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Marantz Cinema 40 AVR Review

Rate this AVR:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 8 3.7%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 52 23.7%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 129 58.9%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 30 13.7%

  • Total voters
    219
The onkyo rz70 seems to be a much better value. Comparable dacs, free basic Dirac, and the ability to expand to DBLC. I don't know about the 4subs out but I find that overkill.
rz70 does not have Audyssey XT32 and likely has the same problem my RZ50 does with switching power rails with a very loud relay click randomly while driving low impedance speakers.
 
rz70 does not have Audyssey XT32 and likely has the same problem my RZ50 does with switching power rails with a very loud relay click randomly while driving low impedance speakers.
I don't know if the relay clicking is related to the low impedance issue for the RZ50 but the RZ70 is a robust, high-current design and exhibits none of the symptoms!
 
I don't know if the relay clicking is related to the low impedance issue for the RZ50 but the RZ70 is a robust, high-current design and exhibits none of the symptoms!

Even if RZ70 does not have the switching issues I have with RZ50 I would still not buy it because it only has Dirac and Dirac sucks for low volume listening.
 
Even if RZ70 does not have the switching issues I have with RZ50 I would still not buy it because it only has Dirac and Dirac sucks for low volume listening.
Since you have the RZ50, did you download the latest firmware and did it help improve your system?
 
Hi there :)
I just ordered a Cinema 40 and was wondering if someone could help me with a very basic question (sorry, this is my first AVR) I use my laptop as a source and a projector. Should I connect my macbook via HDMI to the cinema 40 and then use it's hdmi output to my projector?
The other possibility would be to use at the same time the Macbook's toslink output to the Marantz and simultaneously it's hdmi to the projector.
Would it have any difference soundwise?
Thank you so much in advance for any help
 
Hi there :)
I just ordered a Cinema 40 and was wondering if someone could help me with a very basic question (sorry, this is my first AVR) I use my laptop as a source and a projector. Should I connect my macbook via HDMI to the cinema 40 and then use it's hdmi output to my projector?
The other possibility would be to use at the same time the Macbook's toslink output to the Marantz and simultaneously it's hdmi to the projector.
Would it have any difference soundwise?
Thank you so much in advance for any help

HDMI is always your best option
 
Many thanks for an excellent review that includes measuring the pre out level up to 4 V, and reactive load tests on the power amps down to 2 Ohms. I think you may be the first reviewer who included those two tests in one single bench test session. Again, thank you for the nice desert!!

It looks like D+M did manage to squeeze the 93 dB SINAD spec TI PCM5102A dry, totally dry. They should patent their DAC chip implementation for achieving the seemingly impossible 98 dB SINAD you measured on the pre outs using Toslink. Even if they use differential implementation by doubling the number of the PCM chips, it doesn't seem possible to reach 98 dB when the spec for the chip all by itself is only 93 dB. Differential implementation mainly benefits in term of may be up to 6 dB noise reduction at the most anyway.

View attachment 335438

Based on the pre out performance of the Cinema 40 and the AVR-X4800H, may be D+M/Masimo has secretly replaces the PCM5102A with a better one such as the ESS's ES9010K2M?
I think the pcm5102a chips are used in both units. This would mean that the hdmi test is probably the accurate reading. It also makes no sense as to why some is would pay the difference ..u less that hdam thing is really super sauce.
 
I am thinking that the main reason is the DAC chip, that has higher THD, and higher THD typically result in higher IMD too. But then as I mentioned before, how did they manage to get 96 to 98 dB SINAD when just the PCM5102A has distortions higher, i.e. 93 dB, did Masimo made a deal with TI to sort out the chips tested with a few dB SINAD higher, I am speculating but it is possible as long as Masimo paid for the premium quality ones reserved for them.

