Old Marantz with newer Sony AV receiver

[deebrown99]

That's likely the real reason. Monitor Audio Bronze's hard dome tweeter likely would sound brighter than your Wharfedale's (which model?)

The Broze 5 specs show 30,000 Hz the upper limit!! That's very extended for speaker in that price range.

The Wharfadele's just say 440 PENG

 

[PENG]

The Wharfadele's just say 440 PENG

I cannot find any specs for those speakers. They are probably made ages ago and if so, they will sound "warm" if "warm" means emphasized bass/mid bass and roll off in the high frequency range. That's just based on my memories of the Whafedale speakers in the old days. If true, they will sound "warm" to you, with the Sony too. Try it and let us know. In order to compare, you should just bring the Sony upstairs so you will be using the same speakers in the same place, and use the same music for comparison, obviously.

Note: speakers in different rooms can sound like different speakers.

 

[deebrown99]

I cannot find any specs for those speakers. They are probably made ages ago and if so, they will sound "warm" if "warm" means emphasized bass/mid bass and roll off in the high frequency range. That's just based on my memories of the Whafedale speakers in the old days. If true, they will sound "warm" to you, with the Sony too. Try it and let us know. In order to compare, you should just bring the Sony upstairs so you will be using the same speakers in the same place, and use the same music for comparison, obviously.

Note: speakers in different rooms can sound like different speakers.

Room size is a big factor I'd say.
The Sony and BX5's in a large room (2 small rooms knocked into one).
The Marantz and Wharfs in a box bedroom (big enough for a sofa bed now turned into a 2nd TV room.
I remember when I first got the Wharfs for nothing I hooked it up to the Sony and I could swear they sounded really good if not better than my new BX5's.

 

[PENG]

Room size is a big factor I'd say.
The Sony and BX5's in a large room (2 small rooms knocked into one).
The Marantz and Wharfs in a box bedroom (big enough for a sofa bed now turned into a 2nd TV room.
I remember when I first got the Wharfs for nothing I hooked it up to the Sony and I could swear they sounded really good if not better than my new BX5's.

I would agree with that in general, that the same speakers can sound cozier in a small room, and brighter, thinner in a larger room.

 

[deebrown99]

I cannot find any specs for those speakers. They are probably made ages ago and if so, they will sound "warm" if "warm" means emphasized bass/mid bass and roll off in the high frequency range. That's just based on my memories of the Whafedale speakers in the old days. If true, they will sound "warm" to you, with the Sony too. Try it and let us know. In order to compare, you should just bring the Sony upstairs so you will be using the same speakers in the same place, and use the same music for comparison, obviously.

Note: speakers in different rooms can sound like different speakers.

I'll be back in touch after the weekend's listening

 

[deebrown99]

I cannot find any specs for those speakers. They are probably made ages ago and if so, they will sound "warm" if "warm" means emphasized bass/mid bass and roll off in the high frequency range. That's just based on my memories of the Whafedale speakers in the old days. If true, they will sound "warm" to you, with the Sony too. Try it and let us know. In order to compare, you should just bring the Sony upstairs so you will be using the same speakers in the same place, and use the same music for comparison, obviously.

Note: speakers in different rooms can sound like different speakers.

I posted this in the other thread

 

[lovinthehd]

Some electronics can so you can always add external cooling help.

I emailed a dealer I bought the Sony AV and Speaker's from about the bright sounding combination and they agreed a Marantz would bring a bit of warmth to it. I'm from Ireland and over in the UK they talk in terms like bright warmth etc. But I already thought in those terms myself. When I bought my first stereo system the bass felt soft with no punch so I got what they were saying when they talked about brightness etc

Still sounds like nonsense, and many dealers thrive on nonsense of such (or wires, or other tweaks). Much of the Marantz nonsense about warmth comes from Marantz gear that hasn't been made in several decades.

 

[deebrown99]

Some electronics can so you can always add external cooling help.


Still sounds like nonsense, and many dealers thrive on nonsense of such (or wires, or other tweaks). Much of the Marantz nonsense about warmth comes from Marantz gear that hasn't been made in several decades.

Fair enough. But is that not why u have to carefully match speaker's and amps

 

[lovinthehd]

Fair enough. But is that not why u have to carefully match speaker's and amps

Not at all. You match by the power and the impedance handling capabilities needed to drive your speakers to desired levels in terms of amplification, or particular features desired in an integrated amp or receiver. They are components, meant to work with a wide variety of other components.

 

[deebrown99]

Not at all. You match by the power and the impedance handling capabilities needed to drive your speakers to desired levels in terms of amplification, or particular features desired in an integrated amp or receiver. They are components, meant to work with a wide variety of other components.

I see. Thank you for the help and response

 

[lovinthehd]

I see. Thank you for the help and response

There is a lot of voodoo in audio, don't get distracted by it. In this forum you'll largely be dissuaded from such at least....

Play around with this for example http://www.hometheaterengineering.com/splcalculator.html

 

[PENG]

View attachment 61409
I posted this in the other thread

I knew that but that's not enough to determine if the speaker is designed to sound warm, bright, neutral or whatever. We would need to see the impedance and frequency response curve on/off axis at the minimum. Not too many speaker manufacturers published all of those specs so we typically would rely on 3rd party reviews with measurements.

 

[PENG]

I see. Thank you for the help and response

Google is your more reliable friend, not dealers, reviewers and forum people like us. But even your more reliable friends, such as Google, you have to be careful reading what you find. For example, if the author(s) don't appear to have more than the basic scientific knowledge in the topic(s), leave them alone and go with those that appear to have the knowledge, and believe in science instead of hearsay. Or if they are biased, such as written by someone who obviously have vested interested in promoting certain gear, while pretending to say things based on science by throwing around some seemingly technical jargon. The dealer talks about the Marantz warmth are expected because a) as HD pointed out, b) they may actually believe it themselves, based on hearsay and groupthink in the audio circule/industry, c) it's easier for them to agree with you, so you don't focus on the speakers they sell, but your amps, receivers etc..

