Marantz SR7015 8K AVR Review

[MacCali]

My point was to make sure that both amplifiers do only amplify the sound and not manipulate it in any way. Otherwise the one which manipulates the sound may sound better or worse in a direct comparison - due to the manipulation and not due to better or worse measurements.

Got to give it a shot, not sure how to disable certain settings. But can definitely look into it and see what’s going on.

The only thing I would say though is the 7013 on airplay mode which converts the unit into a Heos input has far better sound quality and bass. It sounds like a completely different amplifier when using airplay. Not sure why

 

[wjp007]

I wanted the 1710 since it has 7 inputs but I couldn’t find one anywhere so I ended up getting the 1711 which only has 6.


So it's the HDAMs that make the Marantz units worse than Denon?

How do you like the NR1711? I’m looking at it also as it solves a lot of problems for me. I currently have an old Denon AVR I use for multichannel music and manually switch to a Toppping PA5 connected to a minidsp as a DAC/preamp. I really like the PA5 for 2 channel music (especially some of the MQS content on Qobuz), although my old AVR (E400) in direct mode is close but lacks in dynamics.

 

[Ageve]

I don't know if it has been mentioned, but the older SR-7013 has the same problem (digital clipping at volume >81, and poor brickwall filtering).

White: OPPO BDP-93 as a reference, playback from USB-stick, recorded from analog output.
Green: Analog loopback of Asus Essence ST soundcard.
Cyan: Marantz SR-7013, digital, playback from USB-stick in "direct" mode -> front preout.
Magenta: Marantz SR-7013, analog EXT-in, pure direct -> front preout.

The best "digital" performance I could get, was at volume 81, and 24-bit, 96 kHz to avoid 44.1/48kHz problems.

Left: Analog loopback of Asus Essence ST soundcard.
Middle: Marantz SR-7013, analog EXT-in, pure direct -> front preout.
Right: Marantz SR-7013, digital (wave file on USB-stick), direct -> front preout.

(Frequency response (multitone) is measured up to 20 kHz in RMAA (default setting) even if a higher sample rate is used.)

 

[MacCali]

I don't know if it has been mentioned, but the older SR-7013 has the same problem (digital clipping at volume >81, and poor brickwall filtering).

White: OPPO BDP-93 as a reference, playback from USB-stick, recorded from analog output.
Green: Analog loopback of Asus Essence ST soundcard.
Cyan: Marantz SR-7013, digital, playback from USB-stick in "direct" mode -> front preout.
Magenta: Marantz SR-7013, analog EXT-in, pure direct -> front preout.

View attachment 207477

The best "digital" performance I could get, was at volume 81, and 24-bit, 96 kHz to avoid 44.1/48kHz problems.

Left: Analog loopback of Asus Essence ST soundcard.
Middle: Marantz SR-7013, analog EXT-in, pure direct -> front preout.
Right: Marantz SR-7013, digital (wave file on USB-stick), direct -> front preout.

View attachment 207478

(Frequency response (multitone) is measured up to 20 kHz in RMAA (default setting) even if a higher sample rate is used.)

Greatly appreciated, I was interested to know about this one. On your first set of measurements ASUS Essence is a streamer or how are you achieving this performance?

 

[Ageve]

Greatly appreciated, I was interested to know about this one. On your first set of measurements ASUS Essence is a streamer or how are you achieving this performance?

It's a PCI soundcard. Analog loopback = line out -> line in (short RCA cable).

Amir measured a newer version a few years ago (STX II), but I think he clipped the signal. Some driver versions cause clipping if the volume is maxed out. He also measured it at 16-bit due to a mistake and/or driver bug (he admitted it).

Great soundcard - horrible drivers. (edit: Essence ST, not sure about STX II)

 

[MacCali]

It's a PCI soundcard.

Amir measured a newer version a few years ago (STX II), but I think he clipped the signal. Some driver versions cause clipping if the volume is maxed out. He also measured it at 16-bit due to a mistake and/or driver bug (he admitted it, but didn't update the review).

Great soundcard - horrible drivers.

Oh so those numbers have nothing to do with the AVR. I really wonder, cause I own the 7013, and it is my first AVR. Technically actually my first amp ever as well, noise is not sinad or is it? or maybe better yet is the 7013 performing better than the 15?

The thing that makes me really wonder is I mention that audio sounds really good, especially two channel playback when you use airplay. Which basically activates Heos on the amp, so I guess it is running via the internal streamer and it sounds like a completely different unit at matching volume. The bass is much fuller, and sounds a bit more clear. To me when using an external source vs heos it's a night and day difference and very curious to understand what is going on

Honestly even though it's I guess a mid tier AVR, I got it for a crazy low price and it was virtually brand new. I cant complain cause I definitely wanted 9 channels of amplification as an ignorant beginner and for the price I could afford at the time many forum members, not on here, said that wasn't even possible.

