i would pick the marantz. i haven't heard either one but i do know that many people experience problems with NAD ht recievers. the main problem being with the speakers having a noticable hum at moderate listening levels. another problem i think NAD owners experience is fan problems though this is not as big a deal as you can replace fans. search this forum and you will find a thread with many posts indicating the gripes people have with NADs build quiality. But i know that NAD makes exellent equipment and the problems may be due to being relatively new to the HT world, so i have read. i have purchased a marantz ht reciever on ebay and should be coming next week. i will let you know how it turns out.
Anonymous
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Dary you said from another post that you are a happy owner of nad 773.
Daniel Benatar
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Christopher Lee, if you don't own the NAD and haven't heard either one of the receeiver - why you have provieded your recommendation to Dary Ilha?
Dary Ilha - I own the NAD T773, I had many issues with this receiver (see my note on why not to buy NAD), and my recommendation is to go with ARCAM AVR300. This receiver is not warm as the NAD, but it has a good quality. If you can find a good NAD without issue, I will say buy it, but it too risky... I like a lot the NAD sound, and this is the reason that I still keep my one. It also seems to me that I use to NAD and therefore, can't change it with other units.
Daniel, Thanks for your comments. I actually had a NAD but returned the unit due to problems. Much like you, I liked the 773 sound but I'm worried about getting a v2 still with problems. Have you had all your 773 issues solved?
The ARCAM seems a great option but it's not sold in Brazil.
I found the Marantz 8500 features very atractive. It is sold in Brazil with 3 years warranty. But I still have to test the equipment to check if it sounds comparable to the NAD (to my ears). One disapointing point on the 8500 is its auto calibration missing room equalisation as on the Denon 3805 or Yamaha 2500. May be I have to wait for the Denon 4806 (Denon is sold in Brazil). My listening room has unequal furniture so I think I may benefit from RoomEq, but again I'm not sure about the real benefit of room eq. I'm considering buying a Yamaha 2500 (which I found here at a good price) to see how it sounds in my room, as it's impossible for me to arrange for try and buy.
Regards.
Anon, If you follow my posts you will find I returned long ago the 773 I've had.
My friend owns the local hifi store that sells NAD and Marantz (used to have Rotel and switched to NAD). I have solved the problem of quality 2 channel and home theater. First I must say that I like the sound of the NAD better than the Marantz but the hum is more than I can tolerate. I had a Rotel RSX965 for several years, it was easily the best sounding AVR I've ever heard much better than their subsequent efforts but the hum was horrible. I now have a Marantz SR5400. I have the pre outs going to my NAD C162 pre amps video in. The NAD C162 has 2 sets of pre outs one I use for the Hafler 9505 power amp that I have for my 2 channel and front home theater speakers and the other I use for my sub. I prefer using pre outs for sub instead of LFE as it sounds better. Just set your AVR to "no subwoofer" and it will do the rest. Now I have what I want, quality music sound and home theater processing. Oh and the integration is near seamless, these components work very well together.
Arthur, Let me see if I got it right: - your friend's store was unable to solve the NAD hum issue. - you cascaded the 5400 pre-outs to the NAD and then the power amp (why not go directly 5400 to Hafler and sub using an Y cable?) - on the Marantz, if you set to no subwoofer, the LFE channel (.1) gets redirected to front channel speakers.
I have the pre outs of the SR5400 going to the NAD so that I can shut the SR5400 off when listening to 2 channel music with the NAD/Hafler setup. With the sub hooked up to the 2nd set of pre outs on the NAD the LFE gets redirected to the fronts and the subwoofer. Best of both worlds. Use the sub in 2 channel setup ie the NAD/Hafler or with multichannel. I treat the SR5400 like a component hooked up to my 2 channel setup. When I listen to movies the SR5400 sends the front signals to the NAD pre and from the pre to the Hafler and then to the speakers. It really sounds seamless, I was surprised. I am a music first person so I had to have uncorrupted 2 channel. My wife loves music, and ofcourse I like it to sound integrated and seamless. This really worked well. And you are correct that Jim Ott (Northwest Audio Labs) could not solve the NAD hum problem. NAD has been working on it but I wouldn't hold my breath. Any more questions please post or email me. I do work all day so I can't answer until I get home. Hope thsi helps.
Forgot to mention that the DVD player (Marantz DV6400) is hooked up to the SR5400. The SR5400 is the processor and amplifier for the center and rears. The bottom line is that a processor and multichannel amp that sounds as good in 2 channel as my NAD/Hafler/Marantz costs considerably more than I have spent on the NAD/Hafler/Marantz setup. The Outlaw stuff is a good buy it doesn't come close to the 2 channel performance that I get. And Like I said the movie setup sounds fully integrated and seamless.
I'm not sure what you mean Dary. The pre outs (both left and right) go into the sub. If you don't have a left and right on your sub you you can use a summed y connector. Trust me I'm getting all that the LFE has to offer.
AFAIK, when your receiver decodes a 5.1 DD sound track, it will never send the LFE content (.1 channel) to front speakers line out, even if you set the receiver config to NO sub and large fronts. But... may be I'm wrong. I hope someone knowlegeable can clarify this for us.
When I first got into home theater I hooked it up as you suggest using the LFE. It was my friend Jim at NWAL who taught me how to hook up a system to maximize it for movies and music. Now perhaps I'm not getting the LFE content in DD or DTS, but if I'm not don't tell the pictures that are rattling on my walls they seem to be convinced that all that racket is at least "low frequency effects". Concert DVD's are spectacular. My answers come from experience and from experts (which would not be me). I hope it all works out for you.
Dary - I just replaced a 10 year old Marantz 82 with a 8500 a few weeks ago. I actually could have gotten cost+10% on Sony or Prn, but could not justify saving a few bucks in the short run. I will use it 70/30 video/music. I shopped the Denon 3805 and the Pnr Elite 59, i have not heard NADS, but have only seen good reviews about the sound performance. I enjoy the sound of the Marantz and it is GREAT in my home theater. You gotta go with your gut, but if i were you i would pass on NADS and it's quality control pittfalls and get the 8500.
Arthur, Thanks. On the LFE issue, sorry, I was wrong. It depends on the receiver. NAD seems not to send LFE to front channels. Yamaha 2500 sends LFE exactly as you wrote. I don't know about your Marantz, but judging from your report, it is sending LFE to fronts.