Marantz NR1403 and NR1603 Slim Line Receiver Thread

What have they added?

RemoteApp? IR flasher input is no more?

Well, this is odd - My Marantz NR1602 DOES have the IR flasher input, however, according to the current downloaded manual and specs it DOES NOT. I guess I am just lucky to have one of the first available units then (I bought the recevier as soon as it hit the stores).

tenizk - how you like it? i am thinking about getting NR1603

Ive put a couple of these in.

They are a great little , basic receiver. They have enough inputs to connect enough components in a small system. Great sound quality in a small chasis size. I wish they had a preamp that was slim like these

Doesn't look like they changed much. I really like these little boxes they have as nice of sound quality of anything in the price range and a more subtle GUI that works better on larger TV's. If I had a single complaint it would probably be that the remotes are not that nice, and they should be given the money.

The 50wpc is plenty if you are using powered subs or not trying to blow the doors off.

Problem is they pretty much never go on sale, you gotta go refurb for them to be a "good" value.

I love it. In my setup it replaced a Denon 2808CI. Despite, techincally, 2808 is much more capable device (more power, MultEQ XT vs. just MultEQ, the 32 bit processing, etc.), the sound quality hasn't suffered a bit. NR1602 does the job beautifully. I even took time to do a lot of measurements using the REW in order to confirm what my ears didn't hear.

Plus, with the network streaming and IP control it also eliminated the need to have a separate network audio player for stereo (NR1603 plays hi-resolution stereo FLAC, up to 94/24, so for multichannel network streaming I still use Oppo BDP-93) and the need to either run RS232 cable to the receiver from the control room or have IP to RS232 bridge.

I did have a concern about the power - I have a pair of MartinLogan Vista as the fronts and a MartinLogan Matinee as the center. The fronts have impedance dropping to 2 ohms on high frequencies, so they are power hungry. Just in case, I built amplifiers for the fronts (not really "built" but rather put together using the B&O ICEpower 125ASX2 modules), but in reality I only have maybe a couple of recordings that do require that extra power (some bass-heavy Telarc SACDs). As a result, the amplifiers actually have been collecting the dust because NR1602 handles the speakers just fine.

And to make it even more interesting, I ditched the power subwoofer completely since with my setup - NR1602 + MartinLogan Vistas + the right choice of the listening room - apparently I don't need a subwoofer at all. Again, I took time and made sure that it's not just my ears. According to the low frequency room response taken using REW, my current setup is better off without the sub. Despite the receiver is only 50 watts per channel and despite its power supply can deliver only 250 watts overall.

And, finally, on top of all this it's a slim very slick looking device that fits in my setup better that any larger receiver.

And, speaking of NR1603 - there seems to be no compelling reason to upgrade for those having NR1602. From the available screenshots in the manual (now available for download on Marantz US) and the text of the manual, there isn't much difference. Yes, the GUI seems a little bit more polished, the face of the unit looks arguably better without the navigation cluster in the middle; the information display has bigger cells. But I could not find anything that would translate into better sound or better usability.

Thanks for your reply.

I have a Marantz 7004 that works great. Only problem is: it doesn't have HDMI ports :/, and I just got Panny GT50 TV that has only one component .. You can imagine the rest. so its time to get a new receiver.

I really envy your Martin Logan's but the layout of our room doesn't have place for front speakers. I had to go with ceiling mounted Speakercraft with large Speakercraft center and sub in the back.

I think the NR1603 will go nicely with my setup, I am just afraid if I go with slim design receiver I might lose so of the features full hight Marantz has.

I couldn't tell by the website but can the NR1403 pass through audio even if it's in Standby? Sometimes I just want to listen to tv out of the internal speakers.

Thanks in advance.

^^
Yes. It's called HDMI Control (p. 65) on D&M AVRs.

Thanks for the response. I actually just got the AVR 1613 ands it's too tall for my tv stand so I thought this one would work. I don't see it for sale yet on Amazon however.

^^
Just showed up on the Marantz website, so should be available within the next couple of weeks. However, note the 1403 is not network capable. Also, even though the 1403 is about 2" shorter, you'll still need at least 3" clearance on top to ensure adequate air circulation.

So I got the NR1403, pretty nice, basic receiver.
Only thing that kind of bugs has to do with the pass through feature; you have to switch the power on to pick the device you want them you can turn it off. Unless I'm missing something.
Other than that it's clean and simple.

The uk website shows it as being network capable, is there a reason you this this is inaccurate?

It's not network capable in the US, only thing you can do is buy their Bluetooth adapter for audio streaming.

Marantz and Denon AVRs have two settings for "Standby Source" (p. 75 in your Owner's manual) .... it's either LAST (pass through the last source selected before setting the AVR to Standby) or a specific HDMI jack #.

Some Denon and Marantz models from other regions are known to have different features then their USA counterparts which is why you can't go by their specs, rather must look on the USA websites. Also, as this is a US based website, the assumption is made that unless otherwise stated as being out of the USA, the information provided is based on the USA model. Also note there is a similar forum based in Europe ... AVForums.com.

Yeah I tried both. It presents the same problem though. If I pick specific then I can only use the pass through for that input and everything else need to turn the unit on. Pick last then you have to turn on pick input then turn off.
Something to consider for those looking to buy.

For 50 watts per channel it's a clean sound.

JD,

Maybe you can answer me this. Even though I have the pass through set to cabl/sat, every time I turn on the tv, it plays for like 30 seconds then goes off, so I turn on the surround sound and it shows TV/audio as the input. Then I have to switch input to cabl/sat again then I can turn off the receiver. I thought it may have been the ARC on the tv so used a different input, however didn't change.

TIA

^
It is most likely the ARC setting on the TV causing the issue as that is a side effect of that setting (ie. AVR switches to TV input) so you must set HDMI-CEC (Anynet+) on the TV to OFF, although if you physically changed the HDMI cable to a non-ARC input on the TV, I'm surprised it's still having that effect. If you use both ARC and Standby pass through, you might be better served connecting an optical cable from the TV to the AVR and leaving Anynet+ set to OFF.

Turned Anynet+ off and seemed to solve it. Weird that it started doing that yesterday.
Maybe was the update Samsung did on
The TV. Now I have to find the remote code for the dishnetwork remote.

Thanks again.

The us site (http://us.marantz.com/us/Products/Pa...Id=AVReceivers) shows it as networking too. Are you guys smoking something? (Seriously though, I'm guessing that as it's a newly released product the sites are being updated and corrected rapidly.)

There isn't any wifi or LAN connection on my NR1403, if someone else has that in this model then I got ripped. Actually I wouldn't care if it was Wired as I only utilize WiFi in the house.

^^
You didn't get ripped ... C0rk is looking at the 1603. I just checked the UK site and the EU 1403 isn't a networking model either.

Picked up a NR1403 for the bedroom, powering 5 DefTech in ceiling speakers. Great little space saving AVR for a small system like bedroom. I only wish it'll have network & MultiEQ XT instead. But for the price, I guess I'm really asking for too much.

It works great for me. Aside from having to switch inputs everytime while utilizing ARC, but other than that it fits perfect in my TV stand and works for my needs. I actually had purchased a Denon but it was too tall and got this instead.

Instead of getting a DAC & headphone amp for work, I'm thinking of getting this for work. I can even bring a pair of small desktop speakers and have a full playback system from my computer's optical out.

do i have to wait for 1603?
does marants 1602 sound reaaly good for music?

would u choose pioneer 921 or maratz 1602?