Marantz AV8801 Preamp/Processor Official Owner's thread - Page 92

A little update on my AV8801 experience.

Had it since last monday, and can say that in my room, and with my Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Concert Grand / Maestro speakers, this units an extreme upgrade from the AV8003.
It's much more detailed. The bass have had a hugh upgrade thanks to the Audyssey correction.

The web interface it extremely great for testing different settings

Even in Pure Direct for music, the unit is much better than the AV8003. (Analog from Musical Fidelity M1Clic)


I believe it might be even better if I upgrade my Rotel RMB-1575 and the XTZ sub. The sub is getting upgraded this summer with a Velodyne SPL1200

Except for the folks who have nearly infinite budgets, there is always something better out there.

I have decided the weak link in my home is the Romex in my walls and the bones in my ears.
No affordable solutions have presented themselves.

- Rich

DHF,

Is your AV8801 hooked up via XLR to amp?

I have a 7-channel Gemstone amp and bi-amp main speakers. I had a bad experience bi-amp'ng the amp with Ayre K-5XE preamp. i was getting enemic sound with complete lack of dynamics. I hope that AV8801 can properly drive the amp via XLR Y-Cables.

Rich- I am with you on this one. I have often considered a Halo A-51 amp, but, I too am hesitant because it does not double the power output into 4 ohms. I have Aerial Acoustics speakers which put quite a demand on an amplifier.

I am a fan of Parasound though; I have an older HCA-1206 that I relegated to surround channel duties when I purchased a Proceed HPA3 for my front three Aerial LR5's.

I've never heard of a Parasound amp having any difficulties driving any load and in fact just the opposite, they have always been the go to amps for speakers with difficult to drive speakers loads. They Halo's are a great combination of finesse and brute force!

I am not sure that is a concern.  I have driven the B&W 800Ds (similar impedance dip) and TAD E-1s with the A31 and had no problems.

I'm in no way criticizing the Parasound Halo series. The bigger reason for me not getting one is I need every last watt I can get at 4 ohms. The Proceed simply has more.

Hey man I got nothin but love for the Proceed amps and Am fully aware of there true pedigree;) and no worries I didn't take it as criticizing:)

Nor am I.
I am happy with my Sunfire for the time being.
Sounds fantastic connected to my Oppo.

Other components seem to have a much more dramatic impact on the sound quality than most high-quality solid state amps.

A couple of years back I did a mini-shootout with friends comparing a D-Sonic 400Watt amp, and older Outlaw 200 watt amp, and an older Sunfire Cinema Grand Signature.

Each of these were very different architectures and sounded different.
I liked the speed and attach of the Outlaw so I upgraded my Sunfire to a newer model which I find more transparent.
I like technology, so I tried a 400 Watt D-Sonic ICE amp., I had nice midrange but it did not sound quite right and the bass was missing.
That thing could not drive the Salons woofers. At least in the case, "Controlled Bass" = No Bass.

- Rich

After reading the comments in this thread, and, much deliberation, I just today ordered an AV8801. I want to see for myself how it compares to my Lexicon MC-12Bv5EQ.

I am heavily biased towards the Lexicon after having been a faithful owner for over 15 years now. I can't wait to make the comparison.

Great!

That should be interesting.

- Rich

Congrats! It IMHO is an "Audiophile" preamp/processor with the ability to evenly distribute equal treatment to the signal its handed at a true refernce level of playback!

Enjoy your 8801:)

That's what I've been hearing about it ;-)

I am a bit of a Lexicon snob. However, I have been having to use the analog outs of my Oppo BDP-103 into the Lexicon's 5.1 analog inputs to get the Dolby TruHD and DTS MA HD. I am expecting a slight improvement by using a direct digital input without the D/A then A/D conversions.

