Any dates yet on Marantz AV30 release?

[Onetrack97]

I've been traveling all month, so I haven't had a chance to order until now, but I'm about to pre-order.

I also pulled the trigger on a Buckeye NCx252MP, which will drive the surround and Atmos speakers apart from my mains. Expected 2 week build time, so maybe by the end of the month, I'll be putting everything together.

I ordered from Marantz/Sound United and they shipped within one day.

I also ordered the same class-d from Buckeye for my surround & overhead speakers.

 

[ban25]

I ordered from Marantz/Sound United and they shipped within one day.

I also ordered the same class-d from Buckeye for my surround & overhead speakers.

Sweet, I'll order from them. If I may ask, how long did it take you to get the amp? Thanks!

 

[Onetrack97]

Sweet, I'll order from them. If I may ask, how long did it take you to get the amp? Thanks!

I think they offered 2 business day shipping (after it gets picked up). Anyway, it’s arriving tomorrow (Monday), signature required.

 

[ban25]

I received an email from Dylan saying the build on the amp is underway and will take up to 3 weeks. I ordered the AV30 from Marantz and should have it in a day or two. I'm going to pick up an XLR cable snake from Pro Audio LA in Glendale in the afternoon.

I suppose I will have to stare at the AV30 for a few weeks before being able to hook it up!

 

[Onetrack97]

I received an email from Dylan saying the build on the amp is underway and will take up to 3 weeks. I ordered the AV30 from Marantz and should have it in a day or two. I'm going to pick up an XLR cable snake from Pro Audio LA in Glendale in the afternoon.

I suppose I will have to stare at the AV30 for a few weeks before being able to hook it up!

Next week I’m going to hook mine up as a 3.4.0 and play with it until I receive the Buckeye amps.

 

[ban25]

Next week I’m going to hook mine up as a 3.4.0 and play with it until I receive the Buckeye amps.

Yeah I'm debating putting it in the bedroom with a 2-channel amp temporarily. We'll see how long I can hold out, lol.

 

[Onetrack97]

The top of the AV30 is all grille. So, there sure seems to be a lot of empty space in there. The fewer the boards, cables, and connections, the lower the cost and the higher the reliability.

I think their NRE for this product was low but they still have all of the licensing fees for all of the software features.

I’m waiting for additional amplifiers so I won’t be doing any real calibration for a few weeks. Then I will evaluate Dirac ART vs. my current MiniDSP setup calibrated with MSO. My room has acoustic treatment but I’m still playing with it as well as new speakers.

 

[ban25]

Mine arrived today and I set it up in my bedroom while waiting for the Buckeye to arrive. I set it up in a somewhat unconventional manner, using the Pioneer LX805 as a 2-channel amp to drive the KEF R3 Metas in my bedroom:

I'm using the balanced input on the LX805 and running it in Pure Direct mode to effectively turn it into an amplifier:

As you can see, the AV30 is a solid 2" shallower than the LX805/DRX-8.4, which is always welcome when it comes to fitting into a cabinet. It's also half the weight.

The remote is plastic, which is a disappointment, but not unexpected for this class. It is at least backlit. The Marantz Remote mobile app is a significant step down from the Onkyo/Pioneer/Integra app. It looks to be a Web View container, which sucks. In fact, I don't think it's changed since I had an X3700H some years ago. In any event, HDMI CEC works perfectly fine and I have little need for either remote or app.

I haven't done a Dirac calibration yet, I'll wait until it's moved into the living room for that.

 

[dlaloum]

I keep seeing the narrative that the AVPs are just the AVRs without stuff. I can understand why that’s the end result to the customer, but if you open one up it has very little shared design with the AVRs. does that make it better or worse, for the lab bench to determine. but at least you are paying for an actually new product.

In the recent past, AVP's were exactly that for a number of brands - most of the circuit boards as well as the case, was shared...

 

[dlaloum]

They just take their sweet time and sure 2.2 will cost us all pretty penny even if most of us probably don't need it - me to be more precise. It is not how much it is going to cost them - but rather how much they will sell it for. New gen of products? Probably 20% or more over current gen.

It will be one of the primary pretexts for the release of the next generation of gear....

 

[ban25]

My Buckeye amp has shipped and I should be setting up the AV30 with ART in a couple days!

 

[Onetrack97]

My Buckeye amp has shipped and I should be setting up the AV30 with ART in a couple days!

My Buckeye amps are also shipping today.

I’m not quite ready to try Dirac ART yet until I can evaluate A1 EVO AcoustiX along with Audyssey MultiEQ and how they might integrate with my MSO-MiniDSP setup.

