Coming Soon----Marantz SR6004 - Page 2

from p38 of 6004 manual:

Notes
Audyssey Front, Audyssey Flat and
Audyssey can be selected after executing the
Auto Setup feature.
If a speaker that was determined No in Auto
Setup is manually turned on, the Audyssey,
Audyssey Front and Audyssey Flat modes
cannot be selected.
If, after auto setup was performed, changes were made
to the settings, such as the speaker confi guration and
distance, channel levels and crossover frequencies,
without increasing the number of speakers whose
characteristics were measured, * will be displayed
for the name of the mode.
Example: Audyssey Flat*
The equalizer turns off when the Pure Direct
mode, Source Direct mode, Dolby Headphone or
Virtual mode is set.
Acoustic EQ Modes are not used during playback
of Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, or DTSHD
signals.
Even in this case, settings made using Speaker
Auto Setup (speaker yes/no, distance, size,
channel level, crossover) are enabled.
Tone Control is disabled when an EQ Mode is in
use.

Yeah it is a disappointment! I decided to stick with 5004 and save the $350 extra for a year or two when all receivers have HDMI 1.4 and USB for MP3

BTW, dynamic volume is a necessity for pure direct. I watch all TV programs from cable box in pure direct more and it is a hassle turning the volume down during advertisements.

Marantz should rethink about this and the reason they have not yet released 5004 tells me they have doubts about negative effect on 6004 selling. 5004 and 6004 are exactly the same weight and 6004 is not a big deal in $1250 price range but in $850 range, 5004 still worth something even without Audyssey and Dynamic volume in Pure Direct and Lossless Audio. It will not be a HIT but it sells alright.

BTW, how come their production managers are that shallow minded to BUY Audyssey and pay the rights but not designing the right circuit to support its full power!! I guess people in this forum have more knowledge than these big companies production teams No offence but they should do better.

That is totally contradictory, the whole point of any "Pure Direct" mode is to AVOID processing. If you want processing, don't use Pure Direct! You are saying "I want it to be unprocessed (i.e. PURE DIRECT), but I also want it to be processed by post-processing schemes like Audyssey".

How "pure" is it if there are Audyssey EQ filters, and then a Dynamic EQ function shaping the tonal balance, and then a Dynamic Volume function compressing the dynamic range? It's totally antithetical to the very concept of a "pure direct" mode!

I just say they should let user decide. Something to turn Dynamic Volume On/Off in all modes no matter what. Is it that hard!?

I do not care about Audyssey EQ that much but Dynamic Volume is a necessity for any TV programs with lots of advertisement were their producers think by pumping up the volume they will sell more products. I certainly see it as an act of desperation but I like my $1250 device to have this option for protecting my ears and my neighbors.

The whole point of my writing was that Marantz has not good advisors. For example they pay so much for developing Bluetooth and IR receiver and nobody buys it so they force people to pay for it on SR6004!

If anyone needs the $130 device, they can just go and order separately, why forcing people to buy something when they might not need it?

See? Act of desperation! They need to get new/better advisors or consultants.

I'll be getting my SR6004 receiver tomorrow. I'll post some comments when I can. The additional HDMI cables don't show up until Monday, so it might be later next week before I have something to report.

Must say I am struggling on the new Marantz. I have these options:

Marantz 6004: $1K
Marantz 6003: $600
Marantz 5003: $500

Struggling to see the incremental value of going up the line up

The 5004 looks like it will be a good value and will include dynamic eq/volume not found in the '03 series.

agree, but keep hearing that the 5004 has been delayed till october.

also heard that there will not be a 7004 or 8004 - won't be out till mid '10 and will probably be introduced as a 7005/8005.

wish marantz would spring for more hdmi over the goofy blue tooth deal...

looking forward to your thoughts. what are you updgrading from?

I'm upgrading from a Marantz SR7300ose which was piping 5 channels through a Parasound amp. I'll probably continue using the parasound amp.

I'm pretty much going from a very old-school receiver to this.

how does it sound for simple sources like the radio? with onkyo 807 dropping to $700 new, I think i might steer away from marantz unless the sonic performance of the 6004 blows people away.

is this the chipset used for deinterlacing and scaling in the 6004?
http://www.i-chipstech.com/pictures/...Short-Form.pdf

Just recieved the 6004 two days ago - replacing my 7002... Sound is BIG step forward - especially in bass and stereo department, where things really have been shined up. Also I really like the dynamic volumen. Bass and voice clarity is SO good at even lower levels... very satisfied so far.
(I am only using the unit as a sound pre/pro - so I cant comment on either amp section or scaling capabilities)

GUI still need to be loaded (no on top of picture) - really old looking...

