I'd jump on a AV-770X processor in the sub $3k range.
The AV10 is slightly north of 100 db in SINAD. No reason to not be able to keep that clean engineering in a less channels, cheaper versión device.I'd jump on a AV-770X processor in the sub $3k range.
Except for the issue of greed, there's absolutely no reason you couldn't pull the amp sections from a C40, add balanced inputs, drop SINAD to 100db and sell it for $3k MSRP. The midrange processor buyers like me would be all over it.
Anyone want my Denon X4700H ?
I gotta say even at 3200-ish roughly half price of the AV10, with the feature set offered in the C30, I would be on-board for that. Yeah maybe the retooling for the case and the relatively minor engineering work that would need to be done to offer that as stand alone pre/pro might be expensive enough they deem the effort and expense would not pay off. But I think it would. There are pre/pro for less than that but that give up a bunch of features included already in the c30 but they are clearly built to a price point and severely limited in features. This would offer upper mid-tier performance at an acceptable price point. Those lower priced units are bare bones units and essentially carbon copies of the pre/pro built into my Emotiva MR1L. After living with that piece for 5-6 months, its a bit like eating a hamburger when you really wanted a steak. But my reasoning was that I was going to buy only what was necessary from that brand to assess build quality and what it is like to live with without investing a ton of money. I made the right choice. Turns out that many of the issues that plague my MR1L also affect their more expensive offerings and in addition those more expensive options have even more issues. So glad I didnt drop 5k on their top end pre/pro. Oddly, their stereo preamp/dac/tuner is a great piece with zero vices that I can find. I liked the first one so well, I bought another for my desktop system with the built in amp. At 60 wpc and using the USB input from the computer I have a quite nice and very listenable near-field system where I work that has plenty of reserve for the application. But I digress. I still think Marantz is missing a very profitable market segment by ignoring this possibilitylivinon2wheels, I just checked Amazon, the outdated AV7706 is still going for $3,199 so there seems no chance to have one based on the current AVRs for $2,500. At that price point you picked, sorry to say it, but Marantz fans will have to hope for Masimo to let Denon does it, and hopefully they wouldn't mind coming up with a style that looks more appealing to the M leaning people.
All this talk about gutting an existing AVR to make an affordable prepro reminds me of what Mazda did recently with their CX70: they basically took the 3-row CX90, gutted the 3rd row, and gave it a sportier exterior for the same price as an equivalent CX90! To add insult to injury, the CX70 starts at a higher trim so it's actually possible to find a cheaper 3-row CX90 vs a CX70 from the same year!
To be fair, sedans as a whole are a dying breed, especially larger less practical ones. We are SUV-crazy in the States!
Well sort of. Car guys in the states are Pickup Truck crazy.
"Marantz Cinema 40 DAC Measurements
What other function of the pre-outs are you interested in, analog straight thru?
Yeah. I'm thinking Cinema 40 in pre amp mode and two Buckeye amps. Two main concerns:
Well I run a similar Denon X4700H in straight pre-amp mode using 5 Adcom power amps for a 5.2.4 system.
Current setup is 3.1.4 with Marantz 5015, Polk R200's (1st gen), and R350 center. The center is terrible and so are the built-in Bose heights that came in my home. It's also painfully obvious that the AVR struggles to run this low impedance LCR setup.
He didn't do that measurement in this review, but had done it in at least one previous Denon model.
Who said that, link ti the source would be nice? The same had been said about the SR series and Denon's 3000/4000 series too, but were debunked.
Why would you care too?
