marantz. Musically its very close to my old Sony ES with an open life like clear ,transparent and very real soundstage.

To conclude ,I dont like posting negative reports but felt i had to say something. Their will be people that totally disagree with me and I can understand that, we all have opinions but let them be informed and self made, individual . But I can honestly say I've opened the ears , eyes and hearts of this hobby to a lot happy friends and happy customers that are amazed at the level of quality of AV enjoyment they can have at an affordable price .

My advice if your serious about this hobby is to listen to lots and lots of top end gear in store ( $10,000 Cd players , $15,000 amps, $50,000 speakers).Then go home with the ambition to duplicatewhat you heard without spending those ridiculous large amounts of cash .DIY and tweek with your mid costing systems ,I garantee you will get close .

The old adage that if you havn't heard better, then you'll never, never know and you will never be disappointed is fine for some, but if your like me your a "What If" person .

 

[TLS Guy]

Sorry to say but I have to agree with everything morganovich states,I wish I had read his post proir to purchasing one.

I owned an AV7005 for just one week determined that it was a good processor.

Little on my history;
I'm an electrical contractor that used to install hometheatre systems upto a few years ago ,so I have some expertice when it comes to getting the best out of systems with setup ,cabling, resonnance tunning,cable RF and EMF protection and room accoustics,I use the tools of the trade to callibrate and get the best out of systems.

Why I purchased an AV7005?
Last year after spending $400 on repairs to my beloved old Sony Flagship STR-VA333ES the centre of my A/V system setup in 2003, I decided I would update it when finances allowed in the near future (i'm struggling alittle for cash these days). To try to update to a PC harddrive music storage system,connected to a pre pro system .

So not being able to listen to an Marantz AV7005 in shop because of where I live in regional Australia and also my local dealer and friend was not a Marantz dealer ,a few week back I took a gamble and purchased a
VA7005 via the telephone through a series of my old contacts.Mainly due to its cheap price.

Rather than go in to the same details as Morganovich I will just say the soundstage from the AV7005 has to be one of the most disappointing I've ever listen to, all my expertice could not bring it close to the clarity/quality of the old Sony VA-ES. So after one week I returned it and luckily retrieved my cash back.
I then spent another $1000 dollars ontop of the AV7005 price and now have a Integra ahc 80.3 controlling my system.The Integra is a whole different processor and belts way above the Marantz. Musically its very close to my old Sony ES with an open life like clear ,transparent and very real soundstage.

To conclude ,I dont like posting negative reports but felt i had to say something. Their will be people that totally disagree with me and I can understand that, we all have opinions but let them be informed and self made, individual . But I can honestly say I've opened the ears , eyes and hearts of this hobby to a lot happy friends and happy customers that are amazed at the level of quality of AV enjoyment they can have at an affordable price .

My advice if your serious about this hobby is to listen to lots and lots of top end gear in store ( $10,000 Cd players , $15,000 amps, $50,000 speakers).Then go home with the ambition to duplicatewhat you heard without spending those ridiculous large amounts of cash .DIY and tweek with your mid costing systems ,I garantee you will get close .

The old adage that if you havn't heard better, then you'll never, never know and you will never be disappointed is fine for some, but if your like me your a "What If" person .

Either there was something wrong with your unit, or it did not like your speaker load. The latter is certainly possible as the the power amps of receivers is their short suit.

However my Marantz, 8003 pre/pro is top notch and I have bench tested it.

What speakers are you using?

 

[maverick11359]

Sorry nothing wrong with the Marantz unit or my set up.

Nothing wrong with the unit it did everthing it was expected to do .its fault was in its sound stage and non transparent direct pass through of information to the power amps. I listen to SACD's and DVD-audios ( hi rez audio )multi and stereo so its critical on sound stages .IMHO the AV7005's sound stage was narrow , harsh , cluttered which was most noticable with pure uncolored source.Vocal and instruments sounded compressed and not real.To me its build ( I did look under the bonnet)and sound quality are in comparison to a 500 dollar amp not a 2000 dollar amp which they cost in this country.

I'm not alone in my opinion, I'm only voicing it to let the general public know there's better out there .The person I purchased it of resides 600 kilometers south of my home in a major city and was reluctant to take it back , in his words "I don't want it in my shop it want sell, I only organised it for you as a favor to a mutual friend".Apparently he's had two returned in the past for the same audio quality reasons and stopped stocking them in his store.. I wish he had voiced that up front.

