Upgrade Marantz NR1509 to add Streamer+DAC

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What would be a good upgrade to add to the Marantz NR1509 pre-out which would work as both streamer + DAC?
If there is a single piece of equipment that can do the job then I can think about spending say 70-80k.

Basic requirement is to play Tidal Master quality audio MQA via either phone or from laptop wirelessly.

Please advice on the same.
 
Uh ....
You need to hold your horses, before planning to spend large monies.

NR1509 preout can only go to another power amp.
DAC/Streamer comes before the AVR. They would do some stuff and let the AVR do some more.
If your AVR supports Spotify/Tidal streaming, try that and evaluate how it sounds.
Compare it with say the same songs via laptop/USB or CD.
Also check how Normal-Res & Hi-Res audio sounds on your system.
Then decide on vanilla DAC, MQA DAC, etc

Since you have opened a new thread, this is a repeat of what I said on @swamytk thread
You can track it from here onward.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
Pre- out on your Marantz NR1509 can be only connected to external power amplifier in case you need more power to derive your speakers .
There are few options to get Tidal Masters play back on your Marantz avr......
1. Install Tidal desktop app on your Laptop and connect Laptop HDMI output to AVR HDMI input port. Tidal desktop app will do first unfold of MQA and will send data to AVR DAC.
2. Purchase ifi ZEN Dac, use Laptop or phone to stream Tidal music and send it to Zen dac through USB port. Zen dac will do MQA as well as PCM decoding and analog output can be connected to Avr analog input.
3. Blusound node 2i...
 
Do you feel anything lacking with the your AVR in terms of SQ ? If not then dont bother spending on a DAC/Streamer , the preouts are to be given to a power amplifier. This is how the chain would look like if you want to keep the AVR in picture , Source/Streamer -> DAC (If streamer doesnt have one) -> DAC analog to AVR -> AVR Preout to Power Amplifier.

If your intent is just to stream Tidal, you can install HEOS app. Change the country of HEOS to any country which has Tidal subscription and you will be able to see the application under HEOS platform. Then you can stream tidal from phone using HEOS app.
If you intend to use full MQA capabilites then yes you will need to spend on a streamer like Bluesound Node 2i.
 
What would be a good upgrade to add to the Marantz NR1509 pre-out which would work as both streamer + DAC?
If there is a single piece of equipment that can do the job then I can think about spending say 70-80k.

Basic requirement is to play Tidal Master quality audio MQA via either phone or from laptop wirelessly.

Please advice on the same.
Welcome to the forum. Looks like you have the components a bit mixed up.

Preout on any component is an Analog variable signal meant to go an amplifier to drive the speakers.

If you need to add a source to your Setup, it needs to come before the Preamp stage. That said, which ever streamer you add, needs To Be connected to an Input on the matantz receiver.

Hope that clears your confusion.

@Mayank Shah has a lovely audio lab 6000n streamer on sale. Check it out. It's got optical and coaxial output which you can connect to the corresponding inputs on your matantz.

MsSh
 
Welcome to the forum. Looks like you have the components a bit mixed up.

Preout on any component is an Analog variable signal meant to go an amplifier to drive the speakers.

If you need to add a source to your Setup, it needs to come before the Preamp stage. That said, which ever streamer you add, needs To Be connected to an Input on the matantz receiver.

Hope that clears your confusion.

@Mayank Shah has a lovely audio lab 6000n streamer on sale. Check it out. It's got optical and coaxial output which you can connect to the corresponding inputs on your matantz.

MsSh
Thanks for the clarification. I decided to hold off upgrading the HT for now.
 
Thanks for the clarification. I decided to hold off upgrading the HT for now.
he he thats good. Receivers are like Mobiles, there is a new one every year. Our needs don't change that often. Upgrade when the new version has something one absolutely needs. It gives me some kind of satisfaction when I see a component getting utilized to its max.

MaSh
 
he he thats good. Receivers are like Mobiles, there is a new one every year. Our needs don't change that often. Upgrade when the new version has something one absolutely needs. It gives me some kind of satisfaction when I see a component getting utilized to its max.

MaSh
Yeah makes sense.
 
he he thats good. Receivers are like Mobiles, there is a new one every year. Our needs don't change that often. Upgrade when the new version has something one absolutely needs. It gives me some kind of satisfaction when I see a component getting utilized to its max.

