AudioControl Concert XR-6S (8K 9.1.6 Immersive AV Receiver with Zone 2 and Class AB Amplification).

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I feel the only option now left it to upgrade my existing A/V receiver to a better one?

It’s a balance approach. I would want the best within my budget that I will be proud of for EVERYTHING - AVR, speakers, subs, etc. Heck I’m proud of my speaker cables too. They don’t have to be the most expensive or least expensive.

Here’s a thing about everyone- everyone will recommend to you what THEY would do personally. Dealers may recommend what they want to sell or what they would do if it were their money. People will also recommend what they own. If they own a Denon X3800, they recommend it. If they own an Anthem, they recommend it.

Before you buy anything else, definitely do more research because you don’t want “gimmick” from dealers or “compromise” from someone. Don’t want to go “too high” and don’t want to go “too low”. You don’t want to feel like you’ve listened to bad advice from anyone - dealers or other consumers. Everyone has their own reasons.

Life would be a lot more simple if we were billionaires and $6K, $10K, and $25K AVR’s were pocket change.

Here are some things to consider.

1. Don’t worry about DACs because even the lower-end DACs will have awesome specs that are INDISTINGUISHABLE from the most expensive DAC in terms of sound quality. Humans simply cannot hear the difference between THD+N of 0.0001% vs 0.001% or Dynamic Range of 150dB vs 110dB.

2. Giant companies like Denon/Marantz and especially Yamaha will have a lot more money allocated to research/development and customer support. Their products will usually have less “bugs” and if you ever need support, there is a lot higher chance of being able to speak to someone about it today, not in a few days or weeks.

3. Some people feel that Room Correction is a MUST-HAVE, and some people don’t even use any room correction (RC) because they feel it doesn’t do much for them. Just because someone loves RC doesn’t mean you will and vice versa. But if you want RC, Audyssey XT32 and DIRAC seem to be excellent options. According to @PENG our local expert who have used RC from Anthem ARC, Audyssey XT32, and Dirac, Dirac seems to be #1 overall, but Audyssey XT32 is #2 and not too far behind. So if RC is a must-have, then Denon/Marantz is a good option.

At the end of the day, YOU have to be proud and happy with EVERYTHING you own.

 

[lovinthehd]

Thanks for your response but still wanted to understand that is Dirac Live more important than Audyssey MultEQ XT or XT32 to enjoy all the contents via the OTT Apps to its fullest?

B’coz as far as I checked with one audio dealer, I came to know of that all the contents available on Netflix, PrimeVideo, Disney+ Hotstar, etc… are to the max recorded on 7 channels so buying a 9 channel A/V receiver or more than 2 Dolby Atmos speakers will become pointless.

I have asked about on how many channels are the contents recorded by the content providers, to Netflix, PrimeVideo, Disney+ Hotstar on Twitter but they are not ready to divulge this important information.

And between Marantz Cinema 50 vs Denon X3800H vs Denon X4800H, which one would you strongly recommend to pair up with Sonus Faber Sonetto II G2 or Sonetto II if this is still available in stock though these all will be a blind purchase without auditioning them as for everything, one has to travel in different cities & that’s a real pain. There happens to be no single spot wherein all the products of all the brands are made available under one roof. One has to pack bags & become a traveller to surf the entire country to audition different products.

Again, just mere listening for 30 minutes to an hour won’t confirm even 70% that what purchased was indeed a correct decision. One has to live with the product for atleast a month of two to properly feel it & receive that confidence that yes, this is what I wanted. Buying a Home Theatre products is either a “Hit or a Miss”.

Again, the setup at the audition rooms are completely different vs the normal life people live in their living room of Flats or even a Villa or Bungalow. Walls, Shape of living room, etc… completely differ & I am sure of that not even a single person would consider changing their home entrance that’s “A Living room” into a studio otherwise their guest who visits them, upon opening the maindoor of the house will feel as if he/she has arrived at the wrong address upon seeing a living room being converted into a Demo room… (-:.

This is the major challenge that audition happens inside a “Squared Box” room but the speakers finally play for the rest of its life in a living room. Sadly, there is absolute no way to bridge this gap.

