Whats wrong with MARANTZ 6013!

[Akshit2111]

I have not taken demo of yamaha recently,but earlier models had similar sound signature(not very thick but enjoyable).
Currently Denon are marginally better than marantz(similar prize range models).Still power and headroom is an issue.Its not easy to say in words ,but demo can tell better.Listen in pure direct mode to know real sound signature.

Alright

 

[tuff]

@Akshit2111 As you know the owner of the shop, why not take the crown with you and use the Marantz preout's and see. This way you get the Marantz do the center/surrounds and let the crown handle the fronts. Just an idea.

 

[Akshit2111]

@Akshit2111 As you know the owner of the shop, why not take the crown with you and use the Marantz preout's and see. This way you get the Marantz do the center/surrounds and let the crown handle the fronts. Just an idea.

I have back crown..unfortunately sound was not upto my liking.. it was maybe the room i dont know what.. have sold my avr too.. getting the basics right.. getting an avr with preouts forst and then will add probably emotiva poweramp for music.

 

[hifitoaster]

what speakers were the marantz connected? Marantz AVRs are usually bad with lower impedance speakers . I have a older SR8500 which was one step down from their flagship model at its time. Rated at 125w per channel with 0.001% THD even on two channel its not tight, with my front speakers which are 8 ohms. My myryad integrated rated at 50w drives them better with authority. That being said, with older 8 ohm front speakers the amp was really good. Can be just an issue of poor matching, or the room itself.

 

[bornfi]

HiFi is a tricky thing to deal with. Please do not define what you like because every track is recorded differently so, you cannot say, you need more bass and treble etc.. because bass, treble, clarity etc have already been added to track carefully during master/recording stage. Number one, Bluetooth is not meant for audio unless a top-shelf interface like Wyred4Sound bLink kind of items are used. So, the source must be good. Good is like, really good - one can start with something like Benchmark DAC1 or higher as budget permits. as soon as you have right source connected to rest of the chain with a decent interconnect, rest of the chain should behave.

This is my experience out of my journey that started with a self-built amplifier to Sonodyne Uranus I to NAD C352 and now at a stage where my system costs as much as my car (though it is an old one ..lol...).

I did not mean to confuse but just wanted to share my opinion.

And, if you look at this closely, it is all about one's opinion. What sounds great to me, might sound trash to you.

But I can confidently tell you that a good DAC tells me that how nicely all these songs have been recorded, even the 30-40 years old ones. Wasn't that one of the aims of digital music?

 

[sandeepmohan]

If you are buying a Marantz AV receiver, it has to be the absolute top of the line model. Anything below this is best used as a processor and not to drive speakers. I had a similar experience when I accompanied a buddy about 5 years ago. Guess it was the 8 series. Except for the top end 8xxx series, the rest sounded junk. I recall the model being close to 1.5lac at the time. He bought the top of line Marantz AV receiver and after 6 months ended up buying an Emotiva XPA5 which quite literally woke up his Polk Audio Rti A9's. The sound changed so much that is was unbelievable and that too for a speaker that is pretty easy to drive.

You must listen to the Sony STRDN1080. It has been blowing the socks off pretty much all mid end AV receivers. While weight is not necessarily an indicator of quality, the other day, I was at an AV store where there were Pioneer, Onkyo, Denon and Sony all side by side. I casually lifted all the AV receivers. The Pioneer and Onkyo felt like lifting a cola can. The Sony was as heavy as a hollow block concrete brick.

It is not worth spending big bucks on a AV receiver. Get something that covers all your basic processing requirements and budget for a decent powered power amplifier from Emotiva XPA Gen 3, Monoprice Monolith 3 Channel, or an Outlaw 5000. This is guaranteed to wake up even the most difficult speaker loads.

 

[Akshit2111]

what speakers were the marantz connected? Marantz AVRs are usually bad with lower impedance speakers . I have a older SR8500 which was one step down from their flagship model at its time. Rated at 125w per channel with 0.001% THD even on two channel its not tight, with my front speakers which are 8 ohms. My myryad integrated rated at 50w drives them better with authority. That being said, with older 8 ohm front speakers the amp was really good. Can be just an issue of poor matching, or the room itself.

Since polks are bright.. i thought marantz are best suired to them as they hv warmer sound.. but the case was just the opposite.

 

[Akshit2111]

HiFi is a tricky thing to deal with. Please do not define what you like because every track is recorded differently so, you cannot say, you need more bass and treble etc.. because bass, treble, clarity etc have already been added to track carefully during master/recording stage. Number one, Bluetooth is not meant for audio unless a top-shelf interface like Wyred4Sound bLink kind of items are used. So, the source must be good. Good is like, really good - one can start with something like Benchmark DAC1 or higher as budget permits. as soon as you have right source connected to rest of the chain with a decent interconnect, rest of the chain should behave.

