Same source.
Tidal via Roon - Zen Dac - Marantz SR 7010 - Quad S2
Tidal via Roon - Zen Dac - PM 8006 - Quad S2.
I don't listen at very loud volumes. I am just as happy listening to music on the AVR. To be honest, I was all excited when I got the integrated home. I was expecting to be blown away. Nope, did not happen.
Haha. The Marantz PM 8006 is a very nice and capable amp. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to it at my place. It will probably play louder cleanly than my 7010. But at the volumes that I listen to and for the kind of music that I listen to, I won't be replacing my SR 7010 with the PM 8006 or for that matter any other integrated amp anytime soon.
The devil is very much in the details when you go up the spectrum. With a more capable pre/power/integrated, its not loudness per se but their ability to bring the subtleties and nuances of the music to the fore. And for that, one really needs to listen intently and hear for the differences. Most of us aren't bothered to listen to music that way and therefore, the differences don't jump out and bowl one over on a casual listen.
This was very apparent with my recent stint with the SMSL DA-9 while it was plugged into my main system (
it has now been moved inside where its nestled inconspicuously on the perfume drawer - the tiny footprint is a boon as well as the built in bluetooth which negates cable clutter, albeit at the loss of some fidelity that i can very much live with at the moment) as opposed to my Cambridge Audio CXA81 which is my daily driver now.
I would also emphasize that while trying to maximise mileage from any particular component in the chain, having a good quality component in every part of the chain matters. To elucidate, when playing audio from my computer, the prowess of the CXA81 was curtailed to a good degree, even when I had a capable DAC in the Chord Mojo and the RME ADI-2 DAC FS, not to mention the venerable Ifi Zen DAC. In fact, the Ifi Zen sounds near identical to the Chord when fed from the computer. It was only when I switched sources to check out what the entire hoopla about "bits are not just bits" by introducing the Allo Digione Signature that the CXA81 came alive and the Chord distinguished itself from its still very capable counterpart in the Ifi.
While the SMSL DA-9 is quite the capable amp and not a big downgrade on the CXA-81 as the price differential should suggest to a rational man, closer introspection reveals that the DA-9 simply does not possess the refinement of the former in the treble, the body in the mids or the grip in the bass. And the lack of grip in the bass is what surprised me, something which was not apparent till i connected the RELs using the high level input at the speaker terminals (
not that it would have mattered had I connected them straight to the amp terminals). Bass notes sounded like they were smoothened out with the details that I was otherwise accustomed to with the CXA81 missing, particularly the reverb and microsecond pauses in bass notes mostly if not entirely MIA with the DA-9.
Curiosity aroused, moving to the Marantz SR6013 painted a similar picture but what was immediately apparent in this comparison was its relatively subdued dynamic range when compared to the CXA81. Though the SR6013 did not sound like a lesser amp per se, a more intent listen again reveals the areas in which CXA81 tries to justify its heftier asking price and they are well worth it if one bothers to listen that close. I do find myself in that camp on certain occasions and therefore, grateful to the Cambridge for accomplishing its brief when called upon.