I’m having some trouble with my AV30. The USB input that I use to play FLAC audio files can get into a 90% distortion mode. When that happens, everything in the HEOS branch of the menus also gets in that state. Basically, I can hear that it’s playing music but just barely. Unplugging the USB memory and reinstalling does not fix it. The only fix I’ve found is to pull the power from the back. I will talk to tech support this week.

 

[middlemarch]

My Buckeye amps are also shipping today.

I’m not quite ready to try Dirac ART yet until I can evaluate A1 EVO AcoustiX along with Audyssey MultiEQ and how they might integrate with my MSO-MiniDSP setup.

I’m having some trouble with my AV30. The USB input that I use to play FLAC audio files can get into a 90% distortion mode. When that happens, everything in the HEOS branch of the menus also gets in that state. Basically, I can hear that it’s playing music but just barely. Unplugging the USB memory and reinstalling does not fix it. The only fix I’ve found is to pull the power from the back. I will talk to tech support this week.

Hope you get the USB issue sorted. As for trying Evo before getting into ART, speaking from my experience (2 years of Evo tweaks) just skip it and go directly to ART. You'll still be able to scratch the tweaking itch if you want, but at least it'll be good from the get go.

 

[Onetrack97]

Hope you get the USB issue sorted. As for trying Evo before getting into ART, speaking from my experience (2 years of Evo tweaks) just skip it and go directly to ART. You'll still be able to scratch the tweaking itch if you want, but at least it'll be good from the get go.

The thread for AcoustiX does look like a mess. It looks like people are doing work arounds all the time.

The other thing is that I’ve got a highly treated room so decay time is not a problem. Integration between the subs and the rest of the system plus overall tuning of my LCR is my main goal. ART definitely seems to have a more user friendly interface.

 

[Vacceo]

Mine arrived today and I set it up in my bedroom while waiting for the Buckeye to arrive. I set it up in a somewhat unconventional manner, using the Pioneer LX805 as a 2-channel amp to drive the KEF R3 Metas in my bedroom:

View attachment 506259

I'm using the balanced input on the LX805 and running it in Pure Direct mode to effectively turn it into an amplifier:

View attachment 506262

As you can see, the AV30 is a solid 2" shallower than the LX805/DRX-8.4, which is always welcome when it comes to fitting into a cabinet. It's also half the weight.

The remote is plastic, which is a disappointment, but not unexpected for this class. It is at least backlit. The Marantz Remote mobile app is a significant step down from the Onkyo/Pioneer/Integra app. It looks to be a Web View container, which sucks. In fact, I don't think it's changed since I had an X3700H some years ago. In any event, HDMI CEC works perfectly fine and I have little need for either remote or app.

I haven't done a Dirac calibration yet, I'll wait until it's moved into the living room for that.

We can hope that with the integration of Marantz/Denon in Samsung, they get the resources to revamp their software, even potentially integrating it in platforms like Google Home and Alexa.

I think the lifestyle vs. hardcore audiophile is essentially moot, as audio quality is not against friendly user experience.

 

[dlaloum]

We can hope that with the integration of Marantz/Denon in Samsung, they get the resources to revamp their software, even potentially integrating it in platforms like Google Home and Alexa.

I think the lifestyle vs. hardcore audiophile is essentially moot, as audio quality is not against friendly user experience.

I would agree with a heavy side of caution...

The various "smart" technologies including Google Home and Alexa are in constant flux, as are the various streaming services - software associated with these, is almost guaranteed to become obsolescent with 5 to 10 years... a prime example being some of the early Sonos products which are now basically bricks!!

I tend to ignore the "Smarts" in my AVR, I expect it to do RoomEQ, Dolby/DTS/Auro stream decoding and mixing, and act as prepro & amplifier.

For streaming, (and Google Home / Alexa integration etc...) - I have my SmartTV (running AndroidTV) and my HTPC... the SmartTV is now 5 years old, with no sign of obsolescence, and regular updates for software apps released, the HTPC is basically obsolescence proof.... as I update the OS and applications to keep it current.

Unless we see a true open environment with OS updates regularly provided, etc... at the AVR level, which appears highly unlikely, I prefer to keep the AVR "to its knitting" and keep the "smarts" within platforms that get a substantially higher level of continuous updates.

 

[ban25]

Installed!

 

[ieatfishburritos]

I've been waiting a to pull the trigger on a AVP and finally did today. The AV 30 will be here next week, looking forward to it.

 

[GL1zdA]

Audioholics did a live stream with Marantz and it looks like the preamp is slightly different in the AV 30 compared to the Cinema 30 (separate boards for the left and right channels):

 

[peng]

Audioholics did a live stream with Marantz and it looks like the preamp is slightly different in the AV 30 compared to the Cinema 30 (separate boards for the left and right channels):

Very little useful info in this one, hopefully Masimo, now Harman I guess, will do a better one soon.