Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater New preamp-processsors

I figured I'd start a thread to discuss new pre-pros as they come out, since I'll be in the market as more options materialize. I'm still wanting to see what Anthem puts out, but I saw Marantz has released a new one with most of the features I want.

Marantz AV7706

They don't specifically mention HDMI 2.1 unless I'm missing it, but elsewhere I read that only one HDMI input is full 2.1. That seems fairly short-sighted for future-proofing, but the price is right. It should still support all of the features of this upcoming generation of gaming consoles on the other inputs, and it's not like I'm even entertaining the idea of 8K right now.

Are there other pre-pros you're considering, or do you have comments on this one? The main things I want are the balanced XLR connections, full support for object-based audio formats, and all of the video features for the new gaming consoles. I know Dirac Live is supposed to be amazing, but I don't even use Audyssey beyond setting speaker distances and levels. Once those are set, I turn it off. So Dirac Live hasn't been a real consideration. I just assume that any of the room correction software, no matter how advanced, is going to have issues with the LFRs. Is it wrong to think that?

It's wrong to think that. If you have XT32, try it. You may be amazed.

My current receiver just has XT, not XT32.

Charles, I urge you to give it a shot. It may focus the imaging even further.

I wonder how Anthem is going to change?
Probably 16.1 like the rest have gone. {9.1.6} like the top processors have gone to.

Another one to look at is either Emotiva's XMC or the Monolith Pre. They both do so many channels as well. XLR/RCA With Dirac.
We're all gonna need much bigger rooms for the amount of speakers capable.

My plan last year was to also go with something 16 channel. The Emotive RMC 1 was on the top of the list. That said, I also wanted something that actually worked as advertised and the RMC 1 did not qualify. The early owners seemed to be dealing with an untested half working product. The only prepro that seemed 100% at the time was the Marantz 8805. Not as many channels but good enough to hold me for a while as things evolved. Things have improved since then but I’ll wait a bit since the 8805 is meeting my current needs. In the mean time I’m prewiring for the anticipated future.

I sure hope the new ones have at least 4 sub outs.

I can't see trying for 16-channel in my space, but I'll be curious to see how others implement it.

Do you like your Marantz? I currently have a mid-range Marantz receiver, but it was always a stopgap measure when my previous Onkyo gave up the ghost. After two (or was it three?) Onkyo receivers in a row developed the HDMI board issue, it was time to try another brand. So far so good, with just the occasional quirkiness like the setup menu not coming up until I power it off and then back on, stuff like that.

Like you, I don't have 100% brand confidence with Emotiva. The prices aren't low enough to tempt me in their direction. I had an XPA-3 amp at one point (back when they were $699), but I wasn't noticing any wow factor from the extra power at the time. I actually just placed my second order from them after all of these years, for their CMX-2 Precision Common Mode AC Line Filter With DC Offset Eliminator, to hopefully reduce the hum I'm getting with the Actives. It's supposed to be here Monday. Even if it works great, they're not going to be on my shortlist for pre-pros, but every good experience adds up.

Likewise for the Monolith, I'm not sure I'm there in trusting the Monoprice name for this kind of product. I'll of course read a lot when it feels like I'm going to pull the trigger. It's just hard having faith in newcomers versus established brands, even if Onkyo proves the years don't necessarily translate to a smooth experience.

What number of subs would be your maximum? It seems like 4 is the magic number for rectangular rooms, so is there some oddness to one of your rooms that would make you try more?

The room is very assymetrical. It's shaped like an L with the leg of the L being used for A/V. Then there's the long stairs on one side. And there's a fireplace in one corner so the wall there is not really a corner. Low ceiling with a duct running down the length - which is not symmetrical about the width of the room. It's a nightmare.

If you listen in my room today, you'd say the sound including the bass is awesome. No more subs needed. And truly it is awesome. It was awesome with just the 800v4 but adding the twin 500v4 made it more awesome. But I will never know how much more awesomer it can be until I try more.

It's a wad of cash though.

The Monoprice unit is actually a rebadged design built in conjunction with "DataSat"(it even looks similar)that has been around for awhile and in some movie theaters so it would seem the technology is mature. The problem with all these "high-end" high priced units is they seem to be a year or two behind the curve in the latest technology especially now related to 2.1 and Earc and even if they can be updated, considering the money you have already spent, you will have to spend more. Of course, after a considerable amount of research on the subject, 2.1, in particular is of no real value unless you are going to invest in an 8K set, but, even more importantly that you are a "gamer", especially one who prefers to play games from your PC monitor with the latest and most expensive video board and want to use your television monitor as the display, otherwise it really is of little use. Earc has been around for awhile even on two year old mainstream AVRs that have had the capacity to be updated with firmware.

