Integra DTR 8.4 or Marantz sr8500????

[jb5200]

Hey everyone,

I am trying to decide on an older receiver that I want to use in my garage. I want the best possible quality audio since I will only use it to listen to music from a home server. I also want a 2nd zone in case I get adventurous for outdoor speakers for the back yard. I have a DHC 80.3 for my HT so I like that sound but have read a lot of good things about Marantz's upper end and sorta want to give it a shot.

I like a really accurate, detailed, dynamic, powerfull sound and listen to mostly Hard Rock, Rock, 80's, 90's, Pop, Hip-Hop and Rap. My signature sound would be the snap/crack of the Snare Drum, the visceral impact of the kick drum, and the pitch/definition of the bass with just a hint of clean sparkle of the treble. That's what get's me emotionally involved in my tunes and if those are dulled, rolled off, or compressed then I am usually unsatisfied!

Keep in mind this is for a garage system so I don't want to invest a ton of $$$ since it will always be exposed to garage elements - a lot of dust and a spider or two!!!! The Integra is quite a bit cheaper than the Marantz and I'm not affraid to spend the extra $$$ but just want to make sure it's worth it!

Let's hear you Marantz owners, is it worth double the $$$?

Thanks

 

[PENG]

For a garage with spiders unless you can get either one really cheap you may be better off getting the lowest Denon model that can easily stream from your PC plus USB input. Between the Integra and Marantz, the Integra has an Ethernet port so you may have some limited network streaming capability. The Integra is 7 lbs heavier but IMHO the Marantz is better built and more smartly designed with less weight penalty, though the heavier DTR could well be more suitable for the garage environment, physically speaking.

 

[jb5200]

Thanks Peng,

I won't need the streaming b/c I just bring my laptop out, plug in my Ethernet cable and MC17 just rocks out! The laptop now becomes the USB as well so I don't really need that and I use a Music Streamer II for the DAC (not the best but nice and small form factor and cheap for a garage) I just need a receiver with the best possible sound quality for the type of music I listen to and the price I'm willing to spend - under $400!

Thanks

 

[ImcLoud]

I don't like using AVR for music especially if its critical and you want "good " quality... I don't know what it is but there is something about an avr vs say an integrated amp or a stereo receiver that makes the avrs sound feel "played with" or "tampered"....

If I were spending $400 on what you are looking to do and wanted something that would supply worry free music listening I would go with...

Amazon.com: MUSE HIFI USB to S/PDIF Converter Decoder Mini USB DAC PCM2704 Black with USB Cable: Electronics
and depending on what you need for power either
a Topping TP60 which I love the sound of, its VERY detailed and has way more power than you would imagine, I know it says 100watts but I will put that against any 100X2 avrs amp section...
Amazon.com: Topping TP60 Tripath TA2022 50WPC (80WPC 4 Ohm) Mini Amplifier: Electronics

or
an APA150 for the price you won't find better, I own a few of these, if you need more power in your budget you can buy a pair of them and use them as mono blocks {which IMO is the best stereo sound, mono blocks insure 0 cross talk and give you balance control, although you need to adjust both volume knobs unless you upgrade to a dac with a volume control like the audio engine d1
Dayton Audio APA150 150W Power Amplifier 300-812 these amps are an incredible value, class a/b originally designed and produced by Emotiva as the bpa1...

What are you running for speakers?

Also as for zone 2, thats simple enough just run another amplifier like the lepai 2020 for $25 these make GREAT outdoor speaker amps, split the signal from the dac or use the low level output on the integrated amp and run your lepai for an outdoor zone...

I own every piece of equipment I listed above, the apa150s, both dacs, topping tp60, and 3 of the lepai 20202's---- you wont find better for the money.. In my garage I had a pair of CBM170 bookshelfs and an APA150 integrated amp with the muse dac and the sound is that of something most people would spend in the range of $1000 for...

Amazon.com: LP-2020A+ Lepai Tripath Class-T Hi-Fi Audio Mini Amplifier with Power Supply: Electronics for $20ish the power is more than you would expect, clean sound, and very reliable..
CBM-170 SE High Performance Bookshelf Loudspeaker on sale...

that stuff is going to be much more reliable than an avr.. and to answer your question the marantz would be what I buy between the two you listed, but I would rather see an integrated system with a very short signal path..