Think about the power (and how it works) of hearsay for a moment, using your own thread as an example, you started talking about the Marantz warmth yourself! So, if we don't give you some counter points, but instead, agreeing, especially if we had a few Marantz devices ourselves, then other readers would read the posts and might become part of the big hearsay/groupthink generator; and the Marantz warmth belief would eventually become the "truth" over time, when it should have been more correctly considered a "myth" by that time. That's could well be how it actually happened over time! Though in the beginning, like 50 years ago, it probably was true to some extent, that Marantz had designed some tube, and then SS gear that would sound soft, dull, dark, with high frequency roll off, could have been achieved via intentional or unintentional lower damping factor than the average at the time.

Disclosure: I owned, still own multiple Marantz devices, among a few others I have also owned/still own. They (mine) are all transparent, it's the speakers and the room that determine the bright, warm, neutral "sound", assuming the media recording/mastering about neutral.

 

[deebrown99]

Google is your more reliable friend, not dealers, reviewers and forum people like us. But even your more reliable friends, such as Google, you have to be careful reading what you find. For example, if the author(s) don't appear to have more than the basic scientific knowledge in the topic(s), leave them alone and go with those that appear to have the knowledge, and believe in science instead of hearsay. Or if they are biased, such as written by someone who obviously have vested interested in promoting certain gear, while pretending to say things based on science by throwing around some seemingly technical jargon. The dealer talks about the Marantz warmth are expected because a) as HD pointed out, b) they may actually believe it themselves, based on hearsay and groupthink in the audio circule/industry, c) it's easier for them to agree with you, so you don't focus on the speakers they sell, but your amps, receivers etc..

Think about the power (and how it works) of hearsay for a moment, using your own thread as an example, you started talking about the Marantz warmth yourself! So, if we don't give you some counter points, but instead, agreeing, especially if we had a few Marantz devices ourselves, then other readers would read the posts and might become part of the big hearsay/groupthink generator; and the Marantz warmth belief would eventually become the "truth" over time, when it should have been more correctly considered a "myth" by that time. That's could well be how it actually happened over time! Though in the beginning, like 50 years ago, it probably was true to some extent, that Marantz had designed some tube, and then SS gear that would sound soft, dull, dark, with high frequency roll off, could have been achieved via intentional or unintentional lower damping factor than the average at the time.

Disclosure: I owned, still own multiple Marantz devices, among a few others I have also owned/still own. They (mine) are all transparent, it's the speakers and the room that determine the bright, warm, neutral "sound", assuming the media recording/mastering about neutral.

Thank you for the insight, I bow to ur technical knowledge Sir Slumlord .
I got a reply from the dealer and he explained that because the Sony doesn't have the inputs I can't use the pre outs from the Marantz. I'm new to that stuff so I'll heed ur advice and just enjoy each system separately. I can always switch between them and the speakers etc to see how they sound.
Because of articles I was reading about different systems I seemed to veer toward Marantz and then got my hands on that older one. While not quite vintage I thought it might sound better that the newer Sony.
I'm always tweaking to get the best sound so I'll enjoy doing that again.
I use the Boston Soundware 5.1 system as my surrounds and sub if u want to go down another rabbit hole ha ha

 

[deebrown99]

There is a lot of voodoo in audio, don't get distracted by it. In this forum you'll largely be dissuaded from such at least....

Play around with this for example http://www.hometheaterengineering.com/splcalculator.html

Cheers for that I'll try it out.

 

[deebrown99]

Thank you for the insight, I bow to ur technical knowledge Sir Slumlord .
I got a reply from the dealer and he explained that because the Sony doesn't have the outputs I can't get the sound from the Marantz. I'm new to that stuff so I'll heed ur advice and just enjoy each system separately. I can always switch between them and the speakers etc to see how they sound.
Because of articles I was reading about different systems I seemed to veer toward Marantz and then got my hands on that older one. While not quite vintage I thought it might sound better that the newer Sony.
I'm always tweaking to get the best sound so I'll enjoy doing that again.
I use the Boston Soundware 5.1 system as my surrounds and sub if u want to go down another rabbit hole ha ha

 

[deebrown99]

I cannot find any specs for those speakers. They are probably made ages ago and if so, they will sound "warm" if "warm" means emphasized bass/mid bass and roll off in the high frequency range. That's just based on my memories of the Whafedale speakers in the old days. If true, they will sound "warm" to you, with the Sony too. Try it and let us know. In order to compare, you should just bring the Sony upstairs so you will be using the same speakers in the same place, and use the same music for comparison, obviously.

Note: speakers in different rooms can sound like different speakers.

I brought the Marantz downstairs to hook it up to the BX5's. Straight away I was enjoying the surround sound during some test clips. As there was no need to calibrate the surrounds were higher than usual and more noticeable. Switching to music instruments were rich and standing out. I tried a song I haven't listened to in 26 years "Staring at the Sun" only because I remember hearing it one time and there was a major difference where there is a great thump as all the band kick in together. It started with a great pace and bang there it was... Guitar, bass and that thump off the drums combining. It sounded fantastic. I tried it on the Sony upstairs and the song was like it was running through mud. Very slow. But I felt the Sony paired well with the Wharfadele's.
After a week with the Marantz I love it's sound but I miss the modern audio codecs and may upgrade the Sony as I now have a 4K OLED and miss DTS audio.
I'll use the Marantz back upstairs for music and movies.