Undecided

That's easy: the Yamaha. It runs flexible digital bass management via the MusicCast app. See post 28 here:

By contrast, the Marantz only sends summed, LPF'd signal to the sub out jack, leaving you no feasible way of HPF'ing the signal directed to the main L/R speaker amps.

GIEGAR said:

That's easy: the Yamaha. It runs flexible digital bass management via the MusicCast app. See post 28 here:

Cannot decide, A-S801 or R-N803

First time posting here, but I have read through quite a number of threads on this forum, just haven't really had to ask a question until now... :) A little info, I am setting up a 2 channel system with 2 Martin Logan Motion 40's which I recently acquired. Most of my media is digital or via...

www.avsforum.com

By contrast, the Marantz only sends summed, LPF'd signal to the sub out jack, leaving you no feasible way of HPF'ing the signal directed to the main L/R speaker amps.

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Thanks for your kind reply.

I am not a native English speaker, and I kindly ask you if you can explain to me a little better, less technically, the concept of the signal sent by the marantz, etc. etc. I didn't really get it.

Thanks again.
P.

GIGEAR's saying that the Yamaha allows for High-Pass Filtering (HPF) to the Left/Right speakers and Low-Pass Filtering (LPF) to the subwoofer, so each is only dealing with the frequency range that they're best to handle.
Many other devices send full frequency range to both. The Subwoofer usually has a built-in low-pass filter, but the left/right speakers do not, and can struggle with handling bass frequencies.

Paspolc said:

Thanks for your kind reply.

I am not a native English speaker, and I kindly ask you if you can explain to me a little better, less technically, the concept of the signal sent by the marantz, etc. etc. I didn't really get it.

Thanks again.
P.

Click to expand...

philpoe said:

GIGEAR's saying that the Yamaha allows for High-Pass Filtering (HPF) to the Left/Right speakers and Low-Pass Filtering (LPF) to the subwoofer, so each is only dealing with the frequency range that they're best to handle.
Many other devices send full frequency range to both. The Subwoofer usually has a built-in low-pass filter, but the left/right speakers do not, and can struggle with handling bass frequencies.

Click to expand...

Ok, now i get it, more or less...thanks much.
then let it be Yamaha...don't you think though I should dig deeper before buying it?

Thanks
P.

Paspolc said:

Ok, now i get it, more or less...thanks much.
then let it be Yamaha...don't you think though I should dig deeper before buying it?

Click to expand...

Here's an independent review/measurements report to check out:

The R-N803 made the recommended list. Many AV and stereo receivers don't.

GIEGAR said:

Marantz only sends summed, LPF'd signal to the sub out jack, leaving you no feasible way of HPF'ing the signal directed to the main L/R speaker amps.

Click to expand...

The Marantz PM7000N does indeed have a high-pass/low-pass subwoofer filter and it is more flexible than the Yamaha's filter. The Marantz provides a choice of six frequencies (20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 Hz) whereas the Yamaha's is fixed at 90 Hz.

The Marantz user manual mentions the low-pass filter but not the high-pass one, potentially causing confusion. I telephoned Marantz a few minutes ago and the representative confirmed the filter does remove the low frequencies from the main loudspeakers.

It looks like they're fairly evenly matched in that regard then. The thread that GIEGAR refers to looks like the Yamaha now allows a variable crossover.
It may come down to the "warm" sound of the Marantz's HDAM circuitry, for better or for worse.

In the end, it's not bad to have this kind of high quality problem!

Alex F. said:

The Marantz PM7000N does indeed have a high-pass/low-pass subwoofer filter and it is more flexible than the Yamaha's filter. The Marantz provides a choice of six frequencies (20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 Hz) whereas the Yamaha's is fixed at 90 Hz.

The Marantz user manual mentions the low-pass filter but not the high-pass one, potentially causing confusion. I telephoned Marantz a few minutes ago and the representative confirmed the filter does remove the low frequencies from the main loudspeakers.

Click to expand...

Alex F. said:

The Marantz PM7000N does indeed have a high-pass/low-pass subwoofer filter and it is more flexible than the Yamaha's filter. The Marantz provides a choice of six frequencies (20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 Hz) whereas the Yamaha's is fixed at 90 Hz.

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These statements are incorrect. May I suggest you read the AVS post I linked above.

Alex F. said:

The Marantz user manual mentions the low-pass filter but not the high-pass one, potentially causing confusion. I telephoned Marantz a few minutes ago and the representative confirmed the filter does remove the low frequencies from the main loudspeakers.

Click to expand...

The manual does more than mention it - it's a menu heading, so there was no confusion.

Subwoofer - Low Pass Filter
Sets the low pass filter for the subwoofer output. Set this according to your speakers and subwoofer. The output audio signal has a lower frequency than the set value.
40 Hz / 60 Hz / 80 Hz / 100 Hz / 120 Hz (Default: 80 Hz)

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I presume the Marantz rep is knowledgeable though, so it appears both Yamaha and Marantz manuals are incorrect or out-of-date. Thanks for the clarification.

GIEGAR said:

These statements are incorrect. May I suggest you read the AVS post I linked above.

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I did not check out that link until moments ago.

My post was based on the Yamaha receiver's online user manual, which makes no mention of selectable subwoofer filter frequencies. I cannot find anything about such settings anywhere on the Yamaha website. Hopefully the problem is only a failure to update the product's online info.

GIEGAR said:

The manual does more than mention it - it's a menu heading, so there was no confusion.

Click to expand...

The page heading in the Marantz online manual you provided and I linked below does not specifically mention a high-pass filter. It states only "Subwoofer - Low Pass Filter." A high-pass filter is implied but I telephoned Marantz to be certain about it. It would be odd to have an LPF but not an HPF.

GIEGAR said:

I presume the Marantz rep is knowledgeable though, so it appears both Yamaha and Marantz manuals are incorrect or out-of-date. Thanks for the clarification.

Click to expand...

Yamaha's telephone help line has closed for the day. I had hoped to confirm their receiver is now factory equipped or can be equipped with selectable subwoofer filter settings via the MusicCast app you mentioned earlier. I suggest Paspolc contact Yamaha to be sure.

In a conversation with a Yamaha tech earlier today I was told that the Yamaha R-N803 stereo receiver has a factory-installed high-pass/low-pass subwoofer crossover that allows manual selection of the frequency in 10-Hz increments up to 100 Hz. It is accessed via the Advanced Setup menu. The rep said it is also available through the MusicCast app, which offers a top frequency of 90 Hz.

For a bit more I would also check out the Parasound NewClassic 200 integrated. 👍