Help pairing the Marantz SR6003 with a 5.1 setup

[Quercus]

All,

I have been following this and several other forums with a lot of interest the last week or so and have finally decided to put in an order for the Marantz SR6003 after auditioning against the Yamaha 863 and Rotel 1058 (not directly comparable but was on sale). I'd greatly appreciate your thoughts speakers to pair the SR6003 with.

I'm looking for a 5.1 set up in a roughly 20' x 18' great room with 11' ceilings. I will be hooking up a 50" Panasonic Plasma, Comcast HDDVR, Vudu box, Oppo Digital SACD and a tbd Blu-Ray player. Mix is generally 60% movies, 40% audio (mainly jazz vocals & classical).

The following are on my shortlist -- my budget is ~$2k but have flex. I have spent countless hours reading reviews and various forums and am no closer to a choice.
1) B&W 600 System ( 2x685, 2x686, 1xHTM62, 1xASW608)
2) Paradigm Reference Studio 20v4 (hoping to get a good deal on the v4 given they are releasing the v5); will need to pair with a third party sub
3) HSU Research HB-1 speaker system (4xHB-1 Mk2, 1xHC-1 Mk2 1xVTF-2 Mk3)
4) SVS SB1 (4xSBS-01, 1xSCS01, 1xPB10NSD)
5) Mordaunt-Short Alumni system (4xAlumni 2, 1x Alumni 9, 1x Alumnni 5)
6) PSB Alpha B1 speaker system (4xB1, 1xC1, 1xSubSeries 5i)

I have auditioned the B&W but have not been able to audition any of the others yet (will likely do the Paradigms on Monday but #s 3-5 are not available in any B&M store nearby). One concern I have -- probably not justified -- is that pairing a generally "warm" receiver with a "warm" set of speakers might give me a lot of warmth but I might lose out on some of the higher-end detail that I really like.

Many thanks in advance -- any thoughts on these or other setups would be greatly appreciated.

 

[fredk]

-- probably not justified --

Yup. The notion of a receiver colouring sound is a hold over from the early years when tubes and the like introduced a lot of distortion into the system. With receiber distortion at 1% and often exponentially less, its a complete non issue.

If you pick good speakers that are capable of presenting all the detail present in a recording (good and bad), you will get lots of detail.

Just make sure that your amp has enough power for the speakers you pick.

If you go and listen to some speakers and come back here with one or two that you like, folks can probably suggest others with similar characteristics to listen to as well.

 

[Quercus]

Thanks very much. That's really helpful to know.

 

[AVRat]

One recommendation I’d make is to make sure you have the right size sub for your relatively large space. These are the ones I’d consider as the minimum:

Epik Knight/Caliber*
SVS PB12-NSD
HSU VTF3-MK3
AV123 MFW-15*

*These may be on back-order.

I would also add Ascend Acoustics CMT-340/340C/CBM-170 system for consideration ($1218 shipped w/stands)

 

[kindbudken]

Well, I hope this thread is still ongoing, because I am finally able to afford replacing my old A/V system from 2000. I had decided on a Yamaha reciever at the time due to the price for performance (can't remember the exact model name but it was one notch below the flagship something 995). I really like this new Marantz and I think that is what I am going for. Also, I used to live in Boulder, CO and they have an amazing second hand and new audiophile store where I tried a huge assortment of speakers and decided to buy the NHT's. I think I am going to get the new classic line, possibly just the absolute zeros since they were reviewed to sounding amazingly well for the price, thereby allowing me to get many channels and matched. I have a small viewing area, approximately 8'x10'. I am considering a sub later, since I am spending almost $3500 for the initial set up (including furniture and HDTV). Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I would post a new thread, but Quercus seems to be travelling down the same road.

 

[bigred7078]

Well, I hope this thread is still ongoing, because I am finally able to afford replacing my old A/V system from 2000. I had decided on a Yamaha reciever at the time due to the price for performance (can't remember the exact model name but it was one notch below the flagship something 995). I really like this new Marantz and I think that is what I am going for. Also, I used to live in Boulder, CO and they have an amazing second hand and new audiophile store where I tried a huge assortment of speakers and decided to buy the NHT's. I think I am going to get the new classic line, possibly just the absolute zeros since they were reviewed to sounding amazingly well for the price, thereby allowing me to get many channels and matched. I have a small viewing area, approximately 8'x10'. I am considering a sub later, since I am spending almost $3500 for the initial set up (including furniture and HDTV). Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I would post a new thread, but Quercus seems to be travelling down the same road.

I love the Marantz 6003, its a great receiver.

As far as speakers are concerned i highly suggest you pick up a sub. A good sub will do wonders for a HT system.

 

[CraigV]

I would say any of your choices would fare well, the best thing to do is as much auditioning as you can to find what sounds best to you. If you have the option to audition in home, all the better.

 

[a/d/s/ fan]

I too just bought a Marantz SR6003. Awesome HT receiver for the money.

I just spent $2,200 on a new speaker system to go with this receiver, and here is what I selected:

KEF iQ90 mains, KEF iq60c center and KEF iQ10 rears on Sanus SF34 stands. I wasn't able to audition as many of the different brands as you have, but I chose the KEFs over the Definitive Technology Mythos STs (which, along with the Mythos Ten center any Gems XL surrounds would have cost twice as much as the KEF system), and the NHT Classic Three/Four system (which was about the same as the KEF system). Currently I am using an a/d/s/ SW300 sub, but I am looking at a new Velodyne.

If you are able to listen to the KEF Q-series, you might be surprised by how much presence they have over a relatively large sweet spot.