I personally am waiting for what Yamaha has coming up. I had one of their previous CX series pre-pros which although only maximum 11.2 channels was very good, good sound, good value, very good build quality, and in the "Aventage" series they offer a full 4 year warranty. whereas the other mainstream manufacturers usually only provide a maximum of 3 yrs. Since I have a dedicated A/V set-up I have tried other brands, but, in the end I always returned to Yamaha because, in the end, I preferred their DSP Movie Theater programs which gave a subtle yet, effective and fully adjustable illusion of a much larger space(without affecting the separation) as opposed to the others which don't and regardless of the price of the pre-pro, are ultimately limited to the space in which you are listening to and watching the movie.

I don't know nearly as much as others about pre/pros and receivers. When my Onk dies, I'll need something else. I know when it comes to hardware, firmware and software including what matters for performance, formats and coders-decoders, I trust the established players more than companies like Anthem and Emotiva. Can we really trust Anthem and Emotiva to introduce a well-engineered and well-tested product? Monoprice, I am not at all sure frankly.

It's good enough. A step above it sister company Denon as they seem a little more honest on the specs (although that may not be saying much) ... like all brands you occasionally hit a bit of flakiness. I always test everything I can with-in days of receiving it (all inputs, outputs, and every signal path I can think of). I want to send it back to the store for a replacement and avoid dealing with any consumer brand warrantee service (especially if I have to mail it in)

Even with a complete checkout there's plenty to miss ... I've unfortunately hit that on my 8805 ... the first HDMI port has a heat problem. I only discovered it because I was temporarily running with an amp sitting on it and the sound cut out after an hour. Traced it to the HDMI board and only that port. Seems to work fine as long as it gets good air flow. If it fails more completely I'll just use another port. Also, Marantz is coming out with an HDMI board upgrade (which from it marketing one might have mistakenly taken as being free). If it's not too expensive I might opt for it. After that there's always digging further to see if it's a discrete part or bad solder joint ...

BTW: This is the kind of thing where you send it back and they tell you nothing is wrong and you have to send it in again. ... each time costing you money and time.

There is a lot of that in this industry ... and especially in the current crop of 16 channel prepros.

Yes, because most often the product meets specs but those specs are not fit for purpose.

HDMI boards seem to be very prone to this sort of thing. On my Onk, the problems were manufacturing quality and not engineering. Onkyo acknowledged the problem and took care of it. The engineering team for my Onk consisted of Japanese nerds who ignored their friends and family for years to perfect the product. Then the factory screwed up all their good work!

I like Anthem's ARC. It makes the things I do not like about my MRX1120 seem less aggravating. I'd like to see the Marantz offer something better than XT32. The Denon that was replaced by the 1120 had it, and there really is no comparison between ARC and XT32. Like Charles, I'd usually turn that crap off.

Yeah, I second ARC or Dirac not because I've heard it but because even XT32 messes up the top end. I find if I set it to Movie rather than Music, it tames the highs. With the actives in 2.1 I don't need it. I still think Charles ought to try it so he can hear the difference. Do you really want to go to your death bed wondering how the Audyssey you already have in your receiver sounded?

I've been skipping the room correction and just setting my own levels, crossovers, and distances lately ... seems to be working.

I agree..... Might as well give what you got a fighting chance. Turn it off later, it doesn't scratch the itch.

ARC was a game changer for me. It totally blew me away, just how much better everything sounded, and that was before I reconfigured the room to an ATMOS set up. That - was an even better improvement.

I'd like to see NAD come out with something new. I've always like NAD.

Actually, not to worry about Anthem, they are just the electronics division of Paradigm speakers, both long established Canadian companies been around for decades. In addition, as already pointed out, Anthem's room correction system "ARC" is regarded as about as good as it gets. Whenever it is updated, I would also strongly consider what is currently model AVM 60, Anthem's 11.2 Pre-Pro.

FYI, NAD is the electronics division of another Canadian company Lenbrook Industries makers of PSB speakers, its HO located directly on the opposite side of town from Paradigm/Anthem. Also been around for decades.

You've probably mentioned elsewhere, but remind me. What don't you like about the 1120? If there are basic functions they haven't mastered, I'll have to weigh that.

