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  #21  
Old 08-26-2020, 06:27 AM
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bart bart is offline
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Originally Posted by 70sMac View Post
Edward..... You do make some great points. Having owned a Mac MX-series pre/pro, I really get your message about diminishing returns relative to the growth of technology. If you're going to spend a given amount of money, you might as well "...roll with the changes...," right? Like yourself, I also like that the Marantz AV-series are equipped with XLR outputs.

Not to steer totally away from the topic of discussion I chose, but what are your thoughts on multi-channel amplifiers? Being an old-school Mac fan, I was thinking about the MC207...but, considering what I've been reading lately, there just may be some high-quality solid state amps out there that can give Mac a good run for their money in terms of quality...

Bill, NAD launched a multichannel amp with fantastic Eigentakt modules from Purifi.
I heard them, they are the next big thing in amplifier land, believe me.
Less expensive than their class A/B competitors, and better.
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  #22  
Old 08-26-2020, 09:47 AM
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edward3132 edward3132 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 70sMac View Post
Edward..... Not to steer totally away from the topic of discussion I chose, but what are your thoughts on multi-channel amplifiers? Being an old-school Mac fan, I was thinking about the MC207...but, considering what I've been reading lately, there just may be some high-quality solid state amps out there that can give Mac a good run for their money in terms of quality...
As you can see from my signature I am all in with Rotel AB amps. The RMB-1585 is a great 5 channel amp at 200 watts/channel. Cost effective but still sounds great.

I prefer to spend my money on the two channel system.

Edward
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  #23  
Old 08-26-2020, 03:03 PM
Dilettante Dilettante is offline
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Originally Posted by silversurfer6 View Post
Yes, that rotel is a beast. It is also an AB design and this is one of the reasons it sound really good. Excellent amp for the money.
Yup. All Rotel amps now are class AB. They no longer make class D amps lately.
But the Marantz MM8807 seven-channel amp is also a class AB amp but not a good amp.
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  #24  
Old 08-26-2020, 03:22 PM
Dilettante Dilettante is offline
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Originally Posted by silversurfer6 View Post
Using an AV8805 with rotel amps to drive 803d3, htm2 and ci800. Will change to the new mac power amp for the front channels.
Since you represent both Marantz & Classe (Sound United), I have a question for you. I'm currently still using the Classe SSP 800 paired with Classe amp in my dedicated home theater setup which I use mostly for bluray movie playbacks from my Oppo 105 connected via HDMI to my Classe SSP 800. From time to time I also use this setup for DVD-Audio (high resolution audio disc) music playbacks from my Oppo 105 via HDMI out to my SSP 800.
I have a separate two-channel setup in a different listening room.

Anyways, I'm thinking to move up to 4K with latest HDR Dolby Vision and stuff but have no desire to move up to Atmos setup. DTS-HD Master Audio & Dolby True-HD are good enough for me. So I will have to sell the SSP 800 and find a pre pro that supports 4K latest HDR Dolby Vision since my SSP 800 does not support 4K. The AV8805 came to mind but I'm concerned that I would sacrifice overall sound quality / audio performance for both bluray movie and DVD-Audio music playbacks when compared to my SSP 800. How does the AV8805 stack up against the SSP 800 when it comes to pure sound quality alone for bluray movie & DVD-Audio music playbacks? I don't care about the extra additional features bells & whistles found in the AV8805. From pure sound quality alone, can the AV8805 compete or compare with the Classe SSP 800? I've never done AB comparisons between the SSP 800 and the AV8805 in the same system setup. I've heard the AV8805 before but in a completely different setup using different amps different speakers in a different listening room.

Last edited by Dilettante; 08-26-2020 at 03:29 PM.
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  #25  
Old 08-28-2020, 01:50 PM
silversurfer6 silversurfer6 is offline
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Default New to Marantz - Looking for an AVP?

Dilettante,

it is an impossible question and I do not know the answer since I have never heard the SSP-800. Just a few points:

1. The Classe should sound better than the AV8805. Everything I have read about this piece is that it sounds as good as the best 2 channels pre.

2. Even if you go for a very high end pro I still dont think you can get the audio quality you get from the classe - even with Trinnov and Datasat which would be silly since the main reason to get them are the 15+ channels. One exception is the Mac MX170 which should sound very good.

3. If you only have the oppo as a source then just send the video directly to the tv/projector. If you have other sources then you really need a new av pro.

4. I really hope classe is working on a new delta av pro. Under the SU umbrella they can do so and they now have access to the latest chips - which no exotic av pro brand has. Think if an av8805 on steroids. Have no info whatsoever on this.

If you are sattisfied with the audio just improve the video with going direct to the display. If you need simplicity and the latest features then the av8805 is perfect but there will be some loss on quality. And if you do change might be better to wait for hdmi2.1 and 8k.

Or I could be wrong. Technology is changing rapidly and the newer chips and DACs in the av8805 could really help it sound as good or better than the ssp800 - difficult but possible.

Last edited by silversurfer6; 08-28-2020 at 01:54 PM.
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  #26  
Old 08-29-2020, 05:07 PM
Dilettante Dilettante is offline
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Originally Posted by silversurfer6 View Post
Dilettante,

it is an impossible question and I do not know the answer since I have never heard the SSP-800. Just a few points:

1. The Classe should sound better than the AV8805. Everything I have read about this piece is that it sounds as good as the best 2 channels pre.

