Marantz AV8801 Preamp/Processor Official Owner's thread - Page 43

The next question has to be "does your amp also have true balanced connections?"

I don't think mine does but for whatever reason, on my previous system, XLRs were quieter than RCA cables.

Get good cables regardless of price! I use Morrow audio's MA3 & MA4 balanced cables and also AudioQuest Columbia rca and balanced and yes balanced in my setup does sound better, if you have to spend more for a better sounding cable then you have to spend more for a better sounding cable! $3599 on your pre should say enough! You wouldn'd buy a BMW M5 and put wagon wheels on it ! oh yeah! it can get the job done but how do they handle that raw power on tight turns?

Is the only way to adjust level trims through the setup menu? Ran audyssey but want to up the bass a bit. Also do the trim levels stick per source or globally.

Yes my Cary cinema 7.125 does have balanced connections!

MIB 3 sounds awesome! Great soundtrack!!!

was just wandering if anyone would know if the 4K upscaling on the AV8801 would have a noticeable difference when upscaling SDVD's compared to units like the AV7005 that upscale SDVD's to 1080P?
Edited by Ian13 - 12/29/12 at 10:55pm

Well my baby finally ariived....so now I have to find the time to start playng ! I will aslo take the opportunity to do a major clean up with wiring and getting rid of stuff I really don't need anymore like a tuner etc....I haven't been back there for so long ! Now I will put my Lex MC12 HD for sale.....its fully loaded and I even have the mic kit....wonder what its worth.

In my setup, I find that I like it better with Audyssey turned off. Just a tad more dynamics with it off. A little clearer too.

Anyone else?

.....I do have an assortment of accoustical panels around the room. That may account for the difference.

I'll rerun Audyssey in another week and see if the additional burn in makes a difference.

I can confirm that the av8801 does sound better than my older Onkyo TX-SR805. Well they should as they really are not even in the same league. I feel like all of my speakers opened up. I am just running 5.2 as I have an older 5 channel outlaw audio amp. I think it was their 250watts per channel one about 7 years ago. I am using ascend acoustic speakers and they have never sounded better. I am running everything in a dedicated room with lots of bass traps and panels on the walls. The room is roughly 13ft wide by about 16ft long. Right now I am running the originally sb-13 ultra in the front and a PCi-25/39 in the back. It is one of there older subs. My question is should I put both subs up front? Just curious on peoples opinions. One front and one back with their phase at 0 degrees sounds pretty good. First time running dual subs.

Audyssey can be a love hate, or at leas like dislike relationship. But lately I have been liking and loving - for me audyssey pro is a substantive benefit with the 8801.

Of course I just ripped out o huge wall unit and change four speakers so ill be re-running again....whoop whoop whoop whoop....

Jim...I find your comment intersting....i am very curious to use Audessy but I will run the system for sure with out it for a while and see how things go.....I like to get all the basic stuff done first and out of the way before applying any correction or auto this and auto that.

I am sure the answer is yes but since I am new to the 8801 and reading the manual before i start playing..whats the simple way of turning Audessy on and off....is there a one button deal or do i have to navigate in the menus....is there an easy way to do a comparison?

Thanks

Thanks I will give it a shot....any idea of what they are selling for?

Rosano as a fellow MC12HD owner and while you are getting to know your new AV8801 I'd sure appreciate if you would please help me out with a question I posted a few pages back that went unanswered.

I am considering this model as a replacement for my beloved Lexicon MC12HD even though that unit still meets most of my needs. Would someone who already has posession of one test for the ability to reuse a HDMI video signal and map it to another input?

What I want to replicate is the way I have an input customized on my Lexicon unit. Specifically I'm looking for the ability to use the HDMI audio and video output of my cable box as say input 1 of the AV8801 and reusing the same cable box HDMI video only portion with the SPDIF audio of my CD player. This way I can play music and watch television at the same time and swap between the two by pressing just one button when the television program looks interesting.

