Marantz DV7600 - photos?

[gallium]

Does anyone have any internal photos of the DV7600? I cannot seem to find them anywhere I am keen to see whether Marantz physically seperated the PSU, audio and digital circuits...

I am also disappointed that its only HDMI 1.0 and not HDMI 1.1 like the DV6600 and DV9600!

[zeropoint]

Check out the http://www.avbuzz.com/audio-video/20...7600/index.htm

Beware, you may need broadband and/or a lot of patience...

[gallium]

Thanks.zeropoint! They're great photos... makes me want to buy one. ;-)

I'm really glad the sound components are on a different board with a nice and large ground plane. How close do you think the HDAM is in terms of sound quality to the DV-9500/9600?

[zeropoint]

Glad you like 'em. AVBuzz is a great source of quality pix. I just wish I could read the text.

I don't know off hand whether the 9500/9600 use HDAM (Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Modules), but AFAIK they only make one type of HDAM(?), albeit used in different implementations, and can be found in many of their high-end gear (eg SA-15). As you probably already know, HDAM is just an op-amp, but using discrete components, for improved performance.

Actually, it appears both the 9500 & 9600 uses brand new HDAM-2SA, with at least the latter mounting them on a separate circuit board for extra isolation.

[Bluedan]

The DV9600 and DV7600 both use standard HDAM's, the Marantz SA-CD players use SA HDAM's and the Premium amplifiers use SA2 HDAM's.

HDAM's massivly increase the slew rate and significantly improve the S/N ratio

[gallium]

Thanks guys. Does anyone know if the 7600 can send SACD and DVD-Audio over HDMI?

[Bluedan]

The DV7600 and DV9600 are both HDMI 1.1 which can do DD, DTS etc and DVD-Audio but not SA-CD. No DVD player can do SA-CD via HDMI yet as it requires HDMI 1.2 which isn't available yet.

[gallium]

Originally Posted by Bluedan

The DV7600 and DV9600 are both HDMI 1.1 which can do DD, DTS etc and DVD-Audio but not SA-CD. No DVD player can do SA-CD via HDMI yet as it requires HDMI 1.2 which isn't available yet.

Has someone who owns a DV-7600 verified that its HDMI v1.1? According to the Marantz website, only the 6600 and 9600 are HDMI v1.1, with the 7600 version not being specified, and hence one can assume its HDMI v1.0.

I hope you're right! I'm hoping to buy one soon.

[Bluedan]

Sorry I stand corrected, you are right the DV6600 and DV9600 are version 1.1 but the 7600 is version 1.0 so no DVD-Audio, but seeing as it's aa good as a dead format no great loss

[gallium]

Thanks bluedan, you just confirmed my fear. Why the heck did they release a new model without hdmi 1.1 like the other new models? This is completely braindead!

This is the only thing stopping me from buying it.

[Crustyloafer]

With all the problem of excess jitter with audio over HDMI why bother. You will get far better audio over a good digital coax cable.

[gallium]

Originally Posted by Crustyloafer

With all the problem of excess jitter with audio over HDMI why bother. You will get far better audio over a good digital coax cable.

I didn't think it was possible to send DVD-Audio over TOSLink / coax digital?

[Dean25]

Hi I have to say I am quite interested in the new marantz, did you audition it alongside any other dvd players in the £600-£700 price band?, if so how does it compare with the like of the Yamaha DVD-s2500, denon 2910?

[gallium]

Originally Posted by Dean25

Hi I have to say I am quite interested in the new marantz, did you audition it alongside any other dvd players in the £600-£700 price band?, if so how does it compare with the like of the Yamaha DVD-s2500, denon 2910?

I demo'd both the Denon and Yamaha you mention in addition to the Pioneer 79AVi / 989AVi. The Yamaha was a complete disappointment, locking up on some disks and had an incredibly slow load time. However, soundwise it was quite good and the picture was quite good too. Nothing about it stood out of the pack. Its also HDMI v1.0 so it cannot send DVD-Audio over HDMI (although it has iLink so its not a big deal).

As for the Denon, the analog audio quality is average and it has the macroblocking problems like the Yamaha due to the Faroudja chip. The Denon has the most features - HDMI 1.1, HDCD, MP3, WMA9 etc. Many people are happy to tradeoff the last 20% of audio/video quality for additional features. If you're a bells and whistled person, I'd go for the Pioneer as its very well featured and well built with better picture quality than the Denon imho and no macroblocking (although its a bit more noisy due to lack of NSV).

From the demos I saw and what I heard of the analogue outs, the Marantz had a more vivid, dimensional picture and the analogue audio with SACD was stunning. As is typical with Marantz through, they're not feature powerhouses as compared to Pioneer, Denon or even Yamaha, and they seem to tradeoff features for audio quality. In the past Marantz DVD players were somewhat mediocre picture wise, but from what I have seen, the latest *600 series has rectified all those past issues.

My only disappointment with the 7600 at this stage, is that it has neither HDMI 1.1 or iLink, which means you cannot send DVD-Audio to another component over a digital interface. Even the DV-6600 has HDMI 1.1! *shakes head* If the Marantz DV-9600 was available in black in Australia (to suit my black SR-7500), I'd get that but its only available in silver here. *shakes head again* :-)

[Dean25]

Hi thanks for that gallium, I too admit I am a bit dubious about the yamaha as I have heard its a Philips DVP9000S with dvd audio, which makes me wonder how they can justify a £700.00 price tag. As for ilink thats of no importance to me, as I plan on using the dvd player in a naim hifi/home cinema system.