Purchased Marantz BD8002!

[zumbo]

I just purchased a new Marantz BD8002 from the Audioholics store! I chose this unit because it will decode Dolby Digital Plus/True HD, DTS-HD Master Audio, and output via 7.1 analog out. This means I don't have to replace my receiver! I am stoked!

http://store.audioholics.com/product/1838/76/marantz-bd8002-blu-ray-disc-player

 

[Adam]

Congrats, Zumbo! Looks like a real nice unit.

FYI, Onecall has that on sale this weekend for $1800 with free shipping. You might want to reconsider buying it from the AH Store, or at least ask them to price match.

Adam

 

[zumbo]

Congrats, Zumbo! Looks like a real nice unit.

FYI, Onecall has that on sale this weekend for $1800 with free shipping. You might want to reconsider buying it from the AH Store, or at least ask them to price match.

Adam

Audioholics has provided years of free reviews, hands-on experience, tips and tricks that made my system 100% better, contact information for superb products I never knew about, and this forum which I have thoroughly enjoyed. They have become family to me, and you just can't put a price on any of that.

 

[Adam]

Audioholics has provided years of free reviews, hands-on experience, tips and tricks that made my system 100% better, contact information for superb products I never knew about, and this forum which I have thoroughly enjoyed. They have become family to me, and you just can't put a price on any of that.

Well, I can D), but I certainly commend you on your loyalty!

 

[zumbo]

Well, I can D), but I certainly commend you on your loyalty!

Funny, I see SVS an Emotiva in your sig. Did these great products just pop in your head?

 

[Adam]

Funny, I see SVS an Emotiva in your sig. Did these great products just pop in your head?

I think that I found Audioholics originally because I was researching SVS products. I actually started posting here once I ordered my Ultra.

As for Emotiva...uggg. I got sucked into the hype here, and it is a regret of mine.

I was actually being sincere about respecting your loyalty. I think that's an admirable quality.

 

[zumbo]

I think that I found Audioholics originally because I was researching SVS products. I actually started posting here once I ordered my Ultra.

Cool.

As for Emotiva...uggg. I got sucked into the hype here, and it is a regret of mine.

I chose Adcom before Emo came out. I have been pleased, and it has supplied great service.

I was actually being sincere about respecting your loyalty. I think that's an admirable quality.

I believe that. That is certainly the way I took it. Thank you.

 

[zumbo]

One other reason I chose the Marantz over others is that it offers bass management. It was such a disappointment when I purchased my Yamaha DVD-A player, only to find out it had a set x-over of 100Hz for multi-channel outputs. 100Hz, what the h#!! kind of factory x-over is that? And to boot, my Yamaha receiver does not manage bass when utilizing multi-channel inputs. Heck, you would think that products from the same company would understand this feature was needed on at least one of the units. I ended-up listening to the DTS 5.1 track over the DVD-A track.

 

[Davemcc]

Nice player. I suspect that Realta chipset is going to be a nice bonus for you too.

 

[adk highlander]

Wow that looks like one sweet player.

It is one heck of a chunk of change. I don't know if I could rationalize that kind of money for a player. I hope it lives up to all of your expectations.

 

[zumbo]

Wow that looks like one sweet player.

It is one heck of a chunk of change. I don't know if I could rationalize that kind of money for a player. I hope it lives up to all of your expectations.

My other option would have me replacing my receiver with a new one or a pre-pro. As I stated above, I got stuck with my last player. Bass management is an extremely important feature for me. I weighed all of my options, and this one cost less to achieve the quality and control I needed.

While other players may have 5.1/7.1 analog outputs that output Dolby TrueHD, and DTSHD- Master Audio, I didn't find one that offered bass management along with the quality components of this unit for a better value.

 

[jostenmeat]

One other reason I chose the Marantz over others is that it offers bass management. It was such a disappointment when I purchased my Yamaha DVD-A player, only to find out it had a set x-over of 100Hz for multi-channel outputs. 100Hz, what the h#!! kind of factory x-over is that? And to boot, my Yamaha receiver does not manage bass when utilizing multi-channel inputs. Heck, you would think that products from the same company would understand this feature was needed on at least one of the units. I ended-up listening to the DTS 5.1 track over the DVD-A track.

