Quote:
Originally Posted by unclemat 
I did not adjust crossovers, except changing front speakers to "small" ("large" effectively means no crossover from the fronts). That cleans up the bass, since there is no overlap between the fronts and the sub.
Marantz sounds very nice, but the bass is overdone (with Audyssey+DynEq) and it sounds more "edgy", i.e. brighter. Denon has this smoother, more mid-tone centered sound, that feels overall more natural. Especially apparent with jazz and classics. I really do think now Denon is not only better features wise but also sound wise.
I liked Marantz look better, although the main display being hidden behind the door is somewhat pain, plus the design compromises the IR reception. Marantz's remote is much nicer than Denon's (which is garbage), but then it's mostly moot since I will be using Harmony remote anyway.
To me big advantages of the 4311ci are: 9 amps and DCD decoding. Not sure if native DCD decoding made a difference, but SACDs listened thru Denon sound markedly better than on Marantz. The difference with some PCM sources was less.
I am auditioning them deciding to which one to keep. I initially got Marantz SR5005 but then realized it does not overlay UI (user manual seems to suggest it does), then read about the Denon, and given the feature set, decided to get it. But then thought, hmmm, Marantz was perhaps sound better, so got SR7005 to compare and decide which one to keep.
I think it would be very difficult to be unhappy with either one. Both are incredible audio producing pieces of equipment.
I did not adjust crossovers, except changing front speakers to "small" ("large" effectively means no crossover from the fronts). That cleans up the bass, since there is no overlap between the fronts and the sub.
Marantz sounds very nice, but the bass is overdone (with Audyssey+DynEq) and it sounds more "edgy", i.e. brighter. Denon has this smoother, more mid-tone centered sound, that feels overall more natural. Especially apparent with jazz and classics. I really do think now Denon is not only better features wise but also sound wise.
I liked Marantz look better, although the main display being hidden behind the door is somewhat pain, plus the design compromises the IR reception. Marantz's remote is much nicer than Denon's (which is garbage), but then it's mostly moot since I will be using Harmony remote anyway.
To me big advantages of the 4311ci are: 9 amps and DCD decoding. Not sure if native DCD decoding made a difference, but SACDs listened thru Denon sound markedly better than on Marantz. The difference with some PCM sources was less.
I am auditioning them deciding to which one to keep. I initially got Marantz SR5005 but then realized it does not overlay UI (user manual seems to suggest it does), then read about the Denon, and given the feature set, decided to get it. But then thought, hmmm, Marantz was perhaps sound better, so got SR7005 to compare and decide which one to keep.
I think it would be very difficult to be unhappy with either one. Both are incredible audio producing pieces of equipment.
Gotcha. I agree the 9 amps are nice, but that's not something I can really use in my setup so not a consideration for me. I'm familiar with SACD but not DCD...but I don't actually have any SACD's to comment.
Bass did seem a bit boomy to me at first too, but after playing with speaker placement, adjusting the LFE knobs on the subs (built into my mains), and recalibrating leaving crossovers at what Audyssey wanted, I'm quite happy. Like I said, I did decide to turn the EQ off, and I do think it sounds best like that for most listening (possibly a few exceptions), but I think I'd eventually reach that conclusion regardless of receiver (at least everything I've experienced so far - I just don't tend to like EQ's).
Wish I could hear the Denon in my setup to compare, but it's not really practical, and I'm happy with this so sticking with it.
At any rate, appreciate the input and let us know if you audition more and your thoughts/final decision. I agree whichever you end up with, you'll have a killer receiver. =)
