Marantz NR1510 AVR Review

[Madlop26]

Great review Amir, Thanks!, I bought a NR1607 like 7 years ago, I was sold by the form factor, but I was never impressed by the performance, It was replaced by a Denon H3200 2 years later and 2 years ago I got the Denon X3700H powering my man's cave.
The NR1607 still kicking and alive in my home family room, where performance not a priority, reliability has been great in my particular case tough.

 

[Beave]

It is also interesting how the 2-channel model, NR-1200, sells for the same $ 799: either the 1200 is overpriced or the three extra speaker channels (or all five) of the 1510 are truly inexpensively designed and built.

It comes down to stuffing or not stuffing a handful of components on the amp board (see pics above - the amp board is vertical, near the front, by the heat sink).

They, like other brands, charge a little bit of a premium for the 2-channel version. From the consumer point of view, you're basically paying them to remove a few parts.

 

[DonR]

I really liked my NR1501 I bought many years ago. Gave it to my son and he eventually donated it to the local thrift store. It was a great small room/apartment receiver. Definitely not "audiophile" but hi-fi enough for me.

When trying to stuff 5 channels of amplification and HDMI processing into such a small package, something has to give, I guess.

 

[AndreaT]

Marantz NR1510 insides:

View attachment 249639

It is ungrounded, I see the “double-insulated” logo in the back, and alas black wire close to metal casing…(there might be a GFCI-like device in the path on the L side wall of the pic though).

 

[Chrispy]

I suppose you pay for form factor and lower volume a bit. Doesn't seem for the cost to be unusual.

 

[Dogen]

I was hoping one of these slim models might be okay for a bedroom 2.1 system. Alas this comes up too short for even that use.

All I really want is subwoofer output, high-pass on the mains and some bass management via microphone. I’ll bet many people with an AVR don’t even have surrounds and AVRs are generally way too big. Why is nobody addressing this market?

 

[Chrispy]

I was hoping one of these slim models might be okay for a bedroom 2.1 system. Alas this comes up too short for even that use.

All I really want is subwoofer output, high-pass on the mains and some bass management via microphone. I’ll bet many people with an AVR don’t even have surrounds and AVRs are generally way too big. Why is nobody addressing this market?

Why wouldn't it work for a bedroom setup particularly? What market?

 

[DonR]

All I really want is subwoofer output, high-pass on the mains and some bass management via microphone. I’ll bet many people with an AVR don’t even have surrounds and AVRs are generally way too big. Why is nobody addressing this market?

Yes, a slim processor and powered speakers.

 

[Doodski]

I was hoping one of these slim models might be okay for a bedroom 2.1 system. Alas this comes up too short for even that use.

All I really want is subwoofer output, high-pass on the mains and some bass management via microphone. I’ll bet many people with an AVR don’t even have surrounds and AVRs are generally way too big. Why is nobody addressing this market?

Yamaha has the R-S300 which is 2.1

R-S300 - Overview - Yamaha - Canada - English

Affordable model with advanced features.

ca.yamaha.com

 

[Dogen]

Why wouldn't it work for a bedroom setup particularly? What market?

Technically it would work, but I’d like better basic performance. I guess the idea here is 5.1 on the cheap, and I’m not the target market.

 

[Beave]

Yamaha has the R-S300 which is 2.1

R-S300 - Overview - Yamaha - Canada - English

Affordable model with advanced features.

ca.yamaha.com

But no bass management, no Audyssey or similar, no HDMI in or out, etc.

It's basically an old-school receiver with a subwoofer output added on.

 

[Dogen]

Yamaha has the R-S300 which is 2.1

R-S300 - Overview - Yamaha - Canada - English

Affordable model with advanced features.

ca.yamaha.com

Discontinued it appears. But…yes.

 

[respice finem]

The latest model is the Marantz CINEMA 70s. I doubt it would perform much differently, but it would be interesting to see.

There is a chance, because it doesn't feature the "dreaded" HDAM modules

Cinema 70s AV Receiver | Marantz

The Marantz Cinema 70s is a 7.2 channel 150W AV receiver with a slim, discreet design featuring Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, 8K Ultra HD, and HEOS® Built-in streaming.

www.marantz.com

 

[TonyJZX]

the 70s has a slew of new technologies inside... and it at least has full preouts

but already they seem to have a lot of firmware bugs

 

[Chrispy]

Technically it would work, but I’d like better basic performance. I guess the idea here is 5.1 on the cheap, and I’m not the target market.

So you're looking for non-audible issues?

 

[Beave]

Yamaha used to have a similar "slim" form factor AVR, first it was the Yamaha RX-S600, then the RX-S601 replaced that, then the RX-S602 replaced that one. I don't think they have a current comparable model.

They were all very similar in size and connection capability and power to these Marantz receivers.

I like the form factor, but there's no reason they can't perform better.

 

[DonR]

the 70s has a slew of new technologies inside... and it at least has full preouts

but already they seem to have a lot of firmware bugs

...and $1200.

 

[Beave]

The latest model is the Marantz CINEMA 70s. I doubt it would perform much differently, but it would be interesting to see.

The CINEMA 70 model is the most recent version of the Marantz NR1710, not the 1510. The 1710 was a 7 channel AVR, while the 15 series was 5 channel. The CINEMA 70 is 7 channels.

 

[Doodski]

Discontinued it appears. But…yes.

Yes, Yamaha is in a line change at this time I think.

 

[TonyJZX]

i do get the point $1,200 is a lot of money for a base unit but the argument they would have is that they're packing in more and more due to consumer expectations AND Marantz is pitching themselves as a 'luxury' brand now....

also the NR1200 isnt like cheap either