Dirac is an effective tool from what I've seen/read, but haven't tried. I've used Audyssey XT and XT32 that I have in several avrs, and with the MultEQ Editor App is quite flexible. Even finer adjustments can be made with the MultEQ-X software/app (but haven't used that myself) and there's the Audyssey One freeware as well. I wouldn't spend a lot more for Dirac myself. Your current avr can do fine with the streaming services. 7ch via streaming is somewhat rare still, 5.1 via the Dolby Digital Plus codec is typical. Bluray discs are better for audio and video than streaming still. As far as Atmos, you really need speakers in your ceiling to take advantage....this is something I have not done either as that would be a lot of work with my various rooms and don't find it worth the work/effort.

I'm not familiar with the Sonus Faber speakers myself but I'd probably look to the Denon 3800 and add external amps as needed. From what I've seen Sonus Faber has some good speakers and cabinetry. Here in the US it's not hard to find speakers that can be delivered to you, some will even pay return shipping if you don't like them. I also live far away from showrooms and I've been fine without traveling to them for quite a while now, I rely more on measurements and user experiences (don't need a dealer recommendation).

There's little difference between the 4800/3800 in terms of amp power (just 1 dB advantage to the 4800 over 3800) and the feature set is about the same. Marantz here is just more expensive for little benefit and is slightly less powerful than the 4800, but is basically a very similar avr overall (as you might expect from sister brands). What's the pricing for these units where you are? zkelectronics.com has some good comparison tools.

As to your current JBLs, one of my systems is the slightly older Studio 5 series, but I use the 530s as rear surrounds, have 590s for L/R and 580s for surrounds. In a small room the 630s might suffice as mains, but I have a fairly large living room for those JBL speakers. Rooms in a house often have other primary functions other than an av entertainment system, so often sacrifices/compromises are made.

What your expectations particularly are, or what your particular preferences might be, are hard to judge over the internet.

 

[PENG]

The dealer still maintains that the AudioControl Concert XR-6 uses very high-quality audiophile DACs (124 dB of dynamic range) so he says buying this will be more beneficial as I will begin to feel immense difference in sound quality with my existing JBL 630s. What's your opinion.

Since you are considering such an expensive (only relatively speaking obviously) AV receiver, I would suggest you spend some time to do the following:

- Research the specs and test bench measurements (hopefully there are some available) and ignore what the dealer tells you (I guess not totally, and it depends..)

- Bugs reports, reliability issues, warranty means little if you have experienced the inconveniences when something failed, especially if it is intermittent issues, even if your dealer is next door, they most likely have to ship it back to the manufacturers. Even reputable and highly reliable products such as Marantz's do failed and in more than a few cases, people had bad experiences with their major warranty services from their major service center, in some cases, had to send it out more than once and eventually end up with a replacement unit that was uses/refurbished etc..

- AV receivers are highly complicated audio devices, companies such as Audio Control may or may not have the same kind of depth, experience in this kind of products that the leading brands such as Yamaha, Denon and Marantz have.

All of the above probably don't matter to you if you are in the money no object category of audio enthusiast, otherwise you may feel the pain if you have to replace such an expensive unit in just a few years because of bugs, reliability, issues or just obsolescence due to new features that you may want.

On the extreme end (that's what I am being drawn to all the time now), one only need to spend less than $1,500 on something like a Denon AVR-X3800H, or a Cinema 40, or up all the way to the affordable AVR-X6800H that will match or exceed the specs of the AudioControl Concert XR-6 (example the DAC chip used).

The best AVR in terms of specs and measurements at the moment now appears to be the Cinema 30, or the Denon AVR-A10H that uses the brand new ES9017 that has about the same specs as the AudioControl's ES9026 Pro though it does has 124 dB DNR, that is 4 dB higher than the ES9017's 120 dB, distortions specs are the same, both have SINAD 110 dB. As ADTG noted, no one can hear the difference between 120 and 124 dB, or even 110 dB. Neither DACs are considered by ESS Sabre as their "reference" class.

To get the reference class ESS DAC chips you need to get the Denon AVR-A1H (may be the cheaper A10H but not sure), AudioControl Maestro X9, or go separate. For separates, the Anthem AVM90, or the Marantz AV10 are far superior in terms of value, both has the reference class ESS DAC ICs (mentioning it only because that seems to matter to you), the Anthem's has the same ES9038Pro that the Maestro X9 uses, but on Gene's bench, the AV10's actually measured a touch better in SINAD.

Also, could you kindly suggest me a very good U.P.S. & Power Stabilizer?

I only use some cheap, but of good quality surge suppression devices at the outlets, in addition a a "whole house" surge suppression device at the main panel in the basement. All those expensive UPS and so called stabilizer or regulators are silly (unless you are in areas where power quality/reliability is a real issue), but hey, they sell...