View Full Version : sony 1070 or marantz 6200/5200
I havee seen the sony for £379 at richer sounds webby, and the marantz 6200 for £355 at qed, what do u guys think?what is the better buy in terms of features/stereo/surround perfomance. is ther anything else in the £350 price bracket to consider, i have this money burning a hole in my pocket, and im itching to make a purchase!!
cheers for any help
the Sony 1070 has been given univerally bad reviews by everyone..(HCC slated its sound quality).
lots of people have it here from the Currys £299 fiasco six months ago.., but I doubt they would have paid more for it.
Denon & Marantz seem to have the best current ranges... you could get a Denon 1802..., though the Marantz range seem to be very well priced if you want DD EX.
demo both and see what which you like sound-wise...
Originally posted by wassap
I havee seen the sony for £379 at richer sounds webby, and the marantz 6200 for £355 at qed, what do u guys think?what is the better buy in terms of features/stereo/surround perfomance. is ther anything else in the £350 price bracket to consider, i have this money burning a hole in my pocket, and im itching to make a purchase!!
cheers for any help
Forget the sony. To be honest, the Marantz SR4200 blows the sony away! I don`t really see any reason for you to go for the SR6200 unless the remote and extra power is of intrest to you, you might as well go for the SR5200 (5 stars in this months WHF).
Bear in mind though QED have no stock, and the price you quote only applies to black (and that will be chaning shortly, you`ve probably noticed the marantz product list getting shorter and shorter...).
You might also want to consider a Denon 1802, or a Pioneer VSXD810.
Originally posted by MartinC
the Sony 1070 has been given univerally bad reviews by everyone..(HCC slated its sound quality).
lots of people have it here from the Currys £299 fiasco six months ago.., but I doubt they would have paid more for it.
Denon & Marantz seem to have the best current ranges... you could get a Denon 1802..., though the Marantz range seem to be very well priced if you want DD EX.
demo both and see what which you like sound-wise...
You really need to have a look/listen to both.
If reviews are your thing - HifiChoice rated the 1070 better than the SR5200 (Jan02), so bad reviews are not universal.
(and although it's not the 1802 granted, they gave the Denon 1602 a bit of a slagging off, and the Pioneer VSXD810 was absolutely slaughtered).
Personally I don't put that much faith in reviews any more, although I still read them for info/interest. I've heard some stuff they've raved over sound very ordinary, and some stuff they've slagged off sound more than respectable, at least to me.
They are handy for drawing up a shortlist though, but I like to read several reviews from different sources. If they all slag it off, well maybe steer clear - there's no shortage of available kit, and realistically you don't really want to be demoing more than 4 or 5 max.
There are also numerous reports of poor quality control on some of the earlier SRx200 range - various popping noises etc etc - but AFAIK this only affected early models, so you should be OK now.
Personally I think the Sony unit is also built and finished better.
That said, the Marantz range has the advantage of DPL2, which the Sony doesn't have. Depends on your viewpoint, but for me this is a significant advantage, to the extent that I wouldn't consider an amp without it if I were buying today (but that's because I still watch quite a lot of films on Sky and old VHS and SVHS tapes).
On the other hand, none of the Marantz SR range are DVD-A ready (the 1070 is). They have the inputs, but don't have the wide bandwidth.
(not really convinced yet that it's absloutely necessary either, but I don't have a lot of experience of DVD-A/SACD yet, so I couldn't really say for sure, but even Marantz are claiming than one of the benefits of their SACD players is their wide bandwidth - strange decision then not to make their SR4200-7200 recvrs wide bandwidth as well).
Much of the debate centres around straight stereo performance.
None of the budget to midrange receivers are that good compared to similar or cheaper, good stereo amps, so there's no point thinking they will be. Just like no DVD player will compete with a dedicated CD player price for price (and often they can't compete with CDs costing far less).
Some are better than others though, so you'd just have to make that decision for yourself.
For movies though, products like the 1070 really come into their own. The £300 those people paid for their 1070 at Curry's can rest easy in the knowledge (at least IMO), that there is simply nothing that will outperform the 1070 for that kind of money.
