Marantz AV 10 15.4CH AV Processor Bench Test Results!

[Golfx]

I don't think it was a mistake to buy the Emotiva XMC-2 when it came out. Its sound quality is exceptional, especially with the addition of the Dirac Live. I did two calibrations setup, one for home theater in 7.1.4 and one for listening to music in 2.1 (sub: SVS SB13-U). The advantage with the AV 10 is that I could easily redo Dirac calibrations. I do it regularly. For example, the last time I changed my sofa. So in terms of sound quality, I think it is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain a real gap. I am not worried, the AV 10 (or 20?) will give very good sound quality.

However HEOS is now compatible with Qobuz connect. Great.

For me it’s now just a red flag: lack of reliability in Emotiva management & marketing.

Your response is puzzling. I guess you mean it was NOT a mistake because you did NOT yet know of all the problems??

My point was using hindsight to avoid the mistakes of purchasing known problems.

 

[TLS Guy]

Uh huh. Please show us former and latter measurements, thanks.

Dialoum beat me to it. But if you don't think that the differences in those two AVPs are not audible, then you are probably not on the right forum and Reddit might be more appropriate for you.

When I bought the 7705 options were much more limited. I should not have bought the 7706, but I just was not in the mood to splurge on the AV 10. But what it really comes down to now is that units like the AV 10 and AV 20 are the cost of entry, at the high end of the AV market. The Marantz 8805A is now discontinued and being cleared out at rock bottom prices. The $7706 is still available at $3,200 which is very bad value for money and not to be recommended in any way.

So the cost of AV at the higher end is now very high. But these are complex devices and I suspect a lot of gear is being priced lower than what is required for good SQ and reliability.

Don't forget that the quality of the sources, especially from streaming is going though the roof and hitting higher and higher benchmarks. So the playback end has to up its game as well.

The most expensive products you can buy are the ones that fail prematurely.

 

[L_avocat]

Your response is puzzling. I guess you mean it was NOT a mistake because you did NOT yet know of all the problems??

Yes, exactly.

 

[Nondemo01]

I hope I dare to ask you a question, as you already own a Marantz. So that you understand the context, I've owned several Emotiva preamps for a very long time (UMC-200)... but I'm considering becoming a deserter. This is due to the numerous problems persisting with the new range that Emotiva Audio Corp has just released (RMC-1+ & XMC-2+). But the question for me is, is it paradise with other brands?
Consequently, I'm seriously considering purchasing a Marantz AV 10 or 20. There are so many good reviews!
Can you, the happy owners of a Marantz, confirm that there are no major problems known to you to date?

1. Are you having problems or the video signal is struggling to connect (black screen)? Do you have to switch inputs to return to the previous input to get both video and audio?

2. A more specific question for all owners of both a television AND a video projector: do you have audio and/or video dropout issues when one device is on and the other is on standby? I have this problem when my projector is on standby with the Apple TV 4K. I also had this problem with all other sources, such as a set-top box, TV, and Blu-ray player, but it was resolved by using a Swissair HDMI Firestorm. Well, it's almost resolved. When I watch a movie on the projector screen, my Sony TV has to stay on with Picture Off. Otherwise, there are image drops and blood every 20 seconds or so; this is apparently called the Sony HDMI issue…

3. And what about you? Is everything OK?

Sorry for being a bit complicated in my explanations, thank you in advance to everyone for any answers. This will be an excellent aid to my decision-making process.

I have owned the Emotiva XMC-1 and found it sonically fine. However, I experienced HDMI switching issues, audio dropouts, freezing, and other odd behaviors. I chalked it up to Emotiva focused on a price point and lived with it until I needed to upgrade. I then moved to a Marantz 8805. Sonically, I wasn't as "happy" (mostly cause I prefer Dirac to Audyssey) but didn't have any issues with its performance or daily living. When I sold it to go back to an AVR, I went with the Cinema 30. It's got the Dirac that I love AND none of the bugginess some have had with other brands. It just dead works all the time every time.

 

[L_avocat]

This is exactly the kind of thing I like to read here. Many thanks!

 

[PENG]

Dialoum beat me to it. But if you don't think that the differences in those two AVPs are not audible, then you are probably not on the right forum and Reddit might be more appropriate for you.

When I bought the 7705 options were much more limited. I should not have bought the 7706, but I just was not in the mood to splurge on the AV 10. But what it really comes down to now is that units like the AV 10 and AV 20 are the cost of entry, at the high end of the AV market. The Marantz 8805A is now discontinued and being cleared out at rock bottom prices. The $7706 is still available at $3,200 which is very bad value for money and not to be recommended in any way.

So the cost of AV at the higher end is now very high. But these are complex devices and I suspect a lot of gear is being priced lower than what is required for good SQ and reliability.

Don't forget that the quality of the sources, especially from streaming is going though the roof and hitting higher and higher benchmarks. So the playback end has to up its game as well.

The most expensive products you can buy are the ones that fail prematurely.

For all those following this thread, I would like to remind them that while based on the AV7705/7706 and the corresponding Marantz AVRs are not going to be inaudibly quiet if the room noise is low, their corresponding AVRs such as the AVR-X3400H through AVR-X6700H (before the AKM fire) are definitely going to be much quieter than the AV7705 and AV7706 though not as quiet as the AV10, AV20 or even the Cinema 30, AVR-A1H, A10H. That's just facts, based on multiple bench measurement results, whether they would "sound better" or worse than their Marantz cousins we would never know, for obvious reasons. Again, my comments are in reaction to TLSGuy's about the difference in noise (and distortions too I would say) levels only, among the AVPs/AVRs mentioned so far.