@peng - Thanks for reiterating all that and helping put things into perspective!
Yes, I definitely won't be able to make out that drop in the HF range, I even think there is some diff in my right vs left ear.
It helps knowing that you yourself would've invested in one of these at the right price.
So, got the unit yesterday and hooked it up.
It's one thing to see it in pics and another to see it in person in all its glory - she is a beauty - looks very different than the Pioneer its replacing but weighs a bit less / a bit less deep.
Initial run was good, but then did Audyssey and it lost bass.
After some reading figured it out and made some tweaks (got the phone app as well), so things are now back to how I prefer.
Of course there is still scope for learning more and making further adjustments - there always is.
I like it that it has a dedicated 2 ch mode under speaker settings and that it has a manual override so my towers can be used with no sub, XO, etc.
I also like that Audyssey can be turned OFF and old school 9-band GEQ and Tone controls can be used - Pio had this but was bit of a work.
Initial impression of the sound with the same speaker setup is that it's smooth (almost buttery) with some sort of a nice romantic sheen to it.
But the Pio gave you a sense of looking through a very clear lens... Marantz sound is pleasing but also feels a bit muddied at times.
This is with 2ch stereo under the Music mode, Audyssey set to Flat with DEQ at +10, have also tried GEQ and tone controls, the former always seems better over a wide range of volume levels, so left it at that.
May be it needs more run in time to break-in, or I just need to run RoomEQ again, or it's just a getting used to thing.
Tried DVol & DEQ for some late night movie watching yesterday, both are some pretty cool features the Pio didn't have. May be it had the DRange, but a rather not so great one.
Here too the Pio had a bit more sharper bass / punch on the same content.
I will have to add some Atmos Ht. speakers as well to get a real sense of its capabilities - I have some old JBLs sitting around, which I could re-purpose. Any suggestions...?
JBL CS6100BG
It was when I got to watching movies I realized that Pio had 6 REQ memory presets which I couldn't figure out if the Marantz also has.
So, I could have one for projector screen down vs not (music mode), etc. It's a 120" screen going over the TV so it does have an effect on things.
Pio MCACC Presets
I did see something called Smart Select, can that be used?
May be I can run separate REQ for music vs movie modes (screen up vs down) and then send it to the AVR and have it memorized in those 1-4 smart select buttons?
Or, does it only keep one Audyssey setting at a time...?
So much to learn, going to leave it running for some days... which reminds me... the HEOS Amazon HD music integration is nice, wish they made it as good as the Amazon music app itself, except if you use the latter you have to go via BT / AirPlay and so no Ultra HD! We all need to make some noise about this so the integration within the HEOS app is made better - doesn't even show my custom playlist, leave the ability to create one. Not sure if it's lagging behind in features because not many really use Amz music and so no real push...?
Also the Denon HEOS 7 HS2 speaker that came along is nice as well, a bit too bass'y (couple D-class Amps they say), but has tone control, BT and ethernet port. Not sure I'd spend $599/- on it, may be half that, but can't complain when you get it free...