My other option would have me replacing my receiver with a new one or a pre-pro. As I stated above, I got stuck with my last player. Bass management is an extremely important feature for me. I weighed all of my options, and this one cost less to achieve the quality and control I needed.

While other players may have 5.1/7.1 analog outputs that output Dolby TrueHD, and DTSHD- Master Audio, I didn't find one that offered bass management along with the quality components of this unit for a better value.

Well, color me blue! -> <-

Hehe, congrats zumbo. So I presume you've researched any inherent LFE cuts from the player? No cut? Boost available?

 

[zumbo]

Well, color me blue! -> <-

Hehe, congrats zumbo. So I presume you've researched any inherent LFE cuts from the player? No cut? Boost available?

Didn't research that. Not aware of that being a problem with the Marantz, but I am certainly not too lazy to walk over to my sub and adjust the gain at the beginning of my program.

If you have some information about this issue, then by all means, spill the beans. I haven't followed any blu-ray issues, I just had the money from working two weeks of overtime to buy a unit. Looked at my options/needs that I mentioned above, and found the player that filled those needs the best.

 

[BobSD]

HI Zumbo, after reading your post made up my mind and just got off the phone with Chrutchfield, been putting off buying one, but you did it! I will be using it in digital and analog because I have two systems, so now I have completed my search, thanks good buddy!!

 

[zumbo]

HI Zumbo, after reading your post made up my mind and just got off the phone with Chrutchfield, been putting off buying one, but you did it! I will be using it in digital and analog because I have two systems, so now I have completed my search, thanks good buddy!!

Crutchfield? But, but, this is Audioholics.

http://store.audioholics.com/product/1838/76/marantz-bd8002-blu-ray-disc-player

 

[mike c]

don't forget pictures zumbo! (front and back)

 

[zumbo]

don't forget pictures zumbo! (front and back)

Will do, when it gets here. For now, you will have to view it like me.

http://store.audioholics.com/product/1838/76/marantz-bd8002-blu-ray-disc-player

 

[jostenmeat]

Didn't research that. Not aware of that being a problem with the Marantz, but I am certainly not too lazy to walk over to my sub and adjust the gain at the beginning of my program.

This is still a serious compromise, and I'll explain why. Assuming that you actually apply x-over to at least one speaker, if not all, your sub is not only just outputting LFE. It is also outputting all summed bass (rerouted bass) that would normally go to you other speakers if they were set to large.

IOW, by turning the sub gain to get the correct LFE level, you have also now disproportionately raised your summed bass at the same time. Therefore, if you turn up sub 10 db to get it even, your summed bass is all running as 10db too hot.

I just searched a bit for you regarding this player. I have nothing definitive as of yet, but will share what I have found thus far. Before I do, most players that output via m-ch analogs have LFE cuts. Typical is -10db, but I think I've seen -20db, and other variations.

The latest post in the AVS 8002 thread says this (however, this is PRESUMED that this unit is identical to the Denon 3800):

Player decodes and outputs over MCH Analog Outs and Source Direct OFF
1) People who own non-HDMI receivers or can't handle MCH LPCM over HDMI.
2) The DAC's in the player are much better than the receiver's DAC's.
3) As explained in point 2 above, you WILL get -15dB drop if ANY speakers are set to SMALL due to redirected LFE. This has been a limitation of analog since the early days of analog decoding. People are just discovering this quirk because we've been digital for so long! Same necessity to further boost +5 in the AVR/prepro applies since the player maxes out at +10dB for LFE. If that additional +5 boost is a problem, set all speakers to LARGE.

Player decodes and outputs over MCH Analog Outs and Source Direct ON
1) Similar to above with the exception that your AVR/prepro has the capability to post process over the MCH analog outs. It is rare to be able to redigitize and apply delay, BM, etc. after the player's DAC but these processors do exist. Most analog users will want Source Direct OFF.

