Marantz SR7015 AV Amplifier Review & Comments

After looking at our classifieds, I have lost interest in buying brand new AV products at full price mainly AVR, Speakers etc. The price drops these are going through is shocking.
Agreed and a good reason to buy last years model with an AVR at least. My SR6013 was £700 as opposed to £1300 for the next model. Marantz have new models each year, the changes often small
 
It is pointless suggesting anyone buy a hifi or AV product purely based upon bench test results.

From the dictionary:

fidelity
/fɪˈdɛlɪti/

noun
the degree of exactness with which something is copied or reproduced.

hi-fi
/ˈhʌɪfʌɪ/

adjective
adjective: hifi
relating to the reproduction of music or other sound with high fidelity.


Maybe people are talking about different things, but if we go by the dictionary, by definition the Highest possible fidelity is one where the sound you output is the same as the sound you input (the great thing with digital files, exact/lossless copies can be made).

To argue about being in recording studio's etc seems bizarre, the audio was laid down in a certain way, recorded, modified by mixing desk/manipulate but that a lossless audio file IS as the artist intended.

Anything that comes out that is different from that is by definition lower fidelity (even if it sounds better to you).

Now an argument could be made over, is a loss of fidelity of given a product noticeable/audible to an obsessive never mind casual listener, or if a change made by a manufacturer (via a filter that applies to all audio the same) sounds better.

If such a change does sound better, you'd think they'd bake that into the audio track when producing it, but I guess those guys in the music industry know far less about that than some audio hacks that apply regardless of the artist/genre etc.

I do wonder if the folks who defend lower fidelity DAC's, noisy op amps etc are also pro room correction, where the point is to get the speakers to output sound closer to the digital source at the listeners position.

At the end of the day its your money spend it on what you like :D
 
The approach taken by ASR is to base an apraisal pirely upon bench test results. THe issue with this is that it totally disregards the way amp or an AV receiver actually sounds.
...
Maybe amirm would do well to actually start listening to the products he claims to be reviewing as opposed to trying to churn out bench test results on a production line basis? The test should be ancillary anf not the primary objective.
ASR is best taken with a metric **** ton of salt in my experience
I don't know enough to argue either way, but isn't ASR basically doing an engineering and component sanity check? I only ask because there have been occasions where he's spotted something and the manufacturer has fixed the issue by replacing a fault component or fixing an inherent design flaw. Other times he admits when there might be a flaw in his testing methodology and retests the device with input from the manufacturer.

After conferring with Sound United, here are "his" conclusions for this receiver.
Amirm says:
Conclusions
Like clockwork, the performance of Marantz SR7015 tracks other Marantz AVRs we have tested. They take the excellent platform used in Denon sister products, and modify them to produce objectively worse performance by good bit. Distortion is sharply increased and extremely slow DAC filtering causes lots of ultrasonic noise, making any intention of playing "high-res" audio moot. Company feels subjectively the modifications improve the sound of the unit. With no controlled listening test demonstrating that, and measurements showing the opposite, I don't think the changes are wise or merited.

Needless to say, I can't recommend the Marantz SR7015. I highly suggest you stick with the Denon counterparts instead.


These are his views, personally I have no idea but I'm happy with what I've got so....
Agreed and a good reason to buy last years model with an AVR at least. My SR6013 was £700 as opposed to £1300 for the next model. Marantz have new models each year, the changes often small
Mine cost the same. At the time, the SR6013 was retailing at £900 but there was a special £200 discount offer. As you said the SR6014 was going for around £1400.
 
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Slightly off topic but did anyone read the post on ASR by the guy who purchased the new Denon AVC-X6700 to replace his Marantz SR7012 based on ASR measurements ? Ended up sending it back as he preferred the sound of his Marantz....
I trust Steve's ears !!!
 
Thanks for the review! Can I ask you to comment on whether the Alexa integration works please? Can you just say for example, "Alexa, play Queen on the Marantz"?
 
