Marantz SR 8012, 7012, 6012, 5012 & AV 7704 Owners thread

Had another update yesterday, any idea what it was for ?,
 
Can anyone describe the sound signature of the 8012 for me? I've just purchased a Denon x6500 and I am not impressed with the closed in overly warm/thick sound for movies and 2-channel music even after running room eq twice [all 8 positions]. Is the marantz open and detailed sounding? I also own a 2-channel Marantz ki sig amp which I've had for years and that sounds very open, dynamic and detailed.
 
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Can anyone describe the sound signature of the 8012 for me? I've just purchased a Denon x6500 and I am not impressed with the closed in overly warm/thick sound for movies and 2-channel music even after running room eq twice [all 8 positions]. Is the marantz open and detailed sounding? I also own a 2-channel Marantz ki sig amp which I've had for years and that sounds very open, dynamic and detailed.
I would say that even though they are sister companies with much the same parts being used the Marantz would sound warmer than the Denon. Slightly better for music but nothing to write home about and serious music use should involve an integrated stereo amp with HT by-pass.

I'm surprised with your remarks about the 6500 as I find it very clear with a great sound steering but I've only had Denon receivers. The direct comparison I make between Denon and Marantz is with their SACD players and the Denon is far more detailed and involving then the Marantz which manages to impart that traditionally warm Marantz sound.

The only stereo amp I've ever owned that I really got to dislike the sound of was an Onkyo and Mission combination. So we are all different in what audio we like. I really dislike the 6500 for stereo music and use a Rega amp for those duties.

I think that you should look outside the D&M stable for your receiver. The signatures may be too close on film and TV for you.
 
I would say that even though they are sister companies with much the same parts being used the Marantz would sound warmer than the Denon. Slightly better for music but nothing to write home about and serious music use should involve an integrated stereo amp with HT by-pass.

I'm surprised with your remarks about the 6500 as I find it very clear with a great sound steering but I've only had Denon receivers. The direct comparison I make between Denon and Marantz is with their SACD players and the Denon is far more detailed and involving then the Marantz which manages to impart that traditionally warm Marantz sound.

The only stereo amp I've ever owned that I really got to dislike the sound of was an Onkyo and Mission combination. So we are all different in what audio we like. I really dislike the 6500 for stereo music and use a Rega amp for those duties.

I think that you should look outside the D&M stable for your receiver. The signatures may be too close on film and TV for you.

Thank you for the detailed response. I have been listening to 2 channel music on the x6500 with eq in flat mode and it sounds atrocious. Terrible, sloppy bass, bad timing and congested midrange and treble. Very poor. My old onkyo has top notch movie sound with great bass attack and definition across the frequency range and that was with the "lesser" XT eq system in THX (flat) setting. Im not too amazed at the Denon movie sound either. Thick and heavy (swampy) soft bass isn't to my liking. I havent got a clue what I would exchange it for. The retailer took my onkyo as a p/x. I may ask for a return/refund on the denon and ask for my old onkyo back.
 
Sounds to me like you need to adjust some settings. Have you turned off Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume? There’s also Loudness Management turned on by default which should be turned off. Additionally there is a separate Dynamic compression setting which again I’d make sure is turned off. I used to own the Onkyo Pre-pro (I forget the model number), and continue to use the same NAD amp with my Marantz and I’m more than happy with it for movies and music over the Onkyo).
 
Try with room EQ off first that way get pure sound of what it is like au natural. I'd it's much better than maybe one of the room eq settings messes the sound too much, also try reference not flat, as I believe flat flattens it too much
 
If the music reproduction on the 6500 isn't up to your expectation, then I would suggest spending your money on adding a decent stereo amp with HT bypass instead.
A PM 11 (2nd hand) or the like?
 
Thank you for the detailed response. I have been listening to 2 channel music on the x6500 with eq in flat mode and it sounds atrocious. Terrible, sloppy bass, bad timing and congested midrange and treble. Very poor. My old onkyo has top notch movie sound with great bass attack and definition across the frequency range and that was with the "lesser" XT eq system in THX (flat) setting. Im not too amazed at the Denon movie sound either. Thick and heavy (swampy) soft bass isn't to my liking. I havent got a clue what I would exchange it for. The retailer took my onkyo as a p/x. I may ask for a return/refund on the denon and ask for my old onkyo back.
Ive had both the denon 8500 and the marantz SR8012 and av7705 you won't like any of them for music they are terrible. Go for something like the nad t778 or Arcam avr850 miles better for music.
 
Very surprised by the comments here. I have a Marantz SR7012, used as preamp with an external 2ch power amp. I think it sounds great and it was a big improvement over the older Denon I had been using previously. For music, I listen in Direct mode, so no Audyssey messing with the signal. For movies, I use it with Audyssey in Flat mode with dynamic EQ on - sounds awesome. Very clear, crisp and punchy.
 
Ive had both the denon 8500 and the marantz SR8012 and av7705 you won't like any of them for music they are terrible. Go for something like the nad t778 or Arcam avr850 miles better for music.
Funny you mention the nad t778 and Arcam avr850, I was looking at those a few days ago.
 
Very surprised by the comments here. I have a Marantz SR7012, used as preamp with an external 2ch power amp. I think it sounds great and it was a big improvement over the older Denon I had been using previously. For music, I listen in Direct mode, so no Audyssey messing with the signal. For movies, I use it with Audyssey in Flat mode with dynamic EQ on - sounds awesome. Very clear, crisp and punchy.
you must have a room with good acoustic properties. My room sounds really bad with eq off.
 
Funny you mention the nad t778 and Arcam avr850, I was looking at those a few days ago.
For me the nad is better and it has a lot more streaming features.
 
I've just gone to update my 7013 and all it's done is switched itself off and not come back on again. Update said it would take 6mins but it's been off for over 20 and will not turn back on again, any ideas or am I just being impatient?
 
I've just gone to update my 7013 and all it's done is switched itself off and not come back on again. Update said it would take 6mins but it's been off for over 20 and will not turn back on again, any ideas or am I just being impatient?
Best bet is turn it off at the mains for a while if there’s nothing at all showing on th display itself.
 
Yeah done that, will try again after I have finished work today..!
 
Is anyone using blue sound node 2i with a 8013 ? Was there an improvement in the 2ch sound quality ?

I'm currently using the HEOS app on the 8013 to stream flac music from a plex server laptop but I found the HEOS app very basic and not very user friendly and was thinking of switching to the bluesound .
 
I have my PC with Kodi connected to my Marantz 5010 going to my tv.

I mostly use the 5.1 DTS Neural X, when i start something other than DTS or Dolby that is 2.0 (mp3, aac) it switches to 2.0 PCM Stereo which i don't like. I manually switch to the DTS X for the dialogue filter/setting, and was hoping it would do so automatically or rather i force it to always use DTS Neural X.

Is it possible?
 
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The AVR will switch to the last mode selected for any given format and applies it input specifically.
I’ve attached a screenshot of the available modes for PCM stereo.
 

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I have a 7012 and MM7055 for the front 3 speakers, Rinning Klipsch RF280 5.2. 4, compared to my old Onkyo 906 the sound seems to laid back for my liking, Dance music ect, I was thinking of changing to a Dennon 8500, or would investing ain a Marantz pre amp be a better choice I also looked at the Nad 778?
 
I have a 7012 and MM7055 for the front 3 speakers, Rinning Klipsch RF280 5.2. 4, compared to my old Onkyo 906 the sound seems to laid back for my liking, Dance music ect, I was thinking of changing to a Dennon 8500, or would investing ain a Marantz pre amp be a better choice I also looked at the Nad 778?

Maybe just get a stereo integrated amp, I'd finding stereo music lacking?
 
I have a 7012 and MM7055 for the front 3 speakers, Rinning Klipsch RF280 5.2. 4, compared to my old Onkyo 906 the sound seems to laid back for my liking, Dance music ect, I was thinking of changing to a Dennon 8500, or would investing ain a Marantz pre amp be a better choice I also looked at the Nad 778?
Go for the nad t778 sounds a lot better than the marantz and denon
 
Go for the nad t778 sounds a lot better than the marantz and denon
Since what sounds ’better’ to anyone is purely subjective, I awarded you a funny, as you haven’t justified your opinion in any way!

Having said that, I do like Nad, and my stereo system is a Nad C370/C270 combo.

Onkyo’s have a reputation for being bright and even brash, which may suit dance music - I’m not a fan of that genre, so couldn’t comment further - but my previous AV receiver was an Onkyo 818, which I found quite ‘muscular’ and punchy.

I‘ve been running a 6012 for a couple of years now, but only use it as a processor, all the amplification is offloaded to a Yamaha MX-A5000 11 channel amp - so the system is not short of power. For movie duties, it’s great, but I can’t give a real opinion on its performance with music.

But as @rccarguy says, I’d suggest a separate stereo amp for listening duties - if that’s not possible then by all means have a play with a NAD - they’re very neutral, so tend not to add their own signature to the sound - Marantz has a reputation for being a little warm and laid back. I can’t say I’ve noticed, but as mentioned, I use the NAD system for music, the Marantz is purely on duty in the cinema.
 

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