Denon/Marantz - the end is near (or not)

[Chrispy]

Poked my head in my sons room yesterday, set him up with a basic WiiM Streamer and a pair of PBS Intro bookshelves... honestly it sounds remarkably good, basic stereo, no EQ.... (and a heck of a lot better than what I had at his age!!)

Yes the "main" system goes deeper, is multichannel, runs Dirac - but....

I do have one nice little 2ch setup too. I had a pretty good one when I was in high school, combo of a Fisher receiver my dad handed down to me along with some Original Advent speakers and a Dual 1219 (?) that I bought with my own $ .....

 

[thcdru2k]

for all intents and purposes if you are critical listening it's very difficult for a dolby upmix / or multi-channel audio to beat your system in stereo mode. it might be livelier for a party especially with electronic music, orchestral music but its not going to be as pure as stereo. human ears are more tuned for forward listening as well so even if graphs may benefit from a perfectly calibrated atmos/surround timing with your fronts it would be hard pressed i think for there to be a perceptual advantage. ddrc-88 is nice but it's just for the most anal calibrators chasing perfection not listening satisfaction

 

[Chrispy]

for all intents and purposes if you are critical listening it's very difficult for a dolby upmix / or multi-channel audio to beat your system in stereo mode. it might be livelier for a party especially with electronic music, orchestral music but its not going to be as pure as stereo. human ears are more tuned for forward listening as well so even if graphs may benefit from a perfectly calibrated atmos/surround timing with your fronts it would be hard pressed i think for there to be a perceptual advantage. ddrc-88 is nice but it's just for the most anal calibrators chasing perfection not listening satisfaction

Upmixing can work out in many cases. Better mixed to purpose IMO, tho, by someone who's good at it (like Steven Wilson). 2 ch can be good, but more speakers and well located subs IME are better, if well setup of course.

 

[dlaloum]

I do have one nice little 2ch setup too. I had a pretty good one when I was in high school, combo of a Fisher receiver my dad handed down to me along with some Original Advent speakers and a Dual 1219 (?) that I bought with my own $ .....

I purchased a small integrated used (brand, I cannot recall... it was nondescript, 15W/ch), a pair of Minimus 5 speakers and a Pioneer PL120 turntable - all purchased with the money earned via a paper round...

 

[PristineSound]

I do have one nice little 2ch setup too. I had a pretty good one when I was in high school, combo of a Fisher receiver my dad handed down to me along with some Original Advent speakers and a Dual 1219 (?) that I bought with my own $ .....

Your Advent was good for the standards of it's day. I'm afraid speaker technology has advanced quite a bit since.

 

[Chrispy]

Your Advent was good for the standards of it's day. I'm afraid speaker technology has advanced quite a bit since.

To a degree, but acoustic suspension designs like that had their place at the time. 50 years is a long time, tho

 

[PristineSound]

To a degree, but acoustic suspension designs like that had their place at the time. 50 years is a long time, tho

50 years is indeed a long time. . . that's why I say the technology has advanced quite a bit. 50 years ago, Toole's research just begun and every loud speaker company were essentially willy nillying it. Indeed had their place and time.

 

[Chrispy]

50 years is indeed a long time. . . that's why I say the technology has advanced quite a bit. 50 years ago, Toole's research just begun and every loud speaker company were essentially willy nillying it. Indeed had their place and time.

OTOH plenty of people found the older speakers fine in use.....reference isn't particularly preference Box and driver design has advanced....

 

[PristineSound]

OTOH plenty of people found the older speakers fine in use.....reference isn't particularly preference Box and driver design has advanced....

Actually the science shows majority prefers the "reference" as in neutral with similar reflected sound. Nostalgia on the other hand is a different matter.

 

[Chrispy]

Actually the science shows majority prefers the "reference" as in neutral with similar reflected sound. Nostalgia on the other hand is a different matter.

LOL preaching to the choir to an extent. I said plenty, not majority in any case. I leave nostalgia to the vinyl thing mostly.

 

[livinon2wheels]

I would love to have a Cinema 30 but I hesitate mightily due to concerns over refinement in the HDMI department. After my most recent experience with Emotiva and their shit processors, I have no interest in repeating the same mistake at 4 times the price. Does anyone have any inside information on Marantz and their HDMI implementation?

 

[Chrispy]

I would love to have a Cinema 30 but I hesitate mightily due to concerns over refinement in the HDMI department. After my most recent experience with Emotiva and their shit processors, I have no interest in repeating the same mistake at 4 times the price. Does anyone have any inside information on Marantz and their HDMI implementation?

Refinement in hdmi? What does that even mean? Emotiva has issues but its not likely hdmi alone. What is the hdmi "implementation" you are referring to from Marantz particularly (let alone Denon)?

 

[livinon2wheels]

@ Chrispy - What I want to avoid going forward is a repeat of my horrible experience with Emotiva at 4 times the price. The current situation is I am a good 1500 bucks in the hole and don't have a suitable receiver. I very much hesitate to drop another 4500 bucks and be 6000 invested and STILL not have a properly functioning receiver. Much of the issues with Emo was their implementation of the HDMI standard. Pops (loud, speaker damaging loud) everytime a new source was acquired whether on the same or different streaming service. Extremely annoying. Then there was some problem in the amplifier section where it would break into very loud oscillation with lots of upper frequency content (tweeter killing hard oscillation). The whole thing was just a piece of junk. And the warranty is not worth the paper its written on. I hope that answers your questions...I cannot tell you anymore than that.

 

[RickS]

This thread seems to have lost its potential relevance and not sure when it was last on topic.

If you feel strongly about the content and have a good idea for a better home for it, please PM me. For now, it is closed.