Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Marantz MM-9000

Anybody here have one of these amps running with Axioms? What do you think of it? Everything I have read leads me to think it's a giant killer. I came across a great deal on one and bought it. I need it like a whole in the head but I love trying stuff out. It's still in transit so I'm trying to get some feedback prior to me getting it.

i own one...like axiom-its hard to beat in its price range.individual level controlls, peak indicator lights on the front,and a decent amount of power at a budget price ...ron

I believe, in addition to Ron (rcvecc) Doc Orgel (aka mhorgel) uses, and swears by, one. He'll be here sometime today, I suspect.

Where did you get it? How much? THX

Yeah...share...share...

WhatFurrer

i just did a web search and from what it looks like the price went up on these units.not long ago you could have picked one up for about 700 dollars.i couldnt find them at that price now....federalstereo.com has them for 969.00 still a fair deal..imo.....ron

I have one, and I like it a lot. I too, needed it like a hole in the head, as my Onkyo puts out 100 wpc, but I really wanted to dip my toe into separates. I got mine for, I think, $649 or $699 with free shipping (very important, since the beast weighs 44 lbs).

I have never heard a discouraging word about this unit, and am very happy. I must admit to a slight chronic feeling of it being too good to be true, but for the money, I think it was grand theft amplifier.

I listen to a fair amount of DVD-A and SACD, and I have M2's for rear speakers, and I use the MM-9000 to drive my fronts, center, and the M2's (these are the 5 channels I use for DVD-A and SACD playback). My Onkyo still powers my QS4's. I think my Onkyo can drive 2 channels at 100 wpc without breaking a sweat, and I doubt I'll ever need 100 watts for the side surrounds.

One interesting note, all the ads show the unit to be 150 watts x 5, but my owner's manual claims 170 wpc x 5.

Mark

mark-

its been a while since a stupid question from me, so i figure i am due.. i am unexperienced when it comes to adding amps like this for extra wattage. i have the ability with my onkyo 701 to do this, but i truly wonder if it is necessary.. well, here is my question..

if the 701 has 100wt per channel, and then you add the marantz at 150wt per channel, does the wattage 'add' together to make a total of 250wt per channel, or does the marantz take over, and just push its 150?? i have never really cranked the 701 to MAX power, so i wonder if 150wt, and god forbid 250wt, is even necessary?

i need a good sub first anyway, and a new tv.. so the amp will probably have to wait!

bigjohn

John, if I understand this correctly, it works like this. Think of your 701 (6.1 correct?)as a Pre/Pro (preamplifier) with 6 little amplifiers, one for each of your six channels, built into it. There is no amplifier for your sub, which is why most subs (Hsu/SVS/Axiom) come with a power amplifier built in.

Let's assume you get a separate, 5 channel, power amplifier like the Marantz. In essence the Marantz is five little separate amplifiers, one for each channel, in one package. But, the Marantz is only a power amplifier. It has no processing capabilities.

On the back of your 701 you'll find find a group of outputs called "pre outs." There should be 8 of them,one each for your left main, right main, center, left surround, right surround, 2 rear surrounds, and sub. These would be connected to the 5 inputs on your new amplifier, with the exception of the "sub out" which would run to the amplifier in the sub itself, and the 2 rear surround "pre outs" which I'll get to in a minute.

The "pre" in "pre out" means that the signal coming out of those outputs is taken before (pre) it gets to the little amplifiers in your 701. All the processing that your 701 does is still done to the audio signal, but just before it gets sent to the little amps in your 701, the signal is sidetracked via the "pre out" outputs into the little amplifiers in the Marantz. This means you would not connect the speakers to your 701, but to your Marantz.

BUT! You've still got those little amplifiers in your 701 that now aren't being used. Since there aren't enough little amplifiers in the Marantz to handle all your speakers, you can use one of them to drive your rear surround speaker by simply connecting your rear surround to it's appropriate speaker connections on the back of the 701. There are 2 rear surround "preouts" on your 701 which enables you to send your rear surround signal to a separate 2 channel amplifier in case you want a 7.1 setup. However, the signal coming out of the 2 rear surrounds will be the same, not discrete.

Mark has a 7.1 speaker setup, and a 7.1 Onkyo which has 8 "pre outs." He uses the 5 little amplifiers in the Marantz to drive his mains/center/and M2 rear surrounds, by connecting the L&R main "preouts," center "preout," and rear surround "preouts" from the Onkyo to the Marantz, and the speaker connectors on the back of the Marantz to the appropriate speakers. His uses this configuration for SACD/DVD-A. Two of the little amplifiers in his Onkyo power his surrounds (QS8s) which he uses when watching movies. He just connects the QS8s to the surround speaker connectors on his Onkyo.

So, the power for the 701 and the Marantz are not added to each other. They operate separately.

I know the above is complicated, but I hope it helped some. If you find my explanation confusing, I don't blame you. Just ask more questions. I'll be happy to confuse you more

no, that was great.. i understand completely, thanks. i was always curious as to exactly how it worked.. seems kinda simple when you think about it.

i am getting less and less clueless by the day!!

bigjohn