This is my experience out of my journey that started with a self-built amplifier to Sonodyne Uranus I to NAD C352 and now at a stage where my system costs as much as my car (though it is an old one ..lol...).

I did not mean to confuse but just wanted to share my opinion.

And, if you look at this closely, it is all about one's opinion. What sounds great to me, might sound trash to you.

But I can confidently tell you that a good DAC tells me that how nicely all these songs have been recorded, even the 30-40 years old ones. Wasn't that one of the aims of digital music?

My choice of source is limited to whats available with the demo ppl.. they wud play blu ray cd which i wont use so i keep it simple.. though i wud obviously listen to 5 channel but i think u get a better idea about SQ in 2 channel.

 

[Akshit2111]

If you are buying a Marantz AV receiver, it has to be the absolute top of the line model. Anything below this is best used as a processor and not to drive speakers. I had a similar experience when I accompanied a buddy about 5 years ago. Guess it was the 8 series. Except for the top end 8xxx series, the rest sounded junk. I recall the model being close to 1.5lac at the time. He bought the top of line Marantz AV receiver and after 6 months ended up buying an Emotiva XPA5 which quite literally woke up his Polk Audio Rti A9's. The sound changed so much that is was unbelievable and that too for a speaker that is pretty easy to drive.

You must listen to the Sony STRDN1080. It has been blowing the socks off pretty much all mid end AV receivers. While weight is not necessarily an indicator of quality, the other day, I was at an AV store where there were Pioneer, Onkyo, Denon and Sony all side by side. I casually lifted all the AV receivers. The Pioneer and Onkyo felt like lifting a cola can. The Sony was as heavy as a hollow block concrete brick.

It is not worth spending big bucks on a AV receiver. Get something that covers all your basic processing requirements and budget for a decent powered power amplifier from Emotiva XPA Gen 3, Monoprice Monolith 3 Channel, or an Outlaw 5000. This is guaranteed to wake up even the most difficult speaker loads.

The power amp that can drive polks wud be around 300 wpc. I hv shortlisted emotiva but wud consider it later down the line. Right now need help with selecting an avr. Wud pioneer lx303 be worth considering? Pioneer yamaha are much lesa talked about in this forum and marantz and denon are raved all over.. it feels risky to look outside of marantz and denon.. everyone talks about quality of marantz their build and everything that other brands get overlooked.

 

[Dr.vinayaka]

My choice of source is limited to whats available with the demo ppl.. they wud play blu ray cd which i wont use so i keep it simple.. though i wud obviously listen to 5 channel but i think u get a better idea about SQ in 2 channel.

I have recently purchased SR 6013 from hifimart. I have emotiva T1 towers and also centre and wharfaedale subwoofer and DFS surround and front height. . 9.1 setup.
My experience is awsome. Marantz more music and also have film punch. It is better than my pioneer vex- lx 302. I t is driving 4 ohm speakers awsome. Even at 30-35 volume I have punching bass. Pure direct mode- music awsome. Lagan title track looks really good. I think you need to talk to Mr.Anil from Hifimart and may need to go to Bombay for demo don’t buy in haste. Earlier when I discussed with him he suggested Marantz SR 5000 series at that time budget was concern so I ended up in pioneer and I had tough time with setting sound. But SR 6013 and Audyssey MultEQ XT for room correction you can’t go wrong and receiver does it’s job . Finally what your ear likes - what is your personal choice of hearing that makes difference. Please discuss with MR. Anil he will tell you what to do and he is using SR 6013 as demo. All the best

 

[Dr.vinayaka]

Marantz is the best. Close your eyes and go for it. But buying SR 8012 top of line - -2018 too much for receiver SR 6013 worth the money you pay

 

[Akshit2111]

I have recently purchased SR 6013 from hifimart. I have emotiva T1 towers and also centre and wharfaedale subwoofer and DFS surround and front height. . 9.1 setup.
My experience is awsome. Marantz more music and also have film punch. It is better than my pioneer vex- lx 302. I t is driving 4 ohm speakers awsome. Even at 30-35 volume I have punching bass. Pure direct mode- music awsome. Lagan title track looks really good. I think you need to talk to Mr.Anil from Hifimart and may need to go to Bombay for demo don’t buy in haste. Earlier when I discussed with him he suggested Marantz SR 5000 series at that time budget was concern so I ended up in pioneer and I had tough time with setting sound. But SR 6013 and Audyssey MultEQ XT for room correction you can’t go wrong and receiver does it’s job . Finally what your ear likes - what is your personal choice of hearing that makes difference. Please discuss with MR. Anil he will tell you what to do and he is using SR 6013 as demo. All the best

Going to bombay for a demo wud be a long stretch for me.. and yes i wont take any decision in haste. Did you demo any other model outside of 6013? Like any other brand.

