Marantz AV8805. Worth waiting for?

[TP1]

On 5/5/2018 at 8:21 PM, Sime said:

@Tasso @Rob181 6k deliverd, Sydney-canberra. 

I dont know if we should be discussing pricing here but I  received a quote a while ago from a local  retailer in Perth which was closer to $5k for the 8805.   You can PM me if you want more details. 

[Guest Sime]

@Tasso thanks, but I’m fine with what I’ve organized. 

[Guest Sime]

According to the distributor, the 8805 is now delayed to August 25th at this stage 

[TP1]

 

I noticed that Marantz AV8805  is now in Australia.   First one was reported here.   Mine is still a few weeks away but is anyone else expecting delivery soon?

Edited May 26, 2018 by Tasso

[Guest Sime]

According to the importer, who I rang this week, they are not expected till the 25th of August. 

[cyberkank]

Put money down for one too, arriving August / September. Have high hope, but not sure if sound quality will beat my current Audiocontrol processor. Just hope Atmos is worth it.

[TP1]

The Marantz AV8805 has arrived.    

 

 

Im in the process of setting it up now.   I have been using a Denon AVP-A1HD up until now. The Marantz looks and feels a bit puny compared to the AVP - here's hoping it performs!

[Raffinator]

The Marantz AV8805 has arrived.    
 

 
Im in the process of setting it up now.   I have been using a Denon AVP-A1HD up until now. The Marantz looks and feels a bit puny compared to the AVP - here's hoping it performs!

Give us a rear shot please?

[AudioGeek]

22 minutes ago, Raffinator said:

Give us a rear shot please?

We will let that one go through to the keeper!

[TP1]

Its in  shelf all wired  now so hopefully these stock photos  will give you an idea of the connectivity.

 

 

 

[TP1]

 

I have to say, the AV8805 is pretty versatile in its network integration.   The Audyssey app ( extra cost)  is  so cool to use .  i didnt need to have my projector or any other display connected to run it.  Once done, data is transferred to AV8805  and can be edited at any time. The  target curve editor is cool in that you can just drag the curve anyway you want on the iPhone screen to suit your preferences.

 

[betty boop]

Didn’t remove mid range compensation by the looks  ?

 

prob no 1 thing should do.

[cyberkank]

So how is the sound?

Any good compared to the Denon?

 

[TP1]

On 25/7/2018 at 4:13 PM, al said:

Didn’t remove mid range compensation by the looks  ?

 

prob no 1 thing should do.

 

yeah -  didn't tweak too much on the first day- doing all those things now

[TP1]

21 hours ago, cyberkank said:

So how is the sound?

Any good compared to the Denon?

 

 

I'm delaying a critical side-by-side shootout for a couple of weeks in order for the AV8805 to run-in and for me to learn all its nuances and tweaks. However, last night my wife and i were just watching TV shows via Netflix and download and I have to say i was pleasantly surprised with what we experienced. Timbre is pretty good already  and should improve more but  the ability to use Neural:X and Auro-3D with regular Dolby digital tracks made for a better overall experience.  Happy so far.

 

The critical test  is with the better movie soundtracks  that I will explore of the next couple of days but advice received from a friend with an AV8805 is that it really opens up nicely after a couple of weeks of use .  Music sounds pretty good with the Marantz I have to say,  but that wasn't the Denon's forte though. The Denon AVP excels in the massive scale and weight of the presentation - it doesn't fail to impress . The 8805 hasn't got that scale yet but straight out of the box I'd say so far so good.

 

But I have to say  it is rapidly becoming indispensable.  Heos is brilliant for my purposes and the Ausyssey/Marantz AVR /Heos apps are just wonderful and easy to use. I have my 2 channel hifi system upstairs but using the Heos app I can stream my whole library including  uncompressed DSD music to the theatre .  The AV8805 is always available as an output option for devices that do airplay and when I first set up the 8805, I didnt even have to enter network or password details - that process is automated with newer iPhones.  The wife has just discovered  Heos and its getting its fair share of use before we sit down to watch any shows/movies

[cyberkank]

 
I'm delaying a critical side-by-side shootout for a couple of weeks in order for the AV8805 to run-in and for me to learn all its nuances and tweaks. However, last night my wife and i were just watching TV shows via Netflix and download and I have to say i was pleasantly surprised with what we experienced. Timbre is pretty good already  and should improve more but  the ability to use Neural:X and Auro-3D with regular Dolby digital tracks made for a better overall experience.  Happy so far.
 
The critical test  is with the better movie soundtracks  that I will explore of the next couple of days but advice received from a friend with an AV8805 is that it really opens up nicely after a couple of weeks of use .  Music sounds pretty good with the Marantz I have to say,  but that wasn't the Denon's forte though. The Denon AVP excels in the massive scale and weight of the presentation - it doesn't fail to impress . The 8805 hasn't got that scale yet but straight out of the box I'd say so far so good.
 
But I have to say  it is rapidly becoming indispensable.  Heos is brilliant for my purposes and the Ausyssey/Marantz AVR /Heos apps are just wonderful and easy to use. I have my 2 channel hifi system upstairs but using the Heos app I can stream my whole library including  uncompressed DSD music to the theatre .  The AV8805 is always available as an output option for devices that do airplay and when I first set up the 8805, I didnt even have to enter network or password details - that process is automated with newer iPhones.  The wife has just discovered  Heos and its getting its fair share of use before we sit down to watch any shows/movies

Thanks Tasso. Looking forward to more of your upcoming impressions. Looks like my one wont arrive till September some time.