Well i have had a look at all of them today, the marantz,yamaha and sony, in terms of build quality, the marantz has a better solid feel to it, but the others are not far behind, marantz has better stereo performance, but to me the sony and the yamaha both were better for surround sound, if the sony was £300 it would be a ood deal, but £450 it just is not worth it, i prefer the marantz, purely cos of brand loyalty, and the better stereo perf.then its the yammy 620, which is a better al round amp, not bad for the money, seen it for £350
nickwall
25-02-2002, 12:23
Originally posted by MikeK
On the other hand, none of the Marantz SR range are DVD-A ready (the 1070 is). They have the inputs, but don't have the wide bandwidth.
(not really convinced yet that it's absloutely necessary either, but I don't have a lot of experience of DVD-A/SACD yet, so I couldn't really say for sure, but even Marantz are claiming than one of the benefits of their SACD players is their wide bandwidth - strange decision then not to make their SR4200-7200 recvrs wide bandwidth as well).
MikeK - could you elaborate on this a bit? What does this mean if I was thinking about playing DVD-A through this amp?
rogeralpine
25-02-2002, 14:03
In a recent blind test though the 1070 was rates better than the 5200 wasn't it??
robbiejm
25-02-2002, 17:25
Have you read about the 'clicking' problems (http://www.avforums.com/forums/search.php?action=showresults&searchid=53403&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending) which effect the Marantz range from the 4200 to 7200?
Get a Denon, the 1802 or 2802.
Originally posted by robbiejm
Have you read about the 'clicking' problems (http://www.avforums.com/forums/search.php?action=showresults&searchid=53403&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending) which effect the Marantz range from the 4200 to 7200?
Get a Denon, the 1802 or 2802.
Not at all, its a combination of a couple of discs and affects other brands of receivers using the same chipsets. Not one person there says it does it on ALL their DTS discs!
The original fault on the marantz SR raneg affected US models, and a couple of UK models due tot he fact that the areas they were used the mains voltage was running at 263vac!! BTW, the denons had the same problem as the SR range originally with 230v PSUs being spiked...
Originally posted by nickwall
MikeK - could you elaborate on this a bit? What does this mean if I was thinking about playing DVD-A through this amp?
DVD-A and SACD have an audio bandwidth up to about 100kHz or so.
Now a human can only hear up to about 20kHz, but they now tell us that sound energy in the 20kHz-100kHz range will affect our perception of the sound.
Obviously the players are wideband (the term which seems to be in general use now to describe this), but to get the full benefit (if indeed there is one), you also need a wideband amp/recv'r and wideband speakers (interestingly, the only speakers I've seen which make any claims yet in this area (B&W) only seem to go up to 40odd kHz).
You shouldn't damage equipment by putting a DVDA/SACD signal into a normal amp and speakers, so don't worry on that score - but you may not be getting everything DVDA/SACD are capable of.
Now, whether there is in reality any audible difference (I should say improvemnt really) from using a wideband amp and speakers as opposed to conventional "narrowband" (for want of a better word) units, I couldn't really say yet.
My own opinion is that there is a lot more to it than kit just being wideband capable - it may still sound a bit crap. To be honest, I'm a little skeptical, but I'll have to reserve judgement until I've heard and compared quite a few.
(I also have to say that at the moment, DVDA/SACD holds little interest for me - I'm quite happy with CD (well if it's a good recording I am).
These new formats will have to offer me significantly better sound quality over CD to convince me that it's worth spending the rather large wad of cash necessary to upgrade your kit for it, and then spending considerably more on discs which are more expensive than CD and can't be played on my existing kit (like the car or the bedroom etc). It appears that hybrid SACDs (which was a major plus point for SACD IMO, may not be the norm after all (hybrid is a two layer disc, one is SACD, and the other is a lower quality CD layer, which should ensure compatibility with existing CD players - apparently they are having some trouble getting this to work reliably.
Many studios can't even make the most of CD's capabilities, and that's after 20years experience of the format, so even if DVDA/SACD is a lot better potentially, it may not necessarily be that way in the end. Still, if you were a cynic, you might say that they may deliberately start to produce sub-standard CDs now in order to push DVDA/SACD....... no, surely not!!!! )
Originally posted by Justin
Not at all, its a combination of a couple of discs and affects other brands of receivers using the same chipsets. Not one person there says it does it on ALL their DTS discs!