Most of these findings I've discovered on my own but I wasn't able to connect the similarities b/w HDMI Source Direct OFF and analog MCH out until I read Kris' review of the 3800:

"All 7.1 channels feature full bass management and level controls for PCM signals sent via the HDMI or analog outputs. In my experience, level adjustments over HDMI are unique to the DVD-3800BDCI."

That little passage made me realize that for better or worse, Denon gave the user much more flexibility than anyone could possibly imagine. It also gave the possiblity of users like sharok discovering the "-5dB hole" that is normal to analog users but unique to HDMI until you consider that with Source Direct OFF, it acts exactly like analog!

So in conclusion, this "-5dB hole" is easily accounted for by:

1) Boosting LFE by +5 in the AVR/prepro
2) Setting all speakers to LARGE (prevents redirected LFE and the -5dB)
3) Simply turning Source Direct to ON and letting the receiver do all the work.

Remember, this "-5dB hole" is normal when redirected LFE is involved. It is not like the common LFE bug but we took notice because what we should have expected in analog was happening to HDMI with Source Direct OFF.

Edit: If you would like further reading on the common -10dB for LFE vs the -15dB LFE w/redirected bass, please read the first post of this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=748147

Remember, that it comes from the analog angle but fits very well with what is happening with HDMI and Source Direct OFF (with at least one speaker set to SMALL of course).

Edit: Note that the -15dB referenced above for LFE is due to the fact that LFE is recorded -10dB to begin with and there is a further -5dB drop from redirected LFE. If Source Direct is ON, then LFE will be the conventional -10dB lower than the other channels as expected; if you are doing HDMI LPCM, then the +10dB must be provided by the AVR/prepro.

I hope it works out, and you find the solution you need. You may have FW updates coming your way. My own bdp, the Pana BD-30 had a -5db cut that I did know about when purchasing, and was fixed about a month later, IIRC.

-jostenmeat

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

This is still a serious compromise, and I'll explain why. Assuming that you actually apply x-over to at least one speaker, if not all, your sub is not only just outputting LFE. It is also outputting all summed bass (rerouted bass) that would normally go to you other speakers if they were set to large.

IOW, by turning the sub gain to get the correct LFE level, you have also now disproportionately raised your summed bass at the same time. Therefore, if you turn up sub 10 db to get it even, your summed bass is all running as 10db too hot.

I just searched a bit for you regarding this player. I have nothing definitive as of yet, but will share what I have found thus far. Before I do, most players that output via m-ch analogs have LFE cuts. Typical is -10db, but I think I've seen -20db, and other variations.

The latest post in the AVS 8002 thread says this (however, this is PRESUMED that this unit is identical to the Denon 3800):



I hope it works out, and you find the solution you need. You may have FW updates coming your way. My own bdp, the Pana BD-30 had a -5db cut that I did know about when purchasing, and was fixed about a month later, IIRC.

-jostenmeat

Okay, I have my DVD-3800BDCI set to Large Speakers and Source Direct On, which bypasses Bass Management and converts all signals to Analog before going out of the player.

My understanding is that since bass management cannot be done in the analog domain, the analog would have to be converted back to PCM (Analog-to-Digital Converter) in the AVR/Pre-Pro.

This would increase distortion.

If you want bass management, why not just turn Source Direct to OFF. This will keep the signal in PCM form and sent to the AVR/Pre-pro via HDMI. Then you can do Bass Management in the AVR/Pre-pro without having to convert Analog back to PCM.

I think the only reason anybody would want Source Direct on is because they have all full-range speakers and don't want to mess with bass management to begin with - people who believe that LESS processing is BEST.

An example would be the SACD players. If you want to keep your SACD in DSD-direct, you have to use Source Direct. Otherwise, the DSD would convert to PCM if you turn Source Direct to OFF.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I just purchased a new Marantz BD8002 from the Audioholics store! I chose this unit because it will decode Dolby Digital Plus/True HD, DTS-HD Master Audio, and output via 7.1 analog out. This means I don't have to replace my receiver! I am stoked!

http://store.audioholics.com/product/1838/76/marantz-bd8002-blu-ray-disc-player

CONGRATS on your spanking shinny new BD player, Zumbo!

I love my Denon DVD-3800BDCI, and I'm sure you will love your new Marantz BD8002!