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Marantz Cinema 40 AVR Review

Rate this AVR:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 8 3.8%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 50 23.6%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 128 60.4%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 26 12.3%

  • Total voters
    212
Is there an average for the "room noise" in people's homes? I have read a lot on here for the last couple of years trying to grap at the concept. My assumption is that every room has some audible noise unless it's treated?
 
To be clear, Amir use the absolute scale, that was 82.5 dB on the volume setting, or about +2.5 in the relative scale. Also, that's under the test condition when the digital input signal was at 0 dBFS. For real world use, the pre out voltage obviously depends on the input signal voltage that is content dependent and will vary greatly continuously unless the content you play is a steady test tone.

It will work with either gain setting, but if you want enough voltage to drive that amp to it's rated 250 W 8 ohms, or 500 W 4 ohms, then you need about 1.82 Vrms, if you set the gain to 21.75 dB, you will need about 3.66 Vrms.
Thanks, I guess I’ll try both the results. The noise floor of the room indeed is 20 db, measured using REW ;-) We generally play music at the -30 db and movies at -25 db, and sometimes -10, so there is quite some headroom for amplification. Why is it then that Marantz on the website publishes the voltage of the preamp as 1.4v? I was worried I would not be able to use all of the amplification this way.
 
Is there an average for the "room noise" in people's homes? I have read a lot on here for the last couple of years trying to grap at the concept. My assumption is that every room has some audible noise unless it's treated?
Treated or not, every room has some audible noise. Internal sources such as Heating & AC, refrigerators, etc are an ongoing source, External sources can be controlled to some extent thru sound insulation in the walls and such. Typically around 40db, dropping to low 30s at night, etc.
 
Why is it then that Marantz on the website publishes the voltage of the preamp as 1.4v? I was worried I would not be able to use all of the amplification this way.

I don't remember seeing 1.4 V on Marantz website, if you read the manual, it says Analog: 1.2 V, D/A output: 2 V at 0 dB playback. That's very vague as it does not really say much about the load condition. Even the 2 V at 0 dB playback mean little, because it does not say what is being playback, it most likely mean input signal at 0dB FS level, as that would be consistent with the ASR measurements. The Analog: 1.2 V spec is almost useless, because it says nothing about any load, and/or input conditions at all. I can take an educated guess, but it would still be just a guess. Again, its like their power consumption specs, it says 710 W, but anyone will know for an AVR, power consumption depends on how/what it is used for/with. We can also guess the conditions under which it would consume 710 W, as Gene did say something about Sound United follows IEC 62368-1 for such ratings. You didn't ask about this one, but I am using it just as another example about how vague manufacturers are, about those audio specifications. You can try asking customer support, but from my experience, unless you insists on them getting an answer from their engineering/design team (they did for me once or twice but that's it), they usually would just regurgitate what their website info says, and that you already know anyway, so no help there, usually, if the info gets just a little more technical.

Bottom line: specifications such as pre out rated output, power amp rated output, power consumptions, and many more, are often quoted for under specific load conditions that they don't always tell you. So you have to seek out the information, such as from service manuals, their own training videos (such as Masimo') and bench test results, if you want, or need more specific information. In the case, we are fortunate, as thanks to ASR, we do have bench measurements, and also a Youtube video by Marantz/Masimo.

You can also reference service manuals, though in this case you won't find one for the Cinema series, but you can find it for the earlier models. I am quite sure any of those AVRs can drive your power amp to their full rated output without any issue.

In fact, in one of my 2 channel systems, I am using an <$600 AVR-X1800H to drive my buckeyamp's Hypex based power amp, the NC502MP that has only 25.5 dB of gain and is rated 300 W 8 ohms, 500 W 4 ohms, no issue whatsoever. So, just relax and enjoy your Cinema 40, that seems like an excellent AVR.

From Owner's manual:

1725388977251.png


By the way, Onkyo, Yamaha etc., even the $6,900 Arcam don't seem to do better, here's what you get for the $6,900 Arcam AVR31:

1725390282905.png


Yamaha, like Onkyo irrc, used to just say 1 V, like Arcam.., but in recent year Yamaha also provide a second spec, one that described as "Maximum", so you will see the following in the manual of the RX-A8A:

1725390642182.png
 
Be careful, with SINAD normally THD dominates. Noise should be lower.
As we talk about home cinema - ATMOS level will be at least 105dBSpl at the listeners place. With 90dB S/N that would be 15dBSpl - but from 11 speakers. And that's of course just a very rough estimation, can be better but also worse with close rear speakers.
And home cinema rooms are built to be silent. I would not accept 30dB(A)Spl noise in such a room (until in the middle of a city/trains etc nearby, there it get's harder).

For the normal living room and standard HiFi Speakers (which can not get to these levels) - you are perfectly fine with all of these amps, they deliver great performance.
 
Now that the C40 has been out for some time, does anyone feel there is a better value in the $2500-$3500 price range? I can get C40 for $2600 or X4800H for $1900. I think I prefer Marantz for longer warranty, backlit remote and aesthetics even if performance is very close.
 
Now that the C40 has been out for some time, does anyone feel there is a better value in the $2500-$3500 price range? I can get C40 for $2600 or X4800H for $1900. I think I prefer Marantz for longer warranty, backlit remote and aesthetics even if performance is very close.