The original fault on the marantz SR raneg affected US models, and a couple of UK models due tot he fact that the areas they were used the mains voltage was running at 263vac!! BTW, the denons had the same problem as the SR range originally with 230v PSUs being spiked...
Justin,
Where did you come by this information? Nobody on AVForums seems to be aware of this. Is there anywhere i can find out more about these problems?
nickwall
26-02-2002, 18:52
Thanks for the answer MikeK, appreciate the detail. Think I might knock DVD-A on the head and go with the Marzntz 4100OSE.
Originally posted by gz5ztg
Justin,
Where did you come by this information? Nobody on AVForums seems to be aware of this. Is there anywhere i can find out more about these problems?
Quite simply, because we`ve had similar problems in the past with Denon AVR1601 / 1801 and other brand receivers and certain combinations of players when playing one of 2 DTS discs (mainly Pioneer DV626D). If the same disc causes the problems, then its the disc and not the amps or players:) Not being funny, but AV forums is a newish forum, and the majority of members are peeps starting out in the AV world with no experiance ;)
As for the power problems, had 2 SR7200s in the same area with "problems", yet not had any other faulty SR model, and belive me we`ve sold a lot! The fault was found to be the local mains voltage in the area the unit was used - The marantz range is 230v ac with +/-10vac tolerence, and some local power companys are supplying 263vac! Obvious to see why some products start to have problems (and not just limited to marantz!).
Even though the "fault" being down to irregular mains voltage, Marantz are now upping the tolerence on all new stock. If your recievers been playing up with the power fault, and if your local power company confirms higher or lower voltage +/-10vac, then Marantz should replace the amp FOC via the dealer that supplied it.
A lot has been hype as some people considering these amps are reading american reviews and forums! Other then the details above theres no known issues with marantz or Denon recievers currently. Obviously if there were problems then as a Dealer I`d stop offering the products, certainly as forum offers anyway! Not going to recomend a faulty product :)
As for help, both Marantz Technical, and your local NG generator any should be able to advise with any problems you are having. The Sr range was launched a good 6 months back in the states, so problems from the early batches were resolved long before the UK and european launch.
Hope this helps.
Cable Monkey
27-02-2002, 12:22
The power issue is because of the convergance of European and British voltage standards. The 230v standard adopted should initially cover the range from maximum allowed 240v range to the minumum allowed with a 220v supply. 263v is ok under the old standards so Marantz needed to make modifications. There are issues where some (1? 20?) 110v Marantz's are claimed to have burst into flames in the US, but to my knowledge this has not happened elswhere so is not an issue worthy of any prolonged consideration. In all honesty the Marantz is a very attractive package, and would be on my shortlist were I were in the market, but I am a happy Sony owner (str-db930) and have been able to make direct comparisons between other peoples' criticism and my own experiences, and I have to say 99.9% is subjective or has to do with attitudes to Sony and not the products.
Originally posted by Cable Monkey
In all honesty the Marantz is a very attractive package, and would be on my shortlist were I were in the market, but I am a happy Sony owner (str-db930) and have been able to make direct comparisons between other peoples' criticism and my own experiences, and I have to say 99.9% is subjective or has to do with attitudes to Sony and not the products.
Ditto, except I use the practically identical STRDB830 (exactly the same apart from a couple of inputs and the remote).
Wouldn't mind DPL2 though - the SR52/62/7200 would definitely be a shortlist candidate for me as well if I were buying now!!
Originally posted by wassap
I havee seen the sony for £379 at richer sounds webby, and the marantz 6200 for £355 at qed, what do u guys think?what is the better buy in terms of features/stereo/surround perfomance. is ther anything else in the £350 price bracket to consider, i have this money burning a hole in my pocket, and im itching to make a purchase!!
cheers for any help
Have to got the web address for qed please?
Originally posted by john316
www.qed-uk.com
Get your order in NOW, as marantz themselves have upped the prices as from the 4th march to buy them in and resell!
Originally posted by Justin
Get your order in NOW, as marantz themselves have upped the prices as from the 4th march to buy them in and resell!
Got mine from a web site which is based in Coventry, they price matched the qed price, with 2 years warrenty and free delivery. So I ordered and paid for it yesterday. Will get it when they get one in stock in a few days. It doesn't matter that I have to wait because I am going to have to wait another month to be able to buy the speakers, but wanted to buy it before the price hike.
:D
:clap:
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