A simple approach is to run Audyssey so that levels and distances are set and then turn it off. You also have to change some other setting dealing with dynamic range.

To turn Audyssey on/off, go to setup, audio, audyssey, highlight with enter then left arrow to turn off. There may be a single button on the remote way of doing it but I haven't read about it yet. Let me know if there is such a way.

Although not possible with the HDMI input, possible if you also connect a component video cable from the cable box to the 8801 and use that video source with your music source via the "Video Select" feature (p. 136 OM). Other option is to connect HDMI to the TV with optical to the 8801.

I found I lean a little to Audyssey flat, as it seems more akin to what I'm use to coming from the analog outs of an Oppo 95, seems to be a good mix of both with an overall increase in dynamics and better soundstage and surround integration, having said that I haven't watched enough movies to say its my preferred setting its as you say still burning in!

I had the 7705, really enjoyed it. Sold it, now have a 80.1 (wanted THX), but realize the 7705 sounded better (duh). Anybody do a direct comparison between the 7705 and the 8801? Just curious how much better it may actually sound on movies/BD? Oddly, I sold the 7705 for a very hi-end piece, and honestly didn't notice much of a difference (cost difference was over $10K, so diminishing returns really came into play on this one - yes, dedicated HT room with Triad in-room golds...).

stieger
Edited by stieger - 12/29/12 at 1:36pm

The general consensus of owners is there is a very noticeable improvement in audio fidelity upgrading from an XT model (7005) to XT32 (4520CI or 8801).

Thanks very much jdsmoothie.

I get waaaaay better separation now, while still having my bass smoothed out, & better integrated throughout. Very good/fast dynamics, and oh so quiet....then "BAM!" when it needs to be. To me, my 4311CI was way too harsh & overly bright on music no matter what I did, or how many 8pt calibrations. Personally, I would do XLR just b/c of the robust connection and added gain, which helps in calibration levels sometimes. I have XLR on my front 3 channels and on both of my subs, but use RCA on all 4 of my rears.

Hi guys, I've been following this thread and others for awhile now, so I decided to join AVS. I'm ordering the AV8801 Monday and was looking for your thoughts on connecting it to my Sunfire cinema grand amp via XLR cables. The way I see it is, the #1 and #2 pins are reversed on the Marantz (European design). Some are saying it will connect to my amp without a problem, it just reverses the polarity. But the way I see it is, I'll be plugging the hot off the 8801 into the ground on my amp not the negative. That doesn't sound good to me. Your help would be appreciated, thanks.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply .

And thanks also to those who commented on the XLR/RCA connectors question. Much appreciated.

Ah. My current plan involves the 7 channel Cary. I have the 200.2 for my stereo system. Wouldn't mind a 7 channel like the 200.2!!

Balanced (versus unbalanced) gets a bad rap or is otherwise under appreciated since the presence of XLR ins or outs is presumed to indicate legit balanced. Too bad.

No worries. It will connect without a problem. I have it connected via XLR to a SimAudio, and previously to a Sherbourn amp without any issues.

On the whole XLR thing, I did it with expensive cables and heard absolutely o difference between that and RCAs. I just like that the XLRs snap into place.

I had the AV7005. Very noticeable improvement in SQ on the 8801. Some is attributable to XT32, for sure. But I believe there is more to it than just XT32. The sound is much more detailed. Makes listening to old favorites fun again. On movies and TV, same level of detail is apparent. It is a big upgrade in SQ.

Thanks for the reply DHF and the info. I guess the statement from Marantz about it may not connect properly has mr worried.

It is interesting how many touted the 4311 as a great prepro but now so many saying how much better the 8801 is for SQ. I am not yet a big Audyssey fan for music but am interested in how good the DACs and analog section are for music, not movies. Has anybody compared some of the key competition on the music end?

Same questions came up on the 7005. I am lucky because I don't read the manuals until way after I have hooked the thing up ;-).