[TP1]

 

Anyone interested in a review on the AV8805, the only one that seems to have been published is this one from Germany.   using Google chrome will allow for automatic translations.

 

http://www.i-fidelity.net/testberichte/heimkino/marantz-av8805/test.html

[AudioGeek]

1 minute ago, Tasso said:

 

Anyone interested in a review on the AV8805, the only one that seems to have been published is this one from Germany.   using Google chrome will allow for automatic translations.

 

http://www.i-fidelity.net/testberichte/heimkino/marantz-av8805/test.html

Tasso, I think many of us would find your feedback more useful. Is yours the first in the wild in Oz?

[TP1]

1 hour ago, AudioGeek said:

Tasso, I think many of us would find your feedback more useful. Is yours the first in the wild in Oz?

 

It is the second as far as I am aware. 

[TP1]

 

OK, Just over a week in and I can say that  I'm loving the AV8805.    

 

Sound Quality:     I think new owners will  be very happy with the sound of the AV8805.   I am using balanced XLR out  and  the XLR outputs have been well executed on the Marantz  ( since the AV8802) using a discrete circuit as part of their HDAM implementation.     The noise floor is very low so the background  is dead quiet allowing for all the nuances and details to be heard .    About one week in, the sound stage is opening up noticeably and movie presentation is being delivered on a grander scale.     Of course there are so many parameters to play with and tweaking continues to improve things.   The execution of the audio codecs seems flawless and the sound-steering  speed and accuracy  is first class.  In terms of the underlying timbre of the preamp, I  didn't know what to expect but I have been pleasantly surprised - particularly  given the newness of the unit.   I would best describe the timbre of voices and music as  natural and perhaps organic - not in a tubey way though.

 

 Having done the initial Audyssey calibration, I am planning to add more profiles to the app.     No DSP is perfect and variables change according to a number of factors , and besides with the Audyssey app its just too easy.    Each profile is easily uploaded to the AV8805 at any time by  taping the export icon. You can pause a movie and do it on the fly if you want. 

 

 

Music

I have a separate Hifi system  which is not situated  in the dedicated theatre room and have rarely listened to music in the theatre. I think it was more of a convenience thing - I was all set up upstairs and too much hassle  to play music on a system optimised for movies.   Well,  Heos changed all that.   Without me having to do anything other than download the app, I am able to access my  Hi-Res digital library , play it through the AV8805 and access setting  optimised for stereo listening all from the Heos app.   My wife has discovered this too and  it get a lot of use.    This is the first screen that opens on the  app.  Notice the integration with  the Marantz AVR app.   Apologies to those already familiar with  Heos.

 

 

 

In my case I just tap on music servers  and  the software does the rest.    Anyone who has digital music  and no server can just run  some basic server software to make the music visible by Heos and let the app do the rest.    Volume, sound mode etc can be adjusted from the app.

 

 

 

Heos vs USB vs SACD

 

The AV8805 will accept Hi-res music via Heos , Airplay  and USB  but Marantz does not specify whether DSD is converted to PCM first.  DSD is  displayed as a source in Heos, Marantz app and on  AV8805 screen but the DSD indicator only lights up with SACD.  I used Oppo 203 playing   SACD over HDMI.   

 

 

 

 

Sound quality wise, SACD via Oppo sounded a bit better overall  but Heos sounds so wonderful and it's so close  its nit worth worrying about  . I wasn't enamoured by the USB interaction - its fiddly and I preferred Heos sound 

 

 

For those using iTunes  or aAirplay enabled devices, AV8805 will automatically show up as an option  for Airplay  streaming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[betty boop]

@Tasso  good to see got rid fo the mid range compensation in the audyssey curve  

[TP1]

8 hours ago, al said:

@Tasso  good to see got rid fo the mid range compensation in the audyssey curve  

 

Doing more tweaks than that  with Audyssey at the moment .    It does an outstanding job but fine tuning gets you home I think.

[deafenears]

On 01/08/2018 at 1:32 PM, al said:

@Tasso  good to see got rid fo the mid range compensation in the audyssey curve  

What's the reasoning behind removing mid-range compensation? Any references or links you could point me to?

[betty boop]

17 minutes ago, deafenears said:

What's the reasoning behind removing mid-range compensation? Any references or links you could point me to?

so you dont have a mid range suck out. exactly in the critical vocal zone. but if you want that suck out ...by all means leave it in  

 

with audyssey pro its one of THE best things done

[TP1]

It seems that Audyssey designers have  tried to compensate  for  what they see as a midrange 'bloom" produced  off axis by some speakers at round 2khz (around the the crossover point).  I think you can tell if your speakers have this problem and as  @:) al has mentioned , the "correction" can actually create more problems than its trying to solve.  The sound improved when I removed the dip in my setup.

 

In terms of bass, Audyssey  has its limitations too, particularly where their can be a dropout.  On the same day my PJ was being calibrated,  the calibrator ( Andrew Poole) also spent  2-3 hours measuring my room acoustics and trying out a few things.  There was a massive hole  at around 30 hz  at the listening position .  I have just made upgrades to  my HT system and changed the layout so I was nowhere near having it perfect , but even so, the degree of the bass hole was a surprise given the seemingly great sound that I was getting.   The solution was  swift and very effective.  Andrew ,  simply moved one of my subs to a position he had calculated would get rid of the "bass hole"  and it worked.   Bass response curve came back in as flat as you could want ,   the entire sound of the system has improved exponentially and I'm pretty happy at the moment.     I have since re-run Audyssey to account for all this new found bass energy,  manually adjusted it again to get it to Andrew's calibrated settings and all is right with the world.    

Edited August 5, 2018 by Tasso