MaSh

Well decided to give in to the HT upgrade hitch and decided to stick with Wharf. So upgrading from the Diamond 225 to 11.4 FS including the 11 CS.

Now the Marantz NR1509 wasn't cut out for such speakers so decided to go for Pioneer LX 503 which claims 110w output 2ch driven for 8ohms.

The Wharf 11 series are 8ohms which requires 50-175w amp power.
Is that amount of Amp power enough to drives the speakers or is there a chance of damage?

If other FMs can chime in as this is a major and costly upgrade for me.
@swamytk @DB1989 @raghupb

Thanks in advance.
 
Well decided to give in to the HT upgrade hitch and decided to stick with Wharf. So upgrading from the Diamond 225 to 11.4 FS including the 11 CS.

Now the Marantz NR1509 wasn't cut out for such speakers so decided to go for Pioneer LX 503 which claims 110w output 2ch driven for 8ohms.

The Wharf 11 series are 8ohms which requires 50-175w amp power.
Is that amount of Amp power enough to drives the speakers or is there a chance of damage?

If other FMs can chime in as this is a major and costly upgrade for me.

Thanks in advance.
Yes the pioneer is capable enough to drive the speakers. Seems to be a very good receiver on paper. Do post your listening impressions. It's always nice to hear about a receiver that's not a denon or marantz.

MaSh
 
Yes the pioneer is capable enough to drive the speakers. Seems to be a very good receiver on paper. Do post your listening impressions. It's always nice to hear about a receiver that's not a denon or marantz.

MaSh

Thanks for the assurance.
Didn't get any 110w 2 ch driven receiver unless you go over 1L budget. My Marantz had a firmware issue for which i had to send it to Mumbai.
That kinda put me off from the brand which I so much loved.
Yamaha Aventage A880 was one of the choices but cudnt get anything better than the Pioneer for the price i was quoted.
Will surely let everyone know once I also get the speakers.
 
Thanks for the assurance.
Didn't get any 110w 2 ch driven receiver unless you go over 1L budget. My Marantz had a firmware issue for which i had to send it to Mumbai.
That kinda put me off from the brand which I so much loved.
Yamaha Aventage A880 was one of the choices but cudnt get anything better than the Pioneer for the price i was quoted.
Will surely let everyone know once I also get the speakers.
Well decided to give in to the HT upgrade hitch and decided to stick with Wharf. So upgrading from the Diamond 225 to 11.4 FS including the 11 CS.

Now the Marantz NR1509 wasn't cut out for such speakers so decided to go for Pioneer LX 503 which claims 110w output 2ch driven for 8ohms.

The Wharf 11 series are 8ohms which requires 50-175w amp power.
Is that amount of Amp power enough to drives the speakers or is there a chance of damage?

If other FMs can chime in as this is a major and costly upgrade for me.
@swamytk @DB1989 @raghupb

Thanks in advance.
If you've decided to go ahead with the Pioneer, Congrats! In case you haven't pulled the trigger, you may look into concerns by other FMs regarding Pioneer no longer supporting their products officially in India.

Also, IMHO, I would've opted for a power amplifier if I had to allocate my budget towards a component considering the NR1509 has front pre-outs. In my experience with mid range AVRS, i've noted that even a half decent inexpensive integrated amplifier sounds better than speakers being driven directly by an AVR. Case in point, my speakers driven through a PM6006 connected to the pre-outs of my SR6013 sound better than the speakers being driven by the AVR directly.
 
Well decided to give in to the HT upgrade hitch and decided to stick with Wharf. So upgrading from the Diamond 225 to 11.4 FS including the 11 CS.

Now the Marantz NR1509 wasn't cut out for such speakers so decided to go for Pioneer LX 503 which claims 110w output 2ch driven for 8ohms.

The Wharf 11 series are 8ohms which requires 50-175w amp power.
Is that amount of Amp power enough to drives the speakers or is there a chance of damage?

If other FMs can chime in as this is a major and costly upgrade for me.
@swamytk @DB1989 @raghupb

Thanks in advance.
Buddy, I am so out of touch with AVRs and their offerings.
Don't know what the newer models are capable of.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
If you've decided to go ahead with the Pioneer, Congrats! In case you haven't pulled the trigger, you may look into concerns by other FMs regarding Pioneer no longer supporting their products officially in India.