 

[Ageve]

Oh so those numbers have nothing to do with the AVR

Nope, it's just to verify the playback + recording performance.

Measurement of the SR-7013 DAC:
Test signals (wave file generated by RMAA) played back from USB-stick (front USB on SR-7013). Front preout connected to line-in on the soundcard. Direct mode used, and all digital processing (Audyssey, EQ, dynamic volume etc) disabled.

Measurement of analog performance:
RMAA playback on the PC. Line-out of soundcard connected to analog inputs on receiver (7.1 EXT in (front)). Pure direct mode used. Front preout connected to line-in on the soundcard. Signal recorded by RMAA in real time.

noise is not sinad or is it? or maybe better yet is the 7013 performing better than the 15?

Not SINAD, but THD and noise are both measured. SINAD = THD+noise (kind of).

88.6dB (SR-7013 DAC -> preout)
91dB (analog EXT-in -> preout)
106.1dB (soundcard*)

* Limited by ADC performance (loopback). DAC is better.

The 88.6dB performance goes down the drain above 81 on the receiver, due to clipping. I'm not at home at the moment, but I'll upload more screenshots later this week.

 

[Ageve]

Correction: 40Hz - 15 kHz is the default setting for frequency response (the +/- values below. The whole frequency range is still measured).

It's already -0.76dB at 15 kHz (and >3.5dB down at 20kHz, see post above).

The calculated SINAD goes from 89dB at volume 81, to 83.8dB at volume 83.5. The soundcard is not clipping. It's the SR-7013 DAC (analog measurement is ok).

The problems can be avoided by resampling to 24/96 in the player/software, and then staying at, or below volume 81 (or using external DAC).

Volume 81:

Volume 83.5:

 

[ClassicalDJ]

I'm feeding multichannel music via HDMI into my SR7013. For simplicity's sake let's assume it performs similarly to this SR7015 and best case I'm getting 80dB SINAD out to my external amplifier.

Now let's say I got my hands on an Okto Dac8 Pro or some other multichannel DAC configuration that can output above-100dB SINAD. Would sending that analog signal through my SR7013 via the 7.1CH IN inputs and out via PRE OUT to the external amp reduce that SINAD significantly? I'm guessing much of this would hinge on whether the Marantz performs any AD/DA conversion on the incoming analog signal in "Pure Direct" mode, but assuming it does not, could any assumption be made about the SINAD of the analog signal sent to the external amp?

 

[Ageve]

I got a SINAD of 91dB using 7.1ch in (front) and pure direct, with the amplifiers enabled (volume 81).

There's no AD/DA-conversion when using pure direct (and you can't use EQ, Audyssey or other processing).

See post 243 above. The frequency response (magenta) is identical to the output of the soundcard (green).

 

[Gaz1]

Hi all, thanx for accepting, been following this post a while, i was really happy with my sr7015 till i read the above review i bought because its supposed to have great 2 channel sound. I thought it did till the review.....the HEOS app is painful so i got a node n130, installed new lps and power upgrade and also topping e70 dac so bypassed the trouples above as said to be poor. I then set it up in my lounge with my bowers 603 s2. I also have marantz pm6007 so i played them side by side together with my svs 1000pro sub. I was really interested to hear that the SR7015 was every bit as musical as my 6007. So now I love my SR7015 again . I now have some new Kef R3's so will replace the 603's, they deffo a bit bright in the tops but made much better with Audessy App calibration. Hope everone has a great arvo, cheers

 

[MacCali]

Hi all, thanx for accepting, been following this post a while, i was really happy with my sr7015 till i read the above review i bought because its supposed to have great 2 channel sound. I thought it did till the review.....the HEOS app is painful so i got a node n130, installed new lps and power upgrade and also topping e70 dac so bypassed the trouples above as said to be poor. I then set it up in my lounge with my bowers 603 s2. I also have marantz pm6007 so i played them side by side together with my svs 1000pro sub. I was really interested to hear that the SR7015 was every bit as musical as my 6007. So now I love my SR7015 again . I now have some new Kef R3's so will replace the 603's, they deffo a bit bright in the tops but made much better with Audessy App calibration. Hope everone has a great arvo, cheers

Nothing wrong with it my friend. There’s a lot of equipment out there and if you are happy that’s all that matters. We are just looking for better performance as the sister to marantz, denon, is killing it objectively and subjectively.

We can’t seem to figure out why the more sophisticated big brother that’s typically more pricey isn’t on par