Marantz AV10 AV Processor Review

[Goodfellas27]

I am in no rush. I'll put the money in Money Fund account untill they get their act together before pulling the trigger on a new processor. Untill then, I'll be content with what I have.
Thanks for the update.

 

[Sal1950]

Yeah, but they also strongly hinted it was arriving in April 2024, and here we are heading into 2025 with no official news.

Sounds like Spotify. LOL

 

[Sal1950]

I am in no rush.

Till then you might spend $200 for Audyssey X.
You just may find it's all the DRC you'll ever need.

 

[dlaloum]

Yeah, but they also strongly hinted it was arriving in April 2024, and here we are heading into 2025 with no official news. Buy a product for what it offers today, not what it may promise in the future...

Agreed - hence my keeping an eye out for ART capable devices, but not making any move to upgrade until it is a real thing, and not mere vapourware!

 

[Goodfellas27]

Yea—I am not making the mistake on buying a promise.

 

[JRR]

Just bought this Albatross. Its making funny noises reminiscent of an HDD through the speakers. Also, what can i do to play DSF files from my roon rock? It won’t play through HDMI and the processor doesn’t have a USB input as far as i can tell.

 

[ban25]

Just bought this Albatross. Its making funny noises reminiscent of an HDD through the speakers. Also, what can i do to play DSF files from my roon rock? It won’t play through HDMI and the processor doesn’t have a USB input as far as i can tell.

It doesn't play DSF if you connect the ROCK via HDMI? Weird. Unfortunately, D+M products are not Roon Ready, so you might have to settle for downsampling to AAC via AirPlay 2. The Integra DRX-8.4 is Roon Ready out of the box, which is one of my favorite features:

 

[ban25]

It doesn't play DSF if you connect the ROCK via HDMI? Weird. Unfortunately, D+M products are not Roon Ready, so you might have to settle for downsampling to AAC via AirPlay 2. The Integra DRX-8.4 is Roon Ready out of the box, which is one of my favorite features:

I checked the datasheet on the ES9018K2M DAC used in the AV10 and confirmed it supports 11.2 MHz DSD (DSD256). Of course, just because the DAC supports it doesn't mean full support has been implemented end-to-end. One thing to try: Using the ROCK connected to the AV10 via HDMI, try streaming some high resolution FLAC and see if it passes say 24-bit/192 kHz lossless. If it downsamples, then we know that there is no support for high-resolution audio at least outside of HEOS.

 

[peng]

I checked the datasheet on the ES9018K2M DAC used in the AV10 and confirmed it supports 11.2 MHz DSD (DSD256). Of course, just because the DAC supports it doesn't mean full support has been implemented end-to-end. One thing to try: Using the ROCK connected to the AV10 via HDMI, try streaming some high resolution FLAC and see if it passes say 24-bit/192 kHz lossless. If it downsamples, then we know that there is no support for high-resolution audio at least outside of HEOS.

Yes the dac can do that but I think D+M, just iirc, tended to do up to dsd128 only wheras comparable Yamaha's dsd 256.

 

[JRR]

Apparently HDMI doesn’t support DoP and therefore DSD doesn’t seem to be an option on this thing.

 

[ban25]

Apparently HDMI doesn’t support DoP and therefore DSD doesn’t seem to be an option on this thing.

Jeez. I was gonna say, you could buy an external DAC/streamer and used the XLR inputs on the AV10, but now I see that it has no trigger inputs (and only two trigger outputs, on a 16-channel processor...), so you'd have to manually turn it on, switch to the balanced input, and only *then* start playing from Roon...

 

[Sal1950]

Jeez. I was gonna say, you could buy an external DAC/streamer and used the XLR inputs on the AV10, but now I see that it has no trigger inputs (and only two trigger outputs, on a 16-channel processor...), so you'd have to manually turn it on, switch to the balanced input, and only *then* start playing from Roon...

Does it run on AC? You can use these to switch power to as many AC components as desired from a single trigger output.

Controllable Four Outlet Power Relay Module version 2

Say goodbye to hazardous high voltage wiring and create the Internet of Things with safe, reliable power control. The IoT Power Relay from Digital Loggers is custom designed ...

www.adafruit.com

 

[ban25]

Does it run on AC? You can use these to switch power to as many AC components as desired from a single trigger output.

Controllable Four Outlet Power Relay Module version 2

Say goodbye to hazardous high voltage wiring and create the Internet of Things with safe, reliable power control. The IoT Power Relay from Digital Loggers is custom designed ...

www.adafruit.com

But the problem is you need to tell the AV10 to switch the source to Balanced In. Usually, you have some 12V trigger inputs that you can configure to do this, but the AV10 doesn't have them. So what should be a 1-click operation (tell Roon to play something) turns into a 3 step process.


Edit: I should add, only with external sources. If you are ok transcoding to lossy AAC 256kbps, you can just use AirPlay 2. But then again, why even have all these analog inputs on the back of the thing when you don't have the provisions to implement them properly?

 

[Newman]

Apparently HDMI doesn’t support DoP and therefore DSD doesn’t seem to be an option on this thing.

??? I can bitstream DSD from SACDs in my Oppo player to my Yamaha AVR over HDMI, no problem.

 

[Sal1950]

But then again, why even have all these analog inputs on the back of the thing when you don't have the provisions to implement them properly?

Got me, analog inputs are so 1980?

 

[peng]

??? I can bitstream DSD from SACDs in my Oppo player to my Yamaha AVR over HDMI, no problem.

Pretty sure you can do that with D+M's too, just not DSD256, but DSD64, DSD128 should be doable. I remember doing it before with my previous X4400H and AV8801, no reason to believe the AV10 can't do it.

We already know it can do it via USB and network, for HDMI see p307 in the manual:

and for USB and network:

 

[JRR]

The problem is doing it from a Computer/nuc/nucleus.

 

[ban25]

The problem is doing it from a Computer/nuc/nucleus.

Yeah, the USB input on the AVP is Storage-only, so it can't be used for streaming.

I was thinking about your problem some more and I came up with one solution, but unfortunately, it is not exactly the most cost effective: You could add a Roon Ready streaming integrated amplifier with Home Theater Bypass/Passthrough between the AV10 and your FR/FL speakers. That way, when you play from Roon, the streaming amp automatically starts and you essentially have a 2.0 system. When you turn on the AV10 to watch something, the streaming amp starts up and just serves as an amplifier for your front speakers. The downsides are: 1) No bass management, so no subwoofers when using Roon and 2) The options for a streaming amp that will cleanly integrate are kinda limited (needs trigger input, HT Bypass, and Roon Ready).

 

[JRR]

I think I need to unload this thing. Its unnecessarily big and doesn’t do what I want it to do. Any thoughts on the Primare SP25? That is at least roon ready and has usb in.

 

[ban25]

I think I need to unload this thing. Its unnecessarily big and doesn’t do what I want it to do. Any thoughts on the Primare SP25? That is at least roon ready and has usb in.

I would stay away from that as it's HDMI 2.0 only, which is about to be 2 generations behind the standard. If you just need 11 channels and want Roon Ready, then the Integra DRX-8.4 or Onkyo RZ70 is the best deal in town. If you don't want to use the internal amps, you can just disconnect them and run in pre-amp mode. Otherwise, try the Arcam AV41? HDMI 2.1, Roon Ready, 16-channels XLR. The only drawback is that the Dirac Live implementation is a bit buggy and most Arcam users seem to be stuck on version 3.4.4, but this doesn't seem like the end of the world TBH. Lastly, you could consider a Storm Audio ISP Core 16. More expensive, but full featured plus support for Dirac ART.