Marantz vs Sonodyne

Hi juggy,

These guys have Marantz,with all papers and warranty and service



Refex Pro-Acoustics,
113 GN Chetty Road,
T.Nagar,
Chennai - 600 017.
INDIA

Phone 91-44-2822 4482
Fax 91-44-2822 4483
Email acoustics@refex.co.in

cheers
shri

Thanx Shri. Do they have a demo room too?

And cud you give ur thoughts on Sonodyne vs Marantz.

In HT, both are good, infact its subjective, one may like Marantz and other may like the Sonodyne. I liked Sonodyne but as soon as it comes to overall performance...Marantz is the leader over any other AVR in under 30k budget IMO.

But but but, if you can spend upto 44k then you have the Sonodyne Surround processor + Six channel power amp which has no competition as yet in both Music and Movies (atleast in India) IMO. They are awesome man. I heard them a week back and they are fabulous. Also they represent very high VFM, because such individual components matched to performance is very difficult to have under 1 Lac (in India again).

Marantz has a nice warm stereo performance. Anddecent surround too (though some might prefer Yamaha's brightness for movies). Sonodyne reflects excellent VFM. But when it comes to buying a budget amp I'd go for the Marantz with my eyes closed. BTW what budget are you looking at? I believe Sonodyne's new pre-power series is excellent!!

juggy_25 schrieb:

Thanx Shri. Do they have a demo room too? And cud you give ur thoughts on Sonodyne vs Marantz.

yup.. they have 2 demo rooms...

I bought my Marantz from them and I love it!!!

ABHI. WHAT SPEAKERS U WOULD RECCOMEND WITH THE SONODYNE PRE AND POWER?
Shri

Are you asking for stereo or HT ?

abhi,
I am asking for HT

srikarkav schrieb:

ABHI. WHAT SPEAKERS U WOULD RECCOMEND WITH THE SONODYNE PRE AND POWER? Shri

hey shri.. ofcourse the Diamonds 8.4

just kidding.. lets see wot Abhi or the more experienced dudes say..

Keep Rocking
Nimz

Wud the Genie-2 go well with the Sonodyne Pre and Power?

Juggy,
Sonodyne Pre-Power would be an overkill for the Genie2 IMO. Infact it would be an overkill for most of the Sub-sat combos except for the most demanding ones.

For the Pre-Power set, you need a full-fledged speaker package comprising of floors for the Fronts (or even good Bookshelves like Dynaudio), proper matching centers and equally good rear speakers either Dipoles/Bipoles or Bookshelves.

Anything lesser than that would diminish the shine these pre-power bring with them.

So whether its the sonus package or the Diamond 8.4 package it should be heavy weight all around.

Hi Nimz,

can u tell me the price u paid for ur diamonds?

cheers,
shri

Hope the Sonodyne Pre-Power and the Sonodyne Sonus(2605) is a good combo.
Does the Sonus require a separate Sub?
Wud the Pre-Power + Sonus combo be an overkill for a room of size 200 sq.feet?
(just a doubt....do we have listen in high volumes to appreciate floorstanders? will the vocals be clear (and not muffled or boomy) in the case of an art movie with dialogues, in low volume)

Ya the Sonus 2605 would be a good match as well with the Pre-Power. For a 200 sqft room the Pre-Power wont be an overkill. The thing is you should buy speakers which can reveal the potential of the Pre-Power.
you dont have to listen at high-volumes to appreciate floors....

Is there any Sub-Sat combo which can give the full effect of the Sonodyne Pre-Power?
U had mentioned Dynaudio? Is that sats? where is it available?

Does floorstanders require a sub too?

Dynaudios are very high quality Bookshelf speakers. They dont have satts. Dynaudios require a lot of power to be driven well upto their potential so I reccomended them with the Pre-Power combo.

As far as satts are concerned, Sonodyne satts are very good. Going higher than that for a satt would be an over kill.
But you can look at Mirage Omnisats.

The Sonodyne Pre-Power sayz 6.1 Discrete. What does the "Discrete" mean?

Can I connect a 5.1 (instead of a 6.1) with the Sonodyne Pre-Power?

Discrete basically means it has six individual amps put inside one box..this ensures much better performance as all the amps are mutually exclusive and perform to their full potential. There is no interference betweeen them.

Yes you can connect 5.1 channel speakers to a 6.1 reciever