Marantz pm6006 internal DAC vs Topping e30 and khadas tone board

[matazooma]

Hello FMs,

I have a question here..
Is Marantz pm6006 's internal DAC comparable with Topping e30 and Khadas tone board? Or these entry level DACs are much better than the marantz's.
Can anyone who had heard these share their inputs?

Another follow up question..
If I purchase a Marantz pm5005 and add an external DAC like Topping e30 or KTB, would it be significantly better than marantz pm6006? I will be using laptop or desktop as source and the speakers will be desktop speakers.

Regards

 

[matazooma]

Correction..Bookshelf speakers...

 

[spaace]

Check this out Asr review master index

 

[spaace]

Most likely yes the external dac will be better.

 

[raghupb]

Try the Marantz first. They are easy listening implementation.
Khadas tone board can be a bit too much resolution.
I found it so, way too much detail and frankly tiring.
No idea about topping products

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[Passive_audio_enthusiast]

Try the Marantz first. They are easy listening implementation.
Khadas tone board can be a bit too much resolution.
I found it so, way too much detail and frankly tiring.
No idea about topping products

Cheers,
Raghu

How can too much resolution be a bad thing? May be too much of peaky ness of certain frequency can be fatiguing. But objectively the khadas and the topping are perfect in this regard. But Marantz amps can the problem child here.

 

[raghupb]

Maybe I should reword my impression.
I found the Khadas TB implementation of the ESS DAC chip a bit lean and top heavy.
Listening fatigue set in very soon as compared to Marantz's implementation/presentation
KTB measures well apparently, so yeah objectively a better DAC, subjectively it is up to OP's ear and taste.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[sanjivnayak]

I think PM6006 does not have digital input so can it be used as an external DAC.

 

[raghupb]

I think PM6006 does not have digital input so can it be used as an external DAC.

PM5005 is the analog only amp. PM6006 has 1 coax, 2 opt inputs.
But the OP wants to use laptop/desktop as source. So lack of USB input may be a shortcoming on PM6006.
Cheers,
Raghu

 

[jai1611]

How can too much resolution be a bad thing? May be too much of peaky ness of certain frequency can be fatiguing. But objectively the khadas and the topping are perfect in this regard. But Marantz amps can the problem child here

Two issues which can make very high resolution unpleasant in the real world: a) poor quality rooms (a very real problem outside a studio) b) poor quality recordings (unfortunately common for non-audiophile music types)

The other issue specific to ESS based boards is their particular brand of IMD, which is an audible annoyance for some people.

 

[matazooma]

Try the Marantz first. They are easy listening implementation.
Khadas tone board can be a bit too much resolution.
I found it so, way too much detail and frankly tiring.
No idea about topping products

Cheers,
Raghu

Thanks for the info.

 

[MaSh]

Hello FMs,

I have a question here..
Is Marantz pm6006 's internal DAC comparable with Topping e30 and Khadas tone board? Or these entry level DACs are much better than the marantz's.
Can anyone who had heard these share their inputs?

Another follow up question..
If I purchase a Marantz pm5005 and add an external DAC like Topping e30 or KTB, would it be significantly better than marantz pm6006? I will be using laptop or desktop as source and the speakers will be desktop speakers.

Regards

Dac aside I think 6006 is a better amp than the 5005. The dac in 6006 is a bonus and is actually not bad. An external dac with the 6006 (if you did not like it's dac) will only take your system to a higher level.

Alak having separates gets you flexibility to switch just that component that does not fit in.

MaSh

 

[Passive_audio_enthusiast]

Two issues which can make very high resolution unpleasant in the real world: a) poor quality rooms (a very real problem outside a studio) b) poor quality recordings (unfortunately common for non-audiophile music types)

The other issue specific to ESS based boards is their particular brand of IMD, which is an audible annoyance for some people.

It’s not “resolution” the problem. It’s always a good thing. But if the extra resolution comes by boosting up certain frequencies, then we have a problem. If not on a flat frequency response dac if it’s fast enough it will automatically have resolution to portrait everything on the recording. Imd humb is essentially a frequency distortion which produces the flare effect on the Sabre dacs. Yeah and that is annoying.

 

[premoddev]

Hello FMs,

I have a question here..
Is Marantz pm6006 's internal DAC comparable with Topping e30 and Khadas tone board? Or these entry level DACs are much better than the marantz's.
Can anyone who had heard these share their inputs?

Another follow up question..
If I purchase a Marantz pm5005 and add an external DAC like Topping e30 or KTB, would it be significantly better than marantz pm6006? I will be using laptop or desktop as source and the speakers will be desktop speakers.

Regards

As long as you can't connect your laptop or desktop through USB to pm6006, you wouldn't be able to use the inbuilt DAC. So no point of investing more on the AMP and end up using your PC's low quality DAC.

I would suggest go with Marantz pm 5005 and buy a USB capable external DAC, which will definitely a better option in your scenario.

Cheers

 

[matazooma]

As long as you can't connect your laptop or desktop through USB to pm6006, you wouldn't be able to use the inbuilt DAC. So no point of investing more on the AMP and end up using your PC's low quality DAC.

I would suggest go with Marantz pm 5005 and buy a USB capable external DAC, which will definitely a better option in your scenario.

Cheers

@premoddev . Thank you... But my PC has a optical spdif output which I can use to connect to pm6006.

 

[matazooma]

Dac aside I think 6006 is a better amp than the 5005. The dac in 6006 is a bonus and is actually not bad. An external dac with the 6006 (if you did not like it's dac) will only take your system to a higher level.

Alak having separates gets you flexibility to switch just that component that does not fit in.

MaSh

Thanks @MaSh . Is pm6006 significantly better an amp than pm5005?

 

[MaSh]

Thanks @MaSh . Is pm6006 significantly better an amp than pm5005?

Yes I would believe so.

MaSh