I am starting to wonder whether there were actually anything wrong with the 7002 stereo and bass sections?...

Let me know if any questions...

Unit is by the way smaller than the 7002 - and still runs "cool".
Martin - Denmark

martin, are you using the height setup?

How do you like the MP3 functionality?

* Does it play a whole folder without going into it and play one file individually? (pressing play while a folder is selected)

* Does it go automatically to the next folder when reaching the final file in current folder?

* Is it possible to operate MP3 playback when TV is off?

Thanks for any answers...

Yes, it will play a whole folder by simply selecting the folder and playing. After playing all tracks in the selected folder of the artist, it will proceed to play the next folder for the same artist. After all the artist tracks have been played, it will proceed to play all folders/tracks for then next artist and so on.

You can navigate folders and tracks without the TV on.

The BlueTooth streaming feature is very slick. I was able to connect my iPhone 3G S and then stream output from iTunes to the SR6004. I was able to control transport and navigation from the iPhone. However, volume had to be controlled from the SR6004 remote. When streaming from the iPhone, I could pause/play using the SR6004 remote. It seems you do have to be careful about obstructions since I experienced some hiccups in the stream. When reconnecting my iPhone, the "mode" button on the RX101 has to be depressed to enable a search for BlueTooth devices.

Thanks Nirvana, those are all the functionalities I need from any music player. Sadly the Pioneer 420K that I got does none of those.

I don't like to sound like a hypocrite, but the delay of 5004 and the MP3 features are making me to go and change my order to 6004. For $350 I get an additional HDMI in and out, USB Music, IR and Bluetooth and 20 watts. I still think $350 extra is not fair specially when I don't need Bluetooth, but life is never fair

While we know Audyssey is not applied to lossless codecs, can one adjust the speaker trims, crossovers, etc to match audyssey and offer similar room correction in this fashion? I know it's a bit jerry-rigged, but would this be a work around if you wanted to bitstream?

all of the stuff you mention (speaker trims, crossovers, etc) are not part of Audyssey, but rather just basic receiver speaker setup that will still be applied with bitstream codecs. The receiver doesn't stop doing basic bass management, delays, chanel levels, etc. with a bitstream codec. What doesn't work is the Audyssey room EQ technologies -- MultEQ, Dyn EQ, Dyn Vol.

Even if you could kludge your way to something like that, why would that be better than just setting your BDP to decode for you and using the multich PCM? The PCM will be identical, lossless audio, just like the bitstream, and you CAN apply any room EQ to it.

Nope - I was thinking of it, as my room would suite 2 height speakers fine. But the more I read of it - the more my impression is, that there is almost no difference heard by those who have tried it (and they did not even come to conclusions, whether ones experienced were to the good side)...

So I think I will pass - and keep my 7.2 with rears (you cant have both rears and heights at the same time - not even when using pre outs.. )

I have not tried it. I am currently using a SB Duet - and couldnt think of going to use the "ugly" gui of the Marantz playing server music (NAS and network not supported by the way)

Yes - USER settings is enabled with HD-signals. But dynamic volumen etc will unfortu. not work....

Unit sounds even better after 10 hours + run-in.... it really surprises me, how big a improvement this is from the 7002. Bass and fronts are such a step forward....

it does work if you decode in the player and send as lpcm, no? is the gui a blue background with white lettering like the 6003?

Thanks for your reply.

Actually you got me thinking about getting the new Logitec Squeezebox Touch which has USB, SD Card Slot and optical and coaxial out. A perfect solution for my needs plus I can set my own music network with either WiFi or network cable!

Nice, it is not yet released but I can wait and it is listed as $300.

thanks again.

Graphics a little better, but almost identical to 7002 - I havent seen 6003.

You will not regret that... consider modding af little with a better power supply - add a DAC - connect with wire - and you are good to go.. .. fantastic interface supporting ALL music and radio formats...

PCM and Bitstream DOES NOT sound the same . Bitstream sounds ALOT better.

You'll have to explain this.

Is the remote IR performance any better with the 6004? I seriously considered the 6003, but the weak remote IR kept me away.
Also does anyone know if the weakness is with the receiver or with the remote transmission? My harmony remote puts out a fairly strong signal. Thanks.