Same price as the Pioneer LX704, not a fan of Marantz styling then again it looks more the money than it's cheap looking Denon counterpart
 
@Steve Withers i may sound like broken record, but i hope we wouldn´t have to see these silly power output figures on AVF reviews. Some newer members might get wrong idea. :)

" The Marantz SR7015 is a nine-channel AV amplifier that employs discrete high-current power amplifiers on all channels, delivering 200W of power per channel. "
Plus Sound United Gaurantee 70 of the rated power all channels driven , When the 8015 was bench tested it had 2x 156 what's and 103 all ch driven .excellent results.
 
Thanks for the review! Can I ask you to comment on whether the Alexa integration works please? Can you just say for example, "Alexa, play Queen on the Marantz"?
It's not quite as good as having a built-in Alexa, but it does work and you can say stuff like "play Queen on Spotify" or "volume up", that kind of stuff.
 
It's not quite as good as having a built-in Alexa, but it does work and you can say stuff like "play Queen on Spotify" or "volume up", that kind of stuff.
Thanks very much @Steve Withers , just to clarify, you can speak into a normal Echo or echo dot etc, and the Marantz will turn on to the correct input, e.g. Spotify and do it all for you? Asking as friend is building a basement home cinema and I would otherwise recommend a similar Yamaha to my own. The only negative I have for my home cinema is that I hardly ever use it for music due to lack of voice control...so I figured they might really appreciate this feature.
 
Thanks very much @Steve Withers , just to clarify, you can speak into a normal Echo or echo dot etc, and the Marantz will turn on to the correct input, e.g. Spotify and do it all for you? Asking as friend is building a basement home cinema and I would otherwise recommend a similar Yamaha to my own. The only negative I have for my home cinema is that I hardly ever use it for music due to lack of voice control...so I figured they might really appreciate this feature.
Yes that's correct. You basically set the Marantz up in the Alexa app and essentially use the Dot or Echo as a microphone.
 
Plus Sound United Gaurantee 70 of the rated power all channels driven , When the 8015 was bench tested it had 2x 156 what's and 103 all ch driven .excellent results.

Sound United's 70% guarantee which was always a Marantz thing but it's "new" for Denon now it seems is for only 5 channels driven certainly not all channels driven.
 
The approach taken by ASR is to base an apraisal pirely upon bench test results. THe issue with this is that it totally disregards the way amp or an AV receiver actually sounds. Matants have a long reputation associated with how their audio components sound and Marantz purposefully tune their products in alignment with that signature sound. The fact of the matter is that Marantz AV receivers invariable sound better when portraying musical sources than the comparative Denon models. They are purposefully tuned differently. It is pointless suggesting anyone buy a hifi or AV product purely based upon bench test results. The AV receiver has to appease a listener and not someone looking at graphs.

Maybe amirm would do well to actually start listening to the products he claims to be reviewing as opposed to trying to churn out bench test results on a production line basis? The test should be ancillary anf not the primary objective.
ASR do not do subjective reviews! They simply measure how close something measures at output compared to the original input.

If you want subjective reviews then stick with the HiFi press and online reviews like this (with Audioholics and Archimago being two exceptions that I can think of as they listen and measure).

HB
 
Plus Sound United Gaurantee 70 of the rated power all channels driven , When the 8015 was bench tested it had 2x 156 what's and 103 all ch driven .excellent results.


What you suggest isn't quite the case. They guarantee 70% of the 2 channel driven rated wattage per channel for each channel driven if driving 5 channels:

70% Power Guarantee
Marantz has the 70% power guarantee, meaning that a minimum of 70% of the stereo power indicated in the specification section will be available when 5 channels are simultaneously used. A lot of misunderstanding about power rating has been created by claiming the highest possible output power as a unique selling point. Measurement often has been done on only 1 speaker drive, with lower impedance than 8 ohms and high THD (total harmonic distortion) acceptance. A standard THD value is 0.08%. The lower the better.

The claimed 200 watt rating is actually relative to 6 ohm, 1 kHz, 1% THD 1 channel driven.

They don't give a rating for all channels, 9, 7 or 5 channels driven. The only realistic "real world" rating they provide is a rating relating to 2 channels driven:

  • Power Output (8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 0.05% 2ch Drive) 125 W

As mentioned, Marantz do guarantee that their receivers will produce at least 70% of the 2 channel rated power for 5 channels driven.