2. Even if you go for a very high end pro I still dont think you can get the audio quality you get from the classe - even with Trinnov and Datasat which would be silly since the main reason to get them are the 15+ channels. One exception is the Mac MX170 which should sound very good.

3. If you only have the oppo as a source then just send the video directly to the tv/projector. If you have other sources then you really need a new av pro.

4. I really hope classe is working on a new delta av pro. Under the SU umbrella they can do so and they now have access to the latest chips - which no exotic av pro brand has. Think if an av8805 on steroids. Have no info whatsoever on this.

If you are sattisfied with the audio just improve the video with going direct to the display. If you need simplicity and the latest features then the av8805 is perfect but there will be some loss on quality. And if you do change might be better to wait for hdmi2.1 and 8k.

Or I could be wrong. Technology is changing rapidly and the newer chips and DACs in the av8805 could really help it sound as good or better than the ssp800 - difficult but possible.
For the time being, I only have the Oppo 105 as my only AV source for bluray movie disc & occasional DVD-Audio (high resolution audio disc) music playbacks and the Oppo 105 is connnected via HDMI to my SSP 800 for audio only and the other HDMI out direct to my 1080p TV display for video only. I split the HDMI configuration on the Oppo for audio & video.

Howerver, I will be getting a Sony 4K OLED TV with the flagship Pioneer Elite UDP LX-500 4K UHD bluray player and the Pioneer has dual HDMI outputs, one for audio and the other for video. I can run one HDMI out to my SSP 800 for audio only and the other direct to the 4K display for video only. So this won't be an issue.
But, I will also be getting those 4K capable movie streaming devices & 4K capable cable TV box/decoder and these devices have only one HDMI output. And the SSP 800 does not support 4K thus cannot pass through 4K video signal. That's why I will have to sell my SSP 800 and look for a new processor that supports 4K withe latest HDR Dolby Vision. I hate to let go of my SSP 800 cause the sound quality is phenomenal for both bluray & DVD-Audio music playbacks. I still have some of those DVD Audio high resolution audio discs from back in the day. Lol.....

Yesterday I was able to get a loan take home demo of the AV8805 from a local dealer here. The unit is already broken in. I set it up in my own home theater system and I hate to say that the AV8805 could not compete with my Classe SSP 800 for both bluray & DVD-Audio music playbacks, especially when used for DVD Audio music playbacks. It lacks musicality, finesse and refinements compared to my SSP 800. However, I was pretty happy with the AV8805 for movies as it performs well for movies although it lacks the last bits of finesse and refinements when compared to my SSP 800 but I can easily live with the AV8805 for movies. It's easier to set up and calibrate using the Audyssey platinum room correction than the SSP 800, which lacks automatic room correction software. But I'm also using this setup for listening to those DVD Audio high resolution audio discs as well. I still have some DVD-Audio high resolution audio discs from back in the day. lol....

The Classe SSP 800 is indeed one of the most musical sounding AV pre pro when used for music playbacks. hands down. especially when used as an analog stereo preamp in analog bypass mode.

Several years ago we were able to AB compare the SSP 800 with the Linn Klimax Kontrol stereo analog preamp ($20k retail at the time). The SSP 800 did retail for $9500 at the time while in production. Source component used at the time was the Linn Klimax DS streamer/DAC ($25k retail) going XLR analog into both the Linn Klimax Kontrol and the Classe SSP 800.
The Linn Klimax Kontrol stereo analog preamp was no doubt better and it was expected however the SSP 800 didn't embarass itself and was quite competitive considering it is an AV pre pro after all. Only in direct comparison with some really high end expensive stereo analog preamps that we could notice deficiencies in SSP 800 when used as a stereo analog preamp.

I was told that the SSP 800 was designed and engineered by Alan Park, who designed and engineered many Linn & Mark Levinson gears (preamps).

Any other options besides the AV8805? Much appreciated.

Last edited by Dilettante; 08-29-2020 at 05:32 PM.
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  #27  
Old 08-29-2020, 07:59 PM
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doggiehowser doggiehowser is offline
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For movies only the Yamaha 5200 isn’t a bad option.
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  #28  
Old 08-30-2020, 12:34 AM
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ALL..... Okay, so we now have taken delivery of a B&W HTM3S center speaker to sit between our 802N fronts. Bearing this in mind, I'm thinking about getting an AV-capable receiver that has preamp outputs -- for our Mac MC300 stereo amp. In other words, I'm wondering if we can get an AV Receiver that can act as a preamp for our MC300 amp and, simultaneously, drive the remaining three speakers (in a 5.1 configuration) via three integrated amp outputs.

If we find something capable of doing this, will our stereo listening will suffer greatly? Considering that the only receivers we ever owned were older Macs, we really have no way of knowing what a good multi-channnel AV-capable receiver sounds like. if there's some great receiver out there that can handle this task, please clue us in.
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  #29  
Old 08-30-2020, 01:56 AM
Dilettante Dilettante is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by doggiehowser View Post
For movies only the Yamaha 5200 isn’t a bad option.
I will be using this setup for both movies and DVD Audio music playbacks.

I do have a separate stero system setup in a different listening room where I listen to CD, SACD & Tidal streaming.
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  #30  
Old 08-30-2020, 09:17 AM
silversurfer6 silversurfer6 is offline
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Default New to Marantz - Looking for an AVP?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dilettante View Post
Any other options besides the AV8805? Much appreciated.

Macintosh MX170? Different budget though

It is based on the Lyngdorf MP50/60 but the audio part should be superb. There is no OSD for volume though and of course no hdmi2.1.
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