I do love the Lexicon set-up process. That, including the auto speaker calibration and roomEQ, is VERY easy. I am a bit concerned about the complexities of the Audyssey XT32.
Edited by jdlynch - 2/11/13 at 7:48pm

JD....I too have owned many versions of Lexicon....I just came from an MC12HD with EQ...latest version etc etc...... You won't be disappointed in the least...actually I know you will be plesaeantly surprised.I haven't even touched Audysey yet either. The Lex stills gives you alot more flexability in the surround modes and bass management though. The user interface on the lex is still very easy to use..

But its the sound......sweet.

I had heard the same thing, but audyssey is super simple. Plug in mic, move to 8 locations in room, hit compute. Maybe the pro one is more complicated but just xt 32 is as easy as they get.

Is it best to put the mic all over the room to get the 8 measurements? Or if I/we sit in the same counch to put the mic in 8 different spots on the couch only?

The #1 mic position would be at the main listening position (ie. generally center of couch) with the additional 7 being within a 2'-3' radius around that #1 position (regardless of where anyone sits).

I bi-amped my Revel salons when I first got the 8801. I am not doing so now, but that is a possibility.

I would try them not bi-amped and see if it is better.

- Rich

are'nt the X350 (350W X 2) = $11,000.00USD?

This is pretty much what I did, thanks!

 

+ a Hole in your wallet and heat up the room, seriously I heard the Pass Labs are supposed to be fantastic!

Interesting, my seating is identical to yours so I am curious why you don't put the mic in the two chair seats as well?

I just setup my 8801 and so far i am blown away at the feature set and how good it sounds. For the money , its quite amazing.

The thing that is blowing my mind a little and maybe someone knows how this is doing this is the Volume Control.

I use my Directv remote to work the volume on my Pana VT50 tv

When the 8801 is on the Dtv remote is somehow working the volume on the marantz and then when the 8801 is off the volume is controlling the panasonic VT50.

I have done no programming or anything , it just magically does this ?

Its quite amazing and in 20 years of being in this business ive never seen something work so nicely. Is this being done in CEC ?

Whats more amazing is i havent seen anyone mention this option yet and i think its one of the neatest features of the piece.

Does this work on any other receivers/Pre pros ?

Craig

Its just a standard feature of HDMI Remote control called AnyNet by some or VieraLink by others etc.
Because the HDMi chips have to be on all the time for this to work the unit is not going into "real" standby if turned off as long as this feature is switched on.
It can be enabled or is already by default on most components featuring HDMI connections.
Its has to be active, if you want to use ARC from your TV, if available there.

My SIM Audio is actually a Gemstone too:cool:
I am hooked up with all XLR cables.
Dali Euphonias LCR, Dali Helicon walls for sides, kinda junky for backs and heights. I had to put 10dB attenuators on the Helicon walls to make them match levels with the old (AV7005) Audyssey. Have not tried removing them. Sound is anything but anemic.

I looked at them on the web. I think they are a bargain, as you dont have to use a furnace to heat the house.

Still amazed at the amounts of clear detail we hear. And that is all around the room! Combine that with the Aura Pro Bass Shakers powered by a Dayton APA150 AMP and movies sound and feel next level!!!

pretty much use similair mic positioning logic as well. Although, since you're using those additional outside perimeter seats (on each side of couch), I probably would have included at least two measurements (one each) for each seat. Open-out sweet-spot.

Do you bi-amp your gemstone via Y-adapter?

The gemstone has 22kOhms input impedance, so when I bi-amp it... the preamp is only seeing 11kOhms load which is very tough for some of the preamps. In other words, the Gemstone amp was sinking too much current and was not getting the maximum voltage swing that was needed to achieve dynamic sound when I used Ayre preamp. I'm getting very good results with my ancient Outlaw 1050 processor so I'm hoping the AV8801 would supply the needed current in the bi-amp mode. Marantz never got back to me to confirm this.

DHF,

I've never heard Dali speakers. I believe the Gemstone was tested and voiced around Dali sound.

Like you, I'm delighted how Gemstone sounds:)