Rx-a870 or SR5012

rooftop59

I haven’t looked closely at the differences. If the difference is only $50 I would probably go with newest...

mdaudioguy

I have a NR1608, and it's not bad, but... 50 wpc vs the SR5012 with 100? I don't know... It has pre-outs, but only for the front. I only bought the slimline model because I have an amp, HT is the secondary purpose of this rig, and, like the OP, it fit better in my cabinet. Don't get me wrong, it sounds good, but it's a noticeable compromise vs the 5012, IMO.

French_guy

I will have to take a look and see if i can do some "surgery" on my cabinet, such as cutting the back to have more depth......It's an Ikea cabinet, so no big deal

mdaudioguy

Been there, done that! Both my systems are in Ikea cabinets that have been "modified."

rooftop59

mdaudioguy wrote: »

I have a NR1608, and it's not bad, but... 50 wpc vs the SR5012 with 100? I don't know... It has pre-outs, but only for the front. I only bought the slimline model because I have an amp, HT is the secondary purpose of this rig, and, like the OP, it fit better in my cabinet. Don't get me wrong, it sounds good, but it's a noticeable compromise vs the 5012, IMO.

I Owned the nr1403 and the sr5007 and I agree that there is a noticeable difference, but the calibration was not as good on the nr, whereas the nr1607 is much better in that regard.

This may help some. Notice he is running floorstanders large: http://i.nextmedia.com.au/avhub/sound-and-image_review-archive_2012-8_Marantz-nr1603-sr5007-review.pdf

mrloren

French_guy wrote: »

I will have to take a look and see if i can do some "surgery" on my cabinet, such as cutting the back to have more depth......It's an Ikea cabinet, so no big deal

Bust out that jig saw and make the Denon fit. Me I build my own stands so I can mod at will and then build another if needed.

The main thing is stay away from Audyssey XT, if the unit doesn't come with XT32 then it's a no for me now.

I was at Best Buy digging through the BD bin ($5.99 specials) and checked out the AVR's. The 3400H was sitting right next to the SR5012, both had the same cost of $999. If I was going to spend that much coin I would get the 3400H with Audyssey XT32.

mdaudioguy

mrloren wrote: »

French_guy wrote: »

I will have to take a look and see if i can do some "surgery" on my cabinet, such as cutting the back to have more depth......It's an Ikea cabinet, so no big deal

I was at Best Buy digging through the BD bin ($5.99 specials) and checked out the AVR's. The 3400H was sitting right next to the SR5012, both had the same cost of $999. If I was going to spend that much coin I would get the 3400H with Audyssey XT32.

I wouldn't swap an AVR with better EQ for one with better overall sound. That said, they're both fine AVRs. I've heard a lot from both brands and have developed a preference for the Marantz sound.

mrloren

mdaudioguy wrote: »

mrloren wrote: »

French_guy wrote: »

I will have to take a look and see if i can do some "surgery" on my cabinet, such as cutting the back to have more depth......It's an Ikea cabinet, so no big deal

I was at Best Buy digging through the BD bin ($5.99 specials) and checked out the AVR's. The 3400H was sitting right next to the SR5012, both had the same cost of $999. If I was going to spend that much coin I would get the 3400H with Audyssey XT32.

I wouldn't swap an AVR with better EQ for one with better overall sound. That said, they're both fine AVRs. I've heard a lot from both brands and have developed a preference for the Marantz sound.

I wouldn't call the Denon 3300X/3400H a lesser AVR than the Marantz SR501X models. The guy I sold my RTi8/CSi5/RTi4/VTF2 setup to has the 3300X. Setup was a snap with XT32 and sounds fantastic.

Both my SR5010's took some tweaking to get Audyssey XT from correcting strange dips. If I just ran Audyssey it would come out hollow sounding and lacking bass


My Sony ES and Onkyo didn't spike the mid-bass like that. To get it corrected I had to put some shop towels in the power-port to flatten it out. It took about 4 or 5 rounds of Audyssey to get the right amount of towels. I wouldn't blame the room as much either, bedroom came out with the same spikes as with the guy I traded my Sony ES for the SR5010.

Once I got these dialed in, yes they are great sounding units. At the same price point I would get the Denon for two reasons.
1 Audyssey XT32
2 That porthole display does get to be annoying

Marantz made a great unit but under cut it with a bad calibration program. I would like to an A/B between the SR5010 and 3300X/3400H but I just don't have the funding.