 

[Rickster71]

This may help a bit toward making a decision:

Marantz:
PSB VisionSound 300 Speaker System and Marantz SR8500 A/V Receiver HT Labs Measures: Marantz | Home Theater

And the Integra:
Integra DTR-8.4 A/V Receiver and Tannoy Arena Speaker System HT Labs Measures: Integra | Home Theater

 

[PENG]

This may help a bit toward making a decision:

Marantz:
PSB VisionSound 300 Speaker System and Marantz SR8500 A/V Receiver HT Labs Measures: Marantz | Home Theater

And the Integra:
Integra DTR-8.4 A/V Receiver and Tannoy Arena Speaker System HT Labs Measures: Integra | Home Theater

So to compare the two using the infomation in the links above:

Weight:

Marantz 8500 - 33 lbs
Integra 8.4 - 40.1 lbs

Power output (base on HTM measurements) at 0.1% THD+N:

Marantz 8500 - 142.2W into 8 ohms, 216.9W into 4 ohms
Integra 8.4 - 63.9W into 8 ohms, 100.3W into 4 ohms

Frequency response:

Both basically ruler flat from 20 to 20,000 Hz, the integra being better at <= 20 Hz.

Cross talk:

Marantz 8500 -76.75/-76.77 dB
Integra 8.4 -73.62/-74.16 dB

Signal to noise ratio:

Marantz 8500 94.18
Integra 8.4 105.86

Price when new (listed):

Marantz 8500 $1,300
Integra 8.4 $1,800

The Marantz weighs 8 lbs (20%) less but offers more than double the power output of the Integra.

Other than that I would say for sound quality there is nothing to be concerned about with either, unless used for high resolution audio files. If it only for up to CD quality media from a laptop, just pick the lower cost one.

 

[RichB]

^^^

I am not sure how HTM measures them, but at low power, the Marantz climbs the wall to almost 1% distortion and the Integra tops out at .2% distortion.

The Integra *may* be cleaner sounding at low levels.
As usual, we do not know what constitutes these numbers noise floor, odd harmonics, etc.

Still, the Marantz does look like the better deal.

- Rich

 

[PENG]

^^^

I am not sure how HTM measures them, but at low power, the Marantz climbs the wall to almost 1% distortion and the Integra tops out at .2% distortion.

The Integra *may* be cleaner sounding at low levels.
As usual, we do not know what constitutes these numbers noise floor, odd harmonics, etc.

Still, the Marantz does look like the better deal.

- Rich

The resolution of the HTM graphs are not good enough to tell. I'll try to find something better. By the way, I doubt the OP will be listening at below one watt base on what he has been saying.

Just found one for the SR7500, the THD at 1W was well below 0.02%, the SR8500 should be similar. I think you might have been reading a little much into the first watt thing. Many AVRs/Prepros/Amps no longer have issue with the first watt and below distortions that people have to fight with years ago. Regarding the harmonic spectrums, the one you linked did show the Parasound had a clean one. The fact is, from what I can find from AVtech, most of the amps measured by them including Krell, Audio research and many other high end units display similar harmonic spectrums, and yes that include the Halo amp as well. There are no shortage of articles out there, including he one I linked to Bob Carver's, that showed even the crossover distortion, the most nasty one was not that audible to the listeners until it reached levels much higher than what moderns amps measured. So I believe some amps measure better in their harmonic spectrums (i.e. not just %) than others but all are low enough to be considered well below human threshold, except for golden ears if they exist.

 

[RichB]

The resolution of the HTM graphs are not good enough to tell. I'll try to find something better. By the way, I doubt the OP will be listening at below one watt base on what he has been saying.

Your right. It is just an aspect of performance that interests me.

- Rich

 

[PENG]

Your right. It is just an aspect of performance that interests me.

- Rich

Did you check out those available on AVtech? It is difficult to compare graphs from different test labs but they have tons of them, so that makes it a little easier to compare.