Marantz pm7000n vs Arcam Sa20 with Volumio ( Cambridge CXA81 Yamaha rn803d eliminated )

[Meshuggener]

Hey guys and thank you for accepting me to the forum all the way from New Zealand!

I managed to somewhat eliminate Cambridge cxa81 from my shootout. It's voice is too scooped for the genre I listen to predominantly. Eliminated the Yamaha 803d as well due to the top end being too thin and the soundstage feeling too unnaturally separated despite it's great power and detail.

So I tried Marantz out for the first time (nr1200) driving my kef q750 and kube 10 sub. Instantly preferred the voice of marantz to the Cambridge cxa81 for rock music. More muscular and warm and hey presto MIDRANGE PUNCH!

Despite it feeling a bit underpowered I really like the way the marantz house sound works with my music taste (Tool, Meshuggah, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd Metallica etc)

I'm now looking at the Marantz Pm7000n or the Arcam sa20 with volumio streamer, both amps have toroidal trannies but the arcam boasts 90w class G per channel vs 60w class A/B for the marantz.

Marantz has no qobuz built in to the streamer and only a single sub out so can't operate true stereo subs.
Arcam with volumio will have qobuz built in and uses pre outs for the sub so can eventually do stereo subs once I save up for second kube10.

Price difference between both setups is marantz $2250 vs arcam/volumio $3050 which ironically means the money freed up via the marantz route can't be used for another sub as it doesn't have pre outs.

Does anyone have experience with both these amps? I can't audition both together so I'd love to hear if anyone can tell me the difference in general voicing of arcam vs marantz in terms of soundstage depth, detail, dynamics and warmth?

Worried the marantz may be underpowered for heavy volumes and the streamer too limited but if the Marantz House sound is better suited for me than the arcam I'll deal with the limitations.

Cheers all.

 

[muljao]

The second you mentioned twin subs, arcam and streamer I thought should you try and look at an arcam sr250 and streamer. It's out a while, you might struggle to get one but they are way cheaper than they were released at and are very well received unit

 

[gava]

Streaming Qobuz isn't a problem with the Marantz.

Recommendation for Heos and Qobuz users (with my Marantz PM7000N and BubbleUPnP)

TLDR: Fantastic Android app => BubbleUPnP Allows Qobuz streaming direct to devices without using the manufacturer's streaming software platform. ============================ Just thought I'd share something which has made me a very happy boy. No doubt many people know this already, but for...

www.avforums.com

The SA20 doesn't have sub out at all whereas the Marantz has one. On the other hand the SA20 has pre-out (which the Marantz does not) which can be used for subs, but you cannot get any rolloff inside the amp itself - you will always be driving the speakers full-range and therefore potentially the power equation swings the other way.

If you have the sub out set for the Marantz it will not be trying to drive the speakers below the crossover frequency and therefore be able to devote all its power output to e.g. 80Hz and above on the main speakers. In practice this will probably mean that with a powered sub you will have more effective overall power in the Marantz.

Mono is in general fine for sub(s), but if you want to drive 2 subs to even out room response then you will need a set of subs with pass-through to connect the second sub - or a splitter. The only general exception for "stereo" subs is if you have a truly large space (e.g. you are putting the subs >10m apart) or want to crossover above 80Hz or so, mostly having a second sub is useful to minimise standing waves in the sub frequencies not because they give you any true stereo effect.

 

[Meshuggener]

Streaming Qobuz isn't a problem with the Marantz.

Recommendation for Heos and Qobuz users (with my Marantz PM7000N and BubbleUPnP)

TLDR: Fantastic Android app => BubbleUPnP Allows Qobuz streaming direct to devices without using the manufacturer's streaming software platform. ============================ Just thought I'd share something which has made me a very happy boy. No doubt many people know this already, but for...

www.avforums.com

The SA20 doesn't have sub out at all whereas the Marantz has one. On the other hand the SA20 has pre-out (which the Marantz does not) which can be used for subs, but you cannot get any rolloff inside the amp itself - you will always be driving the speakers full-range and therefore potentially the power equation swings the other way.

If you have the sub out set for the Marantz it will not be trying to drive the speakers below the crossover frequency and therefore be able to devote all its power output to e.g. 80Hz and above on the main speakers. In practice this will probably mean that with a powered sub you will have more effective overall power in the Marantz.

Mono is in general fine for sub(s), but if you want to drive 2 subs to even out room response then you will need a set of subs with pass-through to connect the second sub - or a splitter. The only general exception for "stereo" subs is if you have a truly large space (e.g. you are putting the subs >10m apart) or want to crossover above 80Hz or so, mostly having a second sub is useful to minimise standing waves in the sub frequencies not because they give you any true stereo effect.

Excellent info thank you very much mate!

 

[Meshuggener]

Streaming Qobuz isn't a problem with the Marantz.

Recommendation for Heos and Qobuz users (with my Marantz PM7000N and BubbleUPnP)

TLDR: Fantastic Android app => BubbleUPnP Allows Qobuz streaming direct to devices without using the manufacturer's streaming software platform. ============================ Just thought I'd share something which has made me a very happy boy. No doubt many people know this already, but for...

www.avforums.com

The SA20 doesn't have sub out at all whereas the Marantz has one. On the other hand the SA20 has pre-out (which the Marantz does not) which can be used for subs, but you cannot get any rolloff inside the amp itself - you will always be driving the speakers full-range and therefore potentially the power equation swings the other way.

If you have the sub out set for the Marantz it will not be trying to drive the speakers below the crossover frequency and therefore be able to devote all its power output to e.g. 80Hz and above on the main speakers. In practice this will probably mean that with a powered sub you will have more effective overall power in the Marantz.

Mono is in general fine for sub(s), but if you want to drive 2 subs to even out room response then you will need a set of subs with pass-through to connect the second sub - or a splitter. The only general exception for "stereo" subs is if you have a truly large space (e.g. you are putting the subs >10m apart) or want to crossover above 80Hz or so, mostly having a second sub is useful to minimise standing waves in the sub frequencies not because they give you any true stereo effect.

Thank you for your in depth response. This actually clears a lot up for me. I guess the aim for true stereo subs was to maintain that stereo image right down to the low frequency.

 

[gava]

Thank you for your in depth response. This actually clears a lot up for me. I guess the aim for true stereo subs was to maintain that stereo image right down to the low frequency.

To get directional stereo you have to have huge separation, and it probably helps to have really big ears too.

I found this to be quite interesting and fairly convincing.

 

[Antho89]

You should look at the new Marantz model 40n

 

[Meshuggener]

Streaming Qobuz isn't a problem with the Marantz.

Recommendation for Heos and Qobuz users (with my Marantz PM7000N and BubbleUPnP)

TLDR: Fantastic Android app => BubbleUPnP Allows Qobuz streaming direct to devices without using the manufacturer's streaming software platform. ============================ Just thought I'd share something which has made me a very happy boy. No doubt many people know this already, but for...

www.avforums.com

The SA20 doesn't have sub out at all whereas the Marantz has one. On the other hand the SA20 has pre-out (which the Marantz does not) which can be used for subs, but you cannot get any rolloff inside the amp itself - you will always be driving the speakers full-range and therefore potentially the power equation swings the other way.

If you have the sub out set for the Marantz it will not be trying to drive the speakers below the crossover frequency and therefore be able to devote all its power output to e.g. 80Hz and above on the main speakers. In practice this will probably mean that with a powered sub you will have more effective overall power in the Marantz.

Mono is in general fine for sub(s), but if you want to drive 2 subs to even out room response then you will need a set of subs with pass-through to connect the second sub - or a splitter. The only general exception for "stereo" subs is if you have a truly large space (e.g. you are putting the subs >10m apart) or want to crossover above 80Hz or so, mostly having a second sub is useful to minimise standing waves in the sub frequencies not because they give you any

You should look at the new Marantz model 40n

Unfortunately it's going to be $4000 for that. Perfect solution though