 

[Dr.vinayaka]

I have done demo of Denon at Ht store and also Marantz some 6 months back. I felt Denon is good for movies but not so good for music. I felt sound signature of Marantz close to my heart which I was seeking always. So that is the reason I chose Marantz. Please see the reviews in Audioholics and discuss with mash, efernad, reachkalyan , SSF in this forum they will give their words of wisdom. All the beat

 

[Dr.vinayaka]

Quality of sound depends on
1) listener
2) home theatre layout
3) Acoustics
4) av receiver
5) power distribution from mains
6) matching speakers- at least front stage
7) correct source- Blu-ray/ Vinyl/ USB/
8) Music format- uncompressed/ FLAC

 

[Dr.vinayaka]

Music always- front towers and you should not use sub and should not listen with Dolby formats- PURE Direct

 

[sandeepmohan]

The power amp that can drive polks wud be around 300 wpc.

Your speaker looks like an Rti A7. You do not need 300 watts of amplification. That is the peak requirement. Any good quality 80-100 Watt amplifier will do. It is the watts that need to be clean and stable.

Would pioneer lx303 be worth considering?

No. This isn't really an LX grade amplifier. The LX series are usually digital amplifiers and the LX303 is not.

Stick to a Denon or Yamaha and buy one with 6 channel pre out minimum.

 

[efernand1]

Going to bombay for a demo wud be a long stretch for me.. and yes i wont take any decision in haste. Did you demo any other model outside of 6013? Like any other brand.

Try to locate other dealers closer to you.....if there are any AV shows or exhibitions lined up shortly, visit those venues, it will help to understand and also compare products. See near by cities ........

As for me, I use the SR6009 model and is very happy with the performance. Although it has Bluetooth and Wifi, I dont use these features as these are extra gimmicks provided in AVRs which really dont serve the HT purpose. Most brands compete with each other and hence they need to offer maximum features,,,,very few brands focus on power, quality and overall performance, Thats the reason you need to audition at the right places and audition multiple brands....preferably with the same kind of speakers to arrive at a proper conclusion and decision.

 

[elangoas]

So first my bluetooth failed to connect with both the receivers.. like my phone just cudnt scan the bluetooth. Tried with another phone but same problem.
1) marantz sr6013
Next highly dissapointed with the sound.. like really really dissapointed. Was using 2 channel music playback on this receiver but the voice was so lean like too much if treble that i almost had a headache.. no bass also.. ( these observations on aux since bt failed to connect)..

2) denon x3500
The moment it connected to apple iphone xs thru bluetooth the sound had so much distortion on higher volumes that the experience at higher volumes was such as listening to a 10k amplifier.. like pathetic.. though it was loud as compared to marantz but not satisfying..

I own the Denon x 3300 for abt close to 2 yrs time, and paired them with different BS/ satellite speakers, different subwoofers (dual ported & dual sealed).. I don't own a BR Player nor a single BR Disc, but managing with whatever i get my hands on (lossy & lossless audio & video files)..

Through out this time (in an untreated room), am pretty satisfied with what the AVR does for music (2.2) & movies (5.2.2)..

I also happen to drop in at a local FM place, who owns Marantz SR 6013 with a full 7.2.4 set-up, with partially treated room (Acoustic foam).. He had them placed at first reflection points, some on ceiling too.. Stellar movie performance, he was playing at reference level on AVR.. Defently sounded better than my room, as i have no acoustic treatment..

Having heard & experienced both the AVR in full set-up, i couldn't distinguish the difference (or) i must say they weren't starkingly different over one another.. Both the AVR have Audyssey Multi EQ XT32 and fully calibrated..

So, hard to blame the AVR..

Now coming to your demo experience, even after using BR player & disc for a movie demo and not satisfied with it, i suspect something wrong with tweaking the settings post Audyssey calibration.. There are handful of Audyssey function / preset that once can use to their liking..

If you plan for a demo again, try to grab the remote and press info button (when movie is playing) to take a peak at Audyssey settings..

 

[Akshit2111]

We did not setup audyssey.

 

[tuff]

@Akshit2111 After seeing all the comments you have posted, it seems you need to seriously consider changing the speakers. That will give you the biggest change as most of these avr's should be able to drive satisfactorily normal 6/8 ohm speakers. I have a Yamaha rx v 477 and it could handle any floor standers that i tried. Take your time and audition as many speakers as you can and see what signature it is that you like. No amplifier in the world can match your taste if the speakers are not up to it.