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New member Username: AndrewhPost Number: 1 Registered: Oct-11 | Hello everyone. Does anyone know anything about this new integrated amp (PM6004) and matching CD player (CD6004)? I'm trying to find a dealer in the area that stocks them, where I can go for a listen, myself. I'm looking for a starter/introductory 2-channel set-up for our living room. What speaker brands go well with Marantz? Should I be looking at something else, in addition to the above-mentioned? We typically listen to jazz (bob and post-bop, and vocal), classical (chamber and some orchestral), and indie rock/singer song-writers (think R.E.M., Wilco, Richard Thompson) -- all at moderate levels, and evening low. Thanks much. |
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Platinum Member Username: ArtkAlbany, Oregon USA Post Number: 14792 Registered: Feb-05 | I like your taste in music. I have the Marantz CD5004 in my HT setup in the living room and am quite impressed with it. The way I understand it is that the 6000 series is a nice jump up in performance. If that is so it is certainly worth a listen. The Marantz sound is quite distinct and not one I'm sure I could live with in my main system. That said, I am very intrigued by this 6000 series and will remain open minded about it. Good looking stuff IMO. I'll post this where you asked about the CD player as well. |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 16889 Registered: May-04 | . The best way to find a local Marantz dealer is to contact Marantz thru their homepage or thru this link; http://us.marantz.com/us/dealer/pages/dealerlisting.aspx In general Marantz has been in good favor with most reviewers since they have been taken over by D&M distribution. The Marantz line fits into the mid-priced, mid-level, value oriented portion of their product line up. They are considered a step above Denon (also a D&M line) in sound quality and priced to compete with lines such as NAD, Rotel and Cambridge rather than Yamaha and Sony. Each line in D&M's product line up and between competitors products will have its own distinct "house sound" and you might want to do some research to determine which might best suit your desires. Since today's better audio gear can offer a listening experience which is far more developed than a basic "tight bass, clear mids and clean highs" level of description, it's best if you have a few more developed ideas about the sort of sound qualities you consider to be of value to you as a listener. Reading through the archives of the forum plus finding a few well written reviews of the components should give you some ideas about what others feel is important in "high end" audio gear's reproduction of the musical event. I would also consider the availability of factory service when making a decision about which brand to buy. If you do not have clearly established concepts regarding how reproduced should sound in your home, then service might be a deal breaker. While we all hope each component we buy will be trouble free, I always told my customers anything sounds better in their home than in my service department. The advantage of matching components within one manufacturer's line comes down to easy of use - especially remote controls. Otherwise, unless you're tied to a line, the advantage of separate components is the ability to mix and match products which truly suit your auditory desires. While you can generally assume the sound of a Marantz CD player would be similar in character to a Marantz amplifier, you might also prefer the sound quality of, say, a Cambridge CD paired with a Marantz amp. No one here can really lead you to the 'best" sound for your money spent. If you don't have clear ideas about sound quality going into this purchase, then do some reading to educate yourself in the way today's gear goes about its job and, most of all, do some listening. Go out and hear some live music and ponder on just what it is about the live music experience that you want to repoduce in your home. Find reviews which tend to focus on those same qualities and compare what other reviewers have to say. While each listener has their own set of priorities, a reviewer who doesn't listen for those same qualities you find indispensible will be of little value to you. Most reviews are fairly positive as that is the reviewer's first task. Therefore, most any review you find will say mostly good things and tend to minimize the negatives. If you find a reviewer who dwells on those aspects of sound quality you find attractive, pay attention to what they prefer. Discount those reviews which do not really play to your wants. Speakers which pair well with certain amplifiers is a topic which can take pages and pages to explain in part. First, the speakers and the amplifier must be a good electrical pairing. That means the amplifier shouldn't be strained when playing through the speakers at normal volume levels. Read the "Speakers" section of the forum and you'll get an idea for how to do this matching. Any decent audio retailer should be able to lead you through the basics of system matching. After that, you'll need to focus on how you will use the speakers and how they will fit your concepts of "good sound". Most importantly, after the electrical pairing of amp and speaker is how the speakers suit your room or any other room you might have in the near future. A pair of small standmounted speakers and a subwoofer might be more useful to you than a larger pair of floorstanding speakers - or just the reverse might be true. When you read equipment reviews, the set up of the system is rather important when you want to reproduce those same qualities the reviewer comments upon. No decent revwier simply pluts the speakers in their room and makes decisions on what they hear. They are familair with room and system set up requirements and they take pains to get the best out of each component by using - at the very least - known tactics and placements which extract the best from each component. While I woud never discourage someone from buying high end audio compoennts, you can't get what the audio reviewers mention if the speakers can only be placed in the room where they fit - behind the sofa, across the room from each other, etc. My experience with speakers which are simply plonked down where they fit is where they fit in any one room is almost always the very worst place in that room for decent sound quality. What you hear from any music system is up to as much as 90% room sound - the room itself and speaker placement within that room influencing the final sound qualities - and the rest is the system itself. Moving speakers from the long wall to the short wall will make a significant difference in what you preceive from the music and can easily change a very disagreeable sound into something far more marvelous. Read a bit more about system set up and determine whether spending more money to buy the next step up in sound quality is a wise investment for you or whether your situation determines how much sound quality you can actually expect from any one system. . |
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New member Username: AndrewhPost Number: 4 Registered: Oct-11 | Thank you, Art and Jan for your gracious comments. Sorry for the delay in answering, as we've been out of power due to a storm in northern New Jersey. I'll take your advise to heart. I found a dealer nearby than carries the new Marantz 6000 components. When things settle down, here -- after the storm damage -- a "listening" appointment will be made. The consultant I spoke with on the phone seemed rather amenable to addressing an introductory system. They have audio collections that span every price range, not to mention seriousness of music listening. I mentioned to him that we'd like to start with a CD system, at first, with a turntable to be added, later. Another audio dealer in the next county doesn't carry the Marantz line, but have other brands the above-mentioned doesn't carry. I'll be going there, as well. Thanks, again. Andrew |