70% Power Guarantee
Marantz has the 70% power guarantee, meaning that a minimum of 70% of the stereo power indicated in the specification section will be available when 5 channels are simultaneously used. A lot of misunderstanding about power rating has been created by claiming the highest possible output power as a unique selling point. Measurement often has been done on only 1 speaker drive, with lower impedance than 8 ohms and high THD (total harmonic distortion) acceptance. A standard THD value is 0.08%. The lower the better.




Their AV receivers have invariably attained this when independently bench tested.
 
"Distortion is sharply increased and extremely slow DAC filtering causes lots of ultrasonic noise, making any intention of playing "high-res" audio moot"

This is hilarious! :rotfl:
 
I think Killzone refered to this Audioholics test, just the wording was not correct.

" The SR8015 was able to muster and impressive 101 watts/ch at 1% THD and 92 watts/ch at 0.1% THD with 7CH driven. Marantz guarantees 70% of rated 2CH driven (98 watts/ch) for up to 5 channels but this receiver clearly met that goal for 7CH driven. Impressive! This should be plenty of power for all but the largest and most demanding home theaters. "
 
I think Killzone refered to this Audioholics test, just the wording was not correct.

" The SR8015 was able to muster and impressive 101 watts/ch at 1% THD and 92 watts/ch at 0.1% THD with 7CH driven. Marantz guarantees 70% of rated 2CH driven (98 watts/ch) for up to 5 channels but this receiver clearly met that goal for 7CH driven. Impressive! This should be plenty of power for all but the largest and most demanding home theaters. "

Yeah. Marantz and Denon do rather well when it comes to their power output when independantly tested. Still a pity that they and other manufacturers cannot simply give ratings relative to all channels driven themselves. I'm under the impression that only NAD now do this?
 
well since i do own a Marantz 7015 (ive had it for a month and started the Marantz thread..i love it...regardless of all the charts and graphs in the world ..it sounds fantastic to my ears and thats what counts in the real world....your money , your choice....
 
well since i do own a Marantz 7015 (ive had it for a month and started the Marantz thread..i love it...regardless of all the charts and graphs in the world ..it sounds fantastic to my ears and thats what counts in the real world....your money , your choice....
What have you had before and how does it compare?
 
What have you had before and how does it compare?

ive had Sony, Onkyo, Denon...all have pro's and con's and their own sonic signature..my last reciever before this one was a Marantz 7010 that model was 4 years old, so it was a decent improvement for me in terms of features, but that lovely warm marantz sound..was thinking about anthems, but i decided that i love the bubble of sound the Marantz creates. I would love seperates but just dont have the space. i love the Marantz, so im very happy with mine, and got a great trade in deal for my old Marantz.
 
Here’s a tidbit I found out, and have never seen in a review of these units. HEOS doesn’t support AIFF. Unfortunately, I discovered this when I pointed a HEOS device at my ripped cd library, mostly lossless AIFF from many moons ago. Something of an oversight, I’d say. Now I need to convert my full library to something else. A chore.
 

You may find this of some interest:



I also found this:
And coming soon users will also be able to listen to DSD (DSD is the audio coding format of SACD) and AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) audio tracks all in the convenience of their home. The new platform includes an ARM A9 1.25 GHz Processor with 512 MB of flash memory combined with 256 MB of RAM.

but that dates from 2016.

Also previously reported:
Denon also plans to add support for DSD and AIFF audio tracks. HEOS now uses an ARM A9 1.25GHz processor with 512 MB of flash storage combined with 256MB of RAM. The HEOS rage includes a WiFi extender, indoor/outdoor speaker, sound bar, and subwoofer. A pre-amp, amp, and whole home multi-zone amp are also part of the range. The HEOS product line also supports streaming music services like Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn, Rhapsody, iHeart Radio, TIDAL, SiriusXM, Soundlocud, and Amazon Music. Music can also be streamed from smart devices, PCs, Macs, and NAS drives.
 
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You may find this of some interest:



I also found this:


but that dates from 2016.

Also previously reported:


Thanks, have seen all that. Does not fill me with any confidence. Innovation in this area seems glacial.
 

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