At $3500, maybe the Monolith HTP-1 with all of the idiosyncracies may be a compelling option if you have the budget for external amplifiers.

Every once in a while, Marantz offers a 25% off refurbished which gets you to $2175 for a Cinema 40 or $2775 for the Cinema 30. It's hard to beat those "double stacked" deals.
 
Now that the C40 has been out for some time, does anyone feel there is a better value in the $2500-$3500 price range?
I don't know your setup, but maybe a JBL MA9100HP could fit the bill. It definitely has the more powerful amplifier section.
With Dirac Live you are at your lower price limit.
 
At $3500, maybe the Monolith HTP-1 with all of the idiosyncracies may be a compelling option if you have the budget for external amplifiers.

Every once in a while, Marantz offers a 25% off refurbished which gets you to $2175 for a Cinema 40 or $2775 for the Cinema 30. It's hard to beat those "double stacked" deals.

I don't have the physical space for external amps. Thanks for the suggestion however.
 
I don't know your setup, but maybe a JBL MA9100HP could fit the bill. It definitely has the more powerful amplifier section.
With Dirac Live you are at your lower price limit.

I am driving PSB main channels that my current AVR can't handle without switching between low and high power rails which causes a loud and annoying relay click every time it occurs. My previous AVR (mid level Denon) drove the same speakers for years without this issue.

I have Dirac now and it's been fantastic for my terrible room, however I also need something that does a really good job of volume compression for night time listening, it seems that Denon/Marantz are the only ones on the market at the moment that offer both Audyssey and Dirac and allow the selection of either processing with a button press.
 
I don't have the physical space for external amps. Thanks for the suggestion however.
Yeah, in that case, it’s hard to beat the premium D&M products. There is just the issue of Cinema 30 vs 40 :)
 
I also need something that does a really good job of volume compression for night time listening
Have you tried adjusting the Dirac Live target curves for this purpose?
 
Have you tried adjusting the Dirac Live target curves for this purpose?

Yes, and there are entire threads devoted to trying to achieve something similar to what Audyssey can achieve with a button press when you choose volume compensation. An increasing number of reviewers have pointed out how Dirac is lacking here but they've shown zero interest in addressing it. At least now people will acknowledge it is even a problem. For years people who can't comprehend listening at lower volume levels wouldn't even acknowledge an issue existed.

The results for me in trying to tweak Dirac curves to improve this have not been particularly impressive, and the amount of time that needs to be sunk into fiddling to try to achieve this compared to getting it out of the box is no longer worth it for me.
 
Yeah, in that case, it’s hard to beat the premium D&M products. There is just the issue of Cinema 30 vs 40 :)

The Denon gear is a much better value and there's little argument for going with the Marantz stuff beyond aesthetics and a longer warranty, but I do think that the Marantz stuff looks much nicer than the very utilitarian looking Denon stuff that is cosmetically identical to what they have been delivering since the 90s.
 
Yes, and there are entire threads devoted to trying to achieve something similar to what Audyssey can achieve with a button press when you choose volume compensation. An increasing number of reviewers have pointed out how Dirac is lacking here but they've shown zero interest in addressing it.
Just a quick note that if the loudness feature of Audyssey is important to you, purchasing the $200 Audyssey X upgrade offers DRC on a level very similar to Dirac Live, and control of dual subwoofers is included for free. IMHO a very good option over the D-M Dirac Live upgrade.
YMMV
 
Just a quick note that if the loudness feature of Audyssey is important to you, purchasing the $200 Audyssey X upgrade offers DRC on a level very similar to Dirac Live, and control of dual subwoofers is included for free. IMHO a very good option over the D-M Dirac Live upgrade.
YMMV

I was aware it existed and was on par with Dirac but haven't really looked into it. I've spent a lot of time tweaking Dirac Live so even though it's more expensive it might be the easier/lazier approach to just re-purchase Dirac the next time a discount code comes along rather than have to pick up a new set of skills to do Audyssey X.

I only have one subwoofer (SVS PB-3000) and no option to add a 2nd so I wasn't sure how much of an improvement Dirac Live bass management would be for me, but it was nice that it was at least an option on the newer Denon/Marantz kit.
 
I was aware it existed and was on par with Dirac but haven't really looked into it. I've spent a lot of time tweaking Dirac Live so even though it's more expensive it might be the easier/lazier approach to just re-purchase Dirac the next time a discount code comes along rather than have to pick up a new set of skills to do Audyssey X.
Since you already have it and are happy, no reason to change. ;)
 
Since you already have it and are happy, no reason to change. ;)

Happy with it for reference listening with it, dissatisfied at how hard it is to set up and pretty much all other use cases. I will now cease & desist with the off topic banter about Dirac vs. Audyssey!
 
Now that the C40 has been out for some time, does anyone feel there is a better value in the $2500-$3500 price range? I can get C40 for $2600 or X4800H for $1900. I think I prefer Marantz for longer warranty, backlit remote and aesthetics even if performance is very close.
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.
 
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.

But that's an Onkyo. They sound terrible. My only Onkyo I ever owned was the 885 Pro (I believe Integra 9.8 was the same unit) coming from a Marantz processor because of the 'latest' connectivity. Send that junk back the week after. Sorry, my only Onkyo experience!
 
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