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This is a good way to reason it out. It seems like a reasonable explanation
 
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Marantz Cinema 40 9.4 channel AV Receiver (AVR). It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $3,500.
View attachment 335356
As is typical in this class, you get a very large box. At least the look is unique and to my liking. The port hole display while limiting fits in the style.

Back panel as usual has hundreds of connections:
View attachment 335357

While I liked the remote on Marantz AV 10 I reviewed recently, in this instance had rather sticking and hard to use 4-way arrow buttons. I updated the unit to latest firmware and performed a factory reset for testing.

Marantz Cinema 40 DAC Measurements
I set the pre-outs to be only that (not driving speakers) and tested the left front and right front channels using HDMI input:
View attachment 335358
Usually I don't see a difference in "Pure Direct" mode here but as noted, we earned 2 dB for turning off some subsystems in the receiver. We gained more though by using Toslink:
View attachment 335359
Giving the benefit of doubt and going with this value of SINAD (ratio of noise+distortion), we get a reasonable ranking for an AV product:
View attachment 335360

Above is at volume level of 82.5 which on all Denon/Marantz products generates nominal 2 volts out. We can test at other levels first by sweeping the digital input level:
View attachment 335363

As you see, we already have the optimal output at 2 volts/volume of 82.5. As you crank up the volume, noise level increases so performance drops (green). You do get more output though if you need that at the expense of distortion. At 3.6 volt though, the preamp clips so best to not go above that.

We can alternatively keep the input at full digital level but crank up the volume 30 dB starting at volume level 58 dB going up to 88 dB:
View attachment 335364

I have put a cursor at 2 volt/82.5 volume level. All the way on the left is volume level of 58 dB which has a SINAD of 84.5 (13 dB loss relative to 2 volts out).

Would have been nice to land in green though. Form here on, I used Toslink unless noted otherwise. Noise performance is good for AV class:
View attachment 335361

IMD is not great as DACs are concerned but in the context of AV products, we bend the rules and call it good:
View attachment 335362

Multitone response is where the rest of the measurements are:
View attachment 335365

50 Hz response is the same.
View attachment 335368

AV products tend to generate suboptimal linearity but results are fairly good for the class:
View attachment 335369

We have a pronounced jitter source at 6 kHz that gets worse with HDMI:
View attachment 335370

I am relieved that Marantz now has a proper filter but its attenuation needs to be improved:
View attachment 335371

Frequency response is flat which we didn't have in previous generations:
View attachment 335372

The less than ideal filter impacts wideband THD+N measurements:
View attachment 335373

We can see that clearly by performing a wideband spectrum analysis of 1 kHz:
View attachment 335374

The tall spikes are the reason the previous graph looks so poor. Fortunately they are not audible.

Marantz Cinema 40 Amplifier Measurements
Let's start with the same Toslink input and see what we get at 5 watts:
View attachment 335375
That is decent performance which improves a bit with analog input:
View attachment 335376

Average for all amplifiers tested is in low 80s so the Cinema 40 is doing good here:
View attachment 335377

And oh, no warm up issues as we saw in Cinema 70s AVR review:
View attachment 335378

Noise performance is very good:
View attachment 335379

Frequency response is wide and unimpeded with analog input:
View attachment 335380

Crosstalk is disappointing:
View attachment 335381

Same for 19 and 20 kHz tones:
View attachment 335382

That's because distortion sharply rises at high frequencies:
View attachment 335383

Which we can confirm in our power vs frequency sweeps:
View attachment 335384

We do have good bit of power with overall good performance:
View attachment 335385
Some kind of feedback loop is keeping distortion constant but allows it to rise early in the sweep.
View attachment 335386

We naturally have some headroom as the power supply has to feed more than the two channels we test:
View attachment 335387

Marantz Cinema 40 Reactive Load Testing
For desert, we have some stress testing by varying the phase from -60 to +60 with resistance of 8 down to 2 ohm:
View attachment 335388
Ideal amp would keep its output voltage constant no matter what the load. Here we some drooping but good robustness, handling down to 2 ohm even though it is rated at 6 ohm! Even though voltage drops as impedance decreases, we still pump out a lot of power:
View attachment 335389

I should note that the amplifier never shut down even though it was pushed hard and into clipping. Very happy about that!

