Marantz SR6008 Disappointment

[Derek Duncan]

I have a Marantz SR6008 and it has been a year(of mostly laziness) since i've had it and it's been nothing but disappointing. It replaced an older(90s??) Nakamichi receiver, which blew me away and I paired it with Klipsch R-28f in the front, RC-52 II at center, and am in the process of unboxing two r-10sw subwoofers and putting a pair of r-15m in the rear. I turn the volume knob up to 60 and it's nothing short of underwhelming with the JBL subwoofer, the R-28f and the Rc-II. I've ran the audyssey and it didn't help at improving anything noticeably. I'm not too familiar with HDMI cables and I was thinking that it was possibly the problem(got em on clearance at radioshack), or the wrong gauge of speaker wire, not hooking up the R-28f right. I have no idea. I was hoping you could help. I bought a protection plan and there is a pioneer elite vsx-45 ready to go. I was thinking about sampling that out, before returning it. Just to see if it is something other than the receiver. I was thinking about taking back the marantz anyways(it was originally a open box that I was smart enough to get a protection plan) because I don't believe it's compatible with the hdmi 2.2 or hdcp that will support the new televisions. Thanks in advance!

Derek

 

[crossedover]

Can you post your audyssey settings? Typically AVRs dont blow people away speakers do

 

[markw]

which Nakamichi receiver, and what speakers were you using?

 

[PENG]

I agree with others, post Audyssey settings and try turning Audyssey off to see if they sound better. It is not unusual that people didn't pay enough attention to detailed instruction available in the manual and Audyssey website and ended up not doing everything right. The SR6008 should work well with those speakers, with some good subwoofers.

 

[Klipschhead302]

Turning Audyssey off on my SR5003 worked for me, entering the distances and everything using a DB meter got mine sounding fantastic.

 

[TheWarrior]

Did you buy a new receiver hoping it would drastically change the sound of your speakers?

 

[rojo]

@Derek Duncan: Firstly, make sure your subs are in the best location for sound that aesthetics will allow. Put your AVR into Direct mode, put a sub in your chair, and crawl around the room where you could reasonably leave each sub, listening for bass sound quality with familiar music.

Once you get the subs where you want them, if they sound muted in some frequencies they could be cancelling each other out. Try setting the phase of one of them to 90° and see if it helps.

Now, run Audyssey setup. Upon running setup, our Marantz AVR initially sets the LFE level very conservatively. You'll probably need to turn up the subwoofer channel in the AVR by at least 7dB, maybe more. Definitely salt to taste.

Also, make sure Dynamic EQ is turned On. That will make a significant difference in the sound. For Dynamic Volume, I recommend either Off or Low. Play with it and see which you prefer.

I recommend setting the surround mode to Auto. You can do this either by hitting the Direct button on the remote multiple times cycling through Direct -> Pure Direct -> Auto; or by using the Android or iOS app, or the web interface.

For a more comprehensive guide to Audyssey setup, see this AVS Forum post.

P.S. When you decide your Klipsch and JBL subs aren't cutting it, ask us for advice on something a little more worthwhile. More often than not, you're doing yourself more harm than good by matching the brand of the subs with the brand of the mains. Internet Direct subwoofer companies will offer much better bang for your buck. I'd also recommend some sort of bass management, but there's only so much a pair of 10" Klipsch subs can be polished.