I've had an MRX720 for about 3/4 years.
Personally I still think it's the cats meow. Does everything I need. There's no Bluetooth is about the only thing lacking from most other AVRs. And DTS Playfi is so so
The ARC has recently been up dated we were getting most speaker set to their maxes from it. Mind you most on HTF I think, didn't have any other issues with it and it still worked great for them and I.

It runs hot and when the cooling fans run, they are noisy as hell. I had to buy an external fan for it. The GUI is clunky. Not as intuitive as a Denon - believe it or not..... It's missing some of the features that are pretty common on the better Denons. Lip sinc for example. Lack of discrete IR commands is kinda irritating. There's a few others, but mostily trivial.

I can comment on the NAD line being similar in clunky gui. Takes a knack and notes as you go along to keep it all straight. Would be nice if there was a advanced setup routine based in a browser or similar like the yamaha line.

No onscreen overlay either. Makes adjusting lipsync a headache as the hdmi handshake needs to happen to enter and exit the menu each time. Cumbersome for sure.

Just an FYI: Some interesting stuff on prepocessors from when as I was looking last year

First, and I'm not 100% sure about this, I kind of remember reading that a bunch of the 16 channel prepros cheated a bit on the wide channels for ATMOS. Instead of placing object using the ATMOS algorithm they derived it by matrixing the fronts and sides together. Might have been resolved by now as it had to do with something Dolby needed to support.

The 2nd thing you might what to look at is some processors include the subs out in the 16 channel count (like the RMC-1). Some like the prepros like AV8805 claim 13 channels + 2 subs so you could say it's a 15 channel processor.

Also the 8805 does a trick to support all channels on Aura 3d ... it provides 2 extra output which can drive two more speakers. When Aura 3d is in use it steals two channels and sends the VOG and center height info to the extra channels.

Well I need to wait an hour or so before posting something ...
Editing it in the moment I end up reading what I want it to say and not what's really written.
At least you can figure it out.

I think we all know what you mean rlev... especially mojo!

Makes sense everything as I write it I say as it's written Rebulx.

Are funny you mojo.

I end up using the edit button a lot.

Edit: See. Told ya.

LOL! My people and I laugh a lot. We find humor in everything. I used to be very critical but now I just laugh.

There's a countdown on Anthem's website now:

Anthem AV

the teaser pic looks pretty cool!

First HDMI 2.1 receivers reportedly have faulty HDMI 2.1 chip (flatplanelshd)

I'm wondering how quickly they'll have new chips to work with. 8K isn't a feature I need anytime soon, but 4K 120 Hz will be applicable with the Xbox Series X that I'll have, and with the next video card I get.

Stay far, far away from the latest generation of ever-evolving standards like HDMI.

It seems they rushed it too quickly. Anyone who purchased the newer 2020 Marantz/Denon, Should register quickly so they can be reached for upgrades/refunds etc.

Then the shortages on top for new graphics/P.C. parts is crazy. The speed everything is selling out at is ridiculous. Basically get to whatever sight for any product before 8AM EST. or it's gone. Kind of like big name concert tickets Gone at lightning speeds.

I actually managed to score an Nvidia 3080! Ordered 9/19 and should have it tomorrow. The amount of demand for tech (and the bot/scalping phenomenon) is just insane.

Lucky! 3080 is the one I want. I tried on release day, but none of the sites I tried gave me a shot. Then I was glad I didn't get one when the rumors were going that a 20 gig variant was coming... and then they seemed to scrap those plans. I will just be patient and see what the options are when there's real availability.

Latest rumor seems to be that they will straddle the 3080 with a 3070ti and a 3080ti to better match with our 6800 and 6800XT, and that they have been holding back shipments until they could finalize the SKUs, but that is just gossip at the moment.

I'm not sure what is going to happen with the 20GB option... we are getting a lot of good feedback about having 16GB on all our new cards, but I think NV will stay with 10/12GB on the TI's as the rumor sites suggest.

Have you checked back on the new 1140/740/540 yet. I just finished browsing them.
Release in December. Probably another match made in heaven with our Axioms. Supposed to stay at current pricing no drastic increase.

Lucky bman those cards are in such demand at the moment, it's hard to believe. The testing I've seen so far both the 3080 and 3070 are really close. Though at more than double for the 3080 there is still a lot more stability in the higher 4k to be gained with the 3080. Older titles or less demanding graphics they're nearly identical. Wonder how much the difference is going to be once they get into the real world P.C.s?