Beyond that point My gear works just fine and its had multiple processors and AVR amps in replacement of my Old Sony ES receiver over the years to test against , usually before installation, so I could get an idea and feel for their music response , to know their capabilities prior to installation for my customers.

My speaker system is Australian built, "Accusound Delta series 890". rated at 8 ohms ,150 watts RMS and SPL 90db each speaker .I've modified all 7 speaker intensely,firstly with the crossovers replacing with higher quality air coils and Mundorf gold capacitors , complete rewire internally using Tara labs cabling , internal acoustic wool insulation replaced with a higher quality product. These speakers have been tested since those mods and have an extremely flat frequency response with just a little roll off at the top end. Three subwoolfers:- 2 x Sansui's and 1 x Sony SAW400 also all three intensely modified with improved power supplies and upgraded components .Power amplification ,2 power amps , Rotel stereo 1080RB and Emotiva XPA-5
. Source , Denon 3910 universal DVD player and Sony BDP 5000 . Projector Epson WD 3500 , 100 inch Long horn fixed screen.

I'm sorry but nothing wrong with the AV7005 or setup. I tried for a week using different power conditioners , resonance cones and endless interconnects( pure silver and pure copper ).To conclude , The Integra 80.3 plugged straight in using original wiring and interconnects from the Sony and immediately outperformed the Marantz in every way .And just in in one day not even 3 hours run in time.

 

[PENG]

I have to agree with TLSGuy, something is not right. I also had a Sony ES AVR before, my AV7005 sounds as good as all my other AVRs and my separates. There are also people who switched from Onkyo/integra to the Marantz. It goes both ways.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

the soundstage from the AV7005 has to be one of the most disappointing I've ever listen to

Did you accidentally use Audyssey or some kind of DSP/ EQ? I bet that's what screwed up the soundstage.

In direct mode or in bypass mode, there should not be any kind of post-processing of the signal and most amps, preamps, AVR, pre-pros will sound very similar.

But it is very easy to overlook the RC/ EQ/ DSP - just a touch of a button could mess up the sound.

 

[TLS Guy]

Nothing wrong with the unit it did everthing it was expected to do .its fault was in its sound stage and non transparent direct pass through of information to the power amps. I listen to SACD's and DVD-audios ( hi rez audio )multi and stereo so its critical on sound stages .IMHO the AV7005's sound stage was narrow , harsh , cluttered which was most noticable with pure uncolored source.Vocal and instruments sounded compressed and not real.To me its build ( I did look under the bonnet)and sound quality are in comparison to a 500 dollar amp not a 2000 dollar amp which they cost in this country.

I'm not alone in my opinion, I'm only voicing it to let the general public know there's better out there .The person I purchased it of resides 600 kilometers south of my home in a major city and was reluctant to take it back , in his words "I don't want it in my shop it want sell, I only organised it for you as a favor to a mutual friend".Apparently he's had two returned in the past for the same audio quality reasons and stopped stocking them in his store.. I wish he had voiced that up front.

Beyond that point My gear works just fine and its had multiple processors and AVR amps in replacement of my Old Sony ES receiver over the years to test against , usually before installation, so I could get an idea and feel for their music response , to know their capabilities prior to installation for my customers.

My speaker system is Australian built, "Accusound Delta series 890". rated at 8 ohms ,150 watts RMS and SPL 90db each speaker .I've modified all 7 speaker intensely,firstly with the crossovers replacing with higher quality air coils and Mundorf gold capacitors , complete rewire internally using Tara labs cabling , internal acoustic wool insulation replaced with a higher quality product. These speakers have been tested since those mods and have an extremely flat frequency response with just a little roll off at the top end. Three subwoolfers:- 2 x Sansui's and 1 x Sony SAW400 also all three intensely modified with improved power supplies and upgraded components .Power amplification ,2 power amps , Rotel stereo 1080RB and Emotiva XPA-5
. Source , Denon 3910 universal DVD player and Sony BDP 5000 . Projector Epson WD 3500 , 100 inch Long horn fixed screen.

I'm sorry but nothing wrong with the AV7005 or setup. I tried for a week using different power conditioners , resonance cones and endless interconnects( pure silver and pure copper ).To conclude , The Integra 80.3 plugged straight in using original wiring and interconnects from the Sony and immediately outperformed the Marantz in every way .And just in in one day not even 3 hours run in time.

I have found some details of your speakers.

The manufacturer classifies them as 6 ohm nominal which means absolutely nothing.

Here is a picture of your speakers.

From the design approach, those speakers have to be four ohm and I would bet less in places. That type of design layout is also associated very often with highly adverse phase angles.

That is not the type of speaker most receivers will drive well. I think you are very lucky the Integra does, at least for now. Personally I would be looking to provide robust external amplification, or you may well have to look for a new receiver sooner rather than later.

I bet your problem was that the Marantz could not drive that load, which does not surprise me.

I would measure the impedance curve and phase angles of those speakers.

 

[PENG]

I have found some details of your speakers.

The manufacturer classifies them as 6 ohm nominal which means absolutely nothing.

Here is a picture of your speakers.

From the design approach, those speakers have to be four ohm and I would bet less in places. That type of design layout is also associated very often with highly adverse phase angles.

That is not the type of speaker most receivers will drive well. I think you are very lucky the Integra does, at least for now. Personally I would be looking to provide robust external amplification, or you may well have to look for a new receiver sooner rather than later.

I bet your problem was that the Marantz could not drive that load, which does not surprise me.

I would measure the impedance curve and phase angles of those speakers.

He was talking about the AV7005, that is a prepro, not an AVR.

 

[TLS Guy]

He was talking about the AV7005, that is a prepro, not an AVR.

So it is. I can't see how a pre/pro would do what he is talking about.

Mine and yours work perfectly.

 

[maverick11359]

Old pic , lots of changes since that time.

G'day,
That's a very old pic of the system back in 2005. Its been upgraded , tweeked and changed alot since then.The center speaker has been elevated to the ceiling , apart from being rewired with pure silver 99.9999 conductors from crosssover to drivers and down to amp,crossover modified like all other seven speakers with mundorf caps.Its ceiling mount is reinforced with 3 feet square by 2 inch thick MDF board above the plaster(this cuts down unwanted bass),above the ceiling.All my main speakers have ceramic L-Pads installed on their rears for tweeters and bass to vary their responce according to room accoustics, this by the way changes their nominal resistance my calculation makes them closer to 8 ohms rather than 6 ohms now. All my interconnects and speaker wiring have been changed since 2005. The front towers have come forwood about 1 foot also than that old pic and sound diffusers behind the towers have been improved internally and changed color. The large power amps sit ontop shelf with the Integra processor replacing the Gold sony AVR these days. Sorry guys I know what i listen to, I build the stuff..The extra $1000 I just spent was well worth it. cheers.

 

[maverick11359]

Sad clueless

I have found some details of your speakers.

The manufacturer classifies them as 6 ohm nominal which means absolutely nothing.

Here is a picture of your speakers.

From the design approach, those speakers have to be four ohm and I would bet less in places. That type of design layout is also associated very often with highly adverse phase angles.

That is not the type of speaker most receivers will drive well. I think you are very lucky the Integra does, at least for now. Personally I would be looking to provide robust external amplification, or you may well have to look for a new receiver sooner rather than later.

I bet your problem was that the Marantz could not drive that load, which does not surprise me.

I would measure the impedance curve and phase angles of those speakers.

My friend you are guessing which is sad. You have found an old picture of my old setup from 2005 without a clue as to the build or quality of my speakers. If you read my original post I stated my speakers are modified .Personally having built new crossovers for them with German mundorf parts and installing ceramic L-Pads which varies their total resistance. Having their sound pressure level tested and frequency responce by an independant source . I can tell you they **** on most manufactured speakers in the 10,000 dollar range. They out perform most B&W 's in all ab testing. My Old Gold Sony STRVA-3333ES Receiver played for 30,000 hours and is still going ,realy only using all its preouts since 2006.I only retired it to have more digital and net connections, so if what you say is correct it should have died years ago. I could go in to depth talking about sound stages but I get the feeling it would be a waste of time falling on deaf ears . As I originally stated everyone is entitled to an opinion and if you havn't heard better than your Marantz that's just the way life goes. Dont threaten something you obviously have no clue about .Or as they say never judge a book by its cover.