Conclusions
Our suite measurements show some progress toward a more uniform and performant AV product, far outperforming previous generation AV products from Marantz. Other than the weak attenuation of the filter, there are no major holes. I like to see the company attempt to climb up one step in total performance as to not make me stress over whether recommending it or not!

I am going to recommend the Marantz Cinema 40 AVR. It is expensive but delivers good enough performance.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

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Can you please review Cinema 30 or Denon A1h?

There is no measurements or Denon or Marantz flagship avr in internet. Nowhere!

And I think you are the only one who can make this review happen
 
Can you please review Cinema 30 or Denon A1h?

There is no measurements or Denon or Marantz flagship avr in internet. Nowhere!

And I think you are the only one who can make this review happen
There are so much interest in these AVRs, but there are only subjective reviews. There are so many discussions going on without knowing the measurements.

and you are our only hope to solve this ☺️
 
There are so much interest in these AVRs, but there are only subjective reviews. There are so many discussions going on without knowing the measurements.

and you are our only hope to solve this ☺️
I feel the same. If you can persuade either Masimo to send Amir an A1H, or A10H, and a C30, or enough ASR members (10%, 20%, don't know how many we need?) to send @amirm $10 each, he may end up with enough money to buy them for his tests. Then once all the tests are done, he could auction them and save the money to buy other AVRs/AVPs for tests.

Another way is to start a petition, if we can get even just 1000 signatures, Masimo may be willing to send those samples. They have done their internal tests so they know they will do bell on Amir's test bench and that would likely have some effects on promoting sales, good commercials for them.
 
I feel the same. If you can persuade either Masimo to send Amir an A1H, or A10H, and a C30, or enough ASR members (10%, 20%, don't know how many we need?) to send @amirm $10 each, he may end up with enough money to buy them for his tests. Then once all the tests are done, he could auction them and save the money to buy other AVRs/AVPs for tests.

Another way is to start a petition, if we can get even just 1000 signatures, Masimo may be willing to send those samples. They have done their internal tests so they know they will do bell on Amir's test bench and that would likely have some effects on promoting sales, good commercials for them.
I can send email. (Actually I will send it today, no need to postpone :)

If many of us will send an email, I think they may send. And I can also send money for buying it. But I think that many people prefer sending email or signing petition instead of paying money. I mean absolutely there are many people like you and I who are willing to pay 5-10-20$, but I am not sure that our numbers is enough for buying a flagship avr.

Can you start a petition? if you can help us, I will be glad.

There are really great interest in these products.
 
I feel the same. If you can persuade either Masimo to send Amir an A1H, or A10H, and a C30, or enough ASR members (10%, 20%, don't know how many we need?) to send @amirm $10 each, he may end up with enough money to buy them for his tests.
He did the AV10
 
He did the AV10

I knew he did, picked the wrong example by mistake.
 
He did the AV10
I saw Av 10. But debates are about Cinema 30 and A1h. I will be happy to see their measurements and all subjective opinions will be muted ☺️
 
I will be happy to see their measurements and all subjective opinions will be muted
What measurements do you expect to mute all opinions?
I would like to see a test of all power output stages in parallel on complex loads (similar to a power cube/reactive load test). Who has test loads for such a test on ASR?
 
What measurements do you expect to mute all opinions?
I would like to see a test of all power output stages in parallel on complex loads (similar to a power cube/reactive load test). Who has test loads for such a test on ASR?
@amirm ’s standard avr measurements is enough for me.
 
I saw Av 10. But debates are about Cinema 30 and A1h. I will be happy to see their measurements and all subjective opinions will be muted ☺️
I have an A1H here for testing. :)
 
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