Also, IMHO, I would've opted for a power amplifier if I had to allocate my budget towards a component considering the NR1509 has front pre-outs. In my experience with mid range AVRS, i've noted that even a half decent inexpensive integrated amplifier sounds better than speakers being driven directly by an AVR. Case in point, my speakers driven through a PM6006 connected to the pre-outs of my SR6013 sound better than the speakers being driven by the AVR directly.

Well that ship has already sailed.
I was inclined to get an integrated Amp but their power ratings put me off but i see your point.
But as indicated earlier to me that pre-out can only be connected to a power amp.
So I could use an integrated Amp along with the AVR? Say if I wanna take the LR channels load away from the AVR then i can add an integrated like yours and run them in conjunction with the AVR?
How is your setup...are all speakers running off the integrated?

Thanks
 
Well that ship has already sailed.
I was inclined to get an integrated Amp but their power ratings put me off but i see your point.
But as indicated earlier to me that pre-out can only be connected to a power amp.
So I could use an integrated Amp along with the AVR? Say if I wanna take the LR channels load away from the AVR then i can add an integrated like yours and run them in conjunction with the AVR?
How is your setup...are all speakers running off the integrated?

Thanks
In my setup, only the fronts are running off the integrated. Basically any amplifier which accepts rca (or xlr if your avr has xlr outs) can be connected to an AVRs preouts. Its rather straightforward. 45w of my pm6006 sounds more dynamic than 105w of my AVR. Theres a quality to watts and its not all about quantity.
 
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In my setup, only the fronts are running off the integrated. Basically any amplifier which accepts rca (or xlr if your avr has xlr outs) can be connected to an AVRs preouts. Its rather straightforward. 45w of my pm6006 sounds more dynamic than 105w of my AVR. Theres a quality to watts and its not all about quantity.

That's quite true seeing the power output of most of the integrated i see in the market. Even a costly Audiolab has 50w. But S5 has very little requirement and that too it's primarily a 6ohm.
Do you think a more hungry speaker with say 50-200w in 8ohms can be driven by a 50w integrated?

Thanks
 
That's quite true seeing the power output of most of the integrated i see in the market. Even a costly Audiolab has 50w. But S5 has very little requirement and that too it's primarily a 6ohm.
Do you think a more hungry speaker with say 50-200w in 8ohms can be driven by a 50w integrated?

Thanks
the S5 has a power handling rating of 40w-200w i believe with a minimum impedance of 3.2ohms and and the lower the impedance swings, the harder a speaker is considered to drive. The power handling requirements and weight of the speaker specified on hifimart is incorrect. :)

Coming to your query, I Haven’t had too much experience with amps and gear so i may not be the best person to answer it.However, from what i’ve read and seen, even a very low powered amp with only 8watts per channel can sound very good (Nelson Pass amp cam amp), irrespective of what the wattage requirements are specified by manufacturer. Plus, consider that some really good tube and Class A amps have power ratings much lesser than 40ws as well. There are some interesting power handling requirements specified by q acoustics on their website, check it out:

1599913446311.jpeg
 
Do you think a more hungry speaker with say 50-200w in 8ohms can be driven by a 50w integrated?

Thanks

check out this thread. A lot of users on here have the Nelson Pass Amp Camp Amp which is rated at 8 watts and they love it.

 
the S5 has a power handling rating of 40w-200w i believe with a minimum impedance of 3.2ohms and and the lower the impedance swings, the harder a speaker is considered to drive. The power handling requirements and weight of the speaker specified on hifimart is incorrect. :)

Coming to your query, I Haven’t had too much experience with amps and gear so i may not be the best person to answer it.However, from what i’ve read and seen, even a very low powered amp with only 8watts per channel can sound very good (Nelson Pass amp cam amp), irrespective of what the wattage requirements are specified by manufacturer. Plus, consider that some really good tube and Class A amps have power ratings much lesser than 40ws as well. There are some interesting power handling requirements specified by q acoustics on their website, check it out:

View attachment 49491

Hmm...this is getting serious for a noob like myself.
My basic understanding was that a lesser impedence speaker will be easier to drive than a higher one. But i am aware of dropping impedence...does that relate to what you say as 'swing' as compared to drive?

Thanks
 
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