Marantz SR7013 vs Denon AVR-X4500H vs Onkyo TX-RZ830 - Struggling to find reviews

DinoKustas

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Hi all,

I'm currently weighing up my options between these 3 AV receivers, but I'm struggling to find reviews for anything but the Denon - which is a surprise!

I'm hoping to set up a 5.1.4 in my living room (although it may end up being 5.1.2 due to sofa positioning) and I've whittled it down to these 3 with them having the below features that I like:

Marantz SR7013 - Powerful and musical + HEOS app
Denon AVR-X4500H - Highly rated in reviews I've found + HEOS app
Onkyo TX-RZ830 - "Works with Sonos" - connect a Sonos Connect and have it play with all the rest of the house's music = winner for ease for wife.

Does anyone own any of the above, or have any views or links to good reliable reviews that can assist. I'm struggling to find a store with the Onkyo in to get it demo'd but have seen the Denon and Marantz in action (and will have again by the end of today).

Many thanks
 
Apart from Marantz's HDAM circuitry it is basically the same under the skin as the Denon. The Marantz is the best out of those two for music. Both will be better than the Onkyo when it comes to set up and room correction.

Depending on what speakers you are going to use and what for will effect your choice. Need a bit more information.
 
Honestly, I'm undecided for speaker set up yet. I've currently got some Dali Ikon Concept 6 speakers attached to my Marantz PM7200 for music, so stepping away from that is going to be hard for me, had them for nearly 15 years I think! But it's time to embrace AV and stop having multiple converters for HDMI sources :D

I'm considering the B&W 6 series at the moment - just depends on whether or not I have the height under the projector screen when I'm done building my fake chimney breast and pelmet.
 
I've got a Denon X6200 which provides plenty of power for my KEF R Series speakers but I was not that happy with stereo music performance so I have a Rega amp driving my front left and right via it's HT by-pass for films. If you're looking for a superior music performance then you should take a look at Arcam or Anthem both which come with a superior Dirac room correction.

You could keep the Marantz 7200 for music and use a speaker switcher such as the Beresford 2770 to keep the music and film use separate.
 
I've always been talked out of speaker switchers and fear of blowing something up doesn't help.

I may factor in keeping the PM7200 at some stage, but right now I just want to focus on getting the right AV receiver to do the job now.

I'd suggest the Arcam and Athem are a step into the next budget bracket, but my old Arcam CD deck will be connected to whatever new AV amp I get (for now) :)
 
I've got a 5.1.4 in my living room as well , and I've got the Denon AVR-X4500h powering 2 x B&W CM7 , 1x B&W CM center and two B&W 685's, with 4 x Cambridge audio minx on ceiling for atmos. I can't speak highly of it enough as it runs all the speaker effortless in my space . My usage is predominantly movies , and I read alot about the Marantz Receiver being better for movies but I've got no qualms recommending the Denon 4500H as it's an amazing piece of kit .

Pics of setup below

20190217_151602.jpg
 
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Missed your post @Spee2k - thanks for that!

I opted for the Marantz SR7013 in the end - apparently it has come into store today. Can't wait ! :D

I've run speaker cabling for my ceiling speakers, now I just need to decide what route to take with them. Currently considering the Kef T101s for similar positioning to what you have with your Minx setup.
 
The Marantz is a solid performer so I'm sure you wont be disappointed.
I had looked a the Kef T101, but wasn't sure about the dispersion from the speakers so opted for the minx. that and the fact I got the minx used for a fraction of the price
 
I too am interested in the Denon or Marantz. The Denon is available for a fair chunk of cash less here...
@DinoKustas - How are you getting along with the SR7013?
 
I too am interested in the Denon or Marantz. The Denon is available for a fair chunk of cash less here...
@DinoKustas - How are you getting along with the SR7013?
There was a few 7012s at sevenoaks if I remember. alot cheaper than the 7013
 
Thanks but my fault... I'm Brit leaving near Zurich and can get the Denon 4500 'here' in Switzerland for equivalent to GBP 900 ... I can't get the SR7012 for anything like that price, prices closer to the current SR7013 :-(
I've only good things about the Denon so might go for it...
 
Between the Denon 4500 and the Marantz 7013 I would choose the Denon, which is packed with features and costs a lot less.
But now seems that there is a new player which will compete in that category and perhaps win, the Onkyo TX-RZ840
 
Mini update!

Had the SR7013 running for about a month now, just driving my 15 year old Dali floor standers in 2.0 at the moment.

I've not really spent time playing with the settings much, but found a flaw in HEOS app and Marantz app. When physically connected to the network via RJ45, the mobile apps do not connect! Once the amp was connected to the network via wireless, suddenly the apps work perfectly. So weird little glitch there!

But I'm pleased to report that the SR7013 packs a punch that I was hoping I didn't lose coming from a two channel setup. Sound-wise, it sounds great and I've picked up audio that I've simply never noticed before on YouTube videos, music, BluRays etc. However I feel like the audio is a bit bright, but I'm putting that down to my Dali speakers which I'm looking to replace as a package overall soon anyway.

Looking forward to moving forward with the setup though :D
 
No not yet.

I had originally just thrown it in to see how it sounds, and it's kind of stayed put, so I'll be running Audyssey soon.
 
I've not really spent time playing with the settings much, but found a flaw in HEOS app and Marantz app. When physically connected to the network via RJ45, the mobile apps do not connect! Once the amp was connected to the network via wireless, suddenly the apps work perfectly. So weird little glitch there!

Sounds more like something up with your network, both apps connect wirelessly to my hard wired Denon x3500h without issue and I would imagine they are using the same network circuitry. Are they possibly on different subnets? Have you tried connecting through a browser on your phone, there's a full web interface built-in?
 
Definitely not something with my network.

The IP it gets from DHCP stays the same LAN/Wireless - no subnetting issues going on here. The apps refused to connect to amp with auto discovery or manually entering the IP address.

IP is/was pingable, and web interface accessible on both - the apps simply just refused to play ball when it was connected via ethernet.

Device is up to date, and regardless of LAN/WiFi it connected to internet services (e.g. radio) just fine too. It was just the apps not working.

Neither here or there anyway, just a point of note from my experience, but looking through the app reviews, there is a lot of people moaning about inconsistent connectivity.
 
Definitely not something with my network.


You don't know that for sure, just that it's definitely not what I suggested :)

Have you tried rebooting your router, thinking back to when I first got mine all functions/apps were working fine but I couldn't see the AVR in the router's client list despite it assigning an IP etc? Reboot and all good from then on.
 
Whilst I appreciate where you're coming from, without meaning to be patronising, I do know it's not an issue with my network. I spent enough time messing around with it did enough troubleshooting to isolate the issue.

But as mentioned, my update/feedback was not meant to detract from the amps capabilities and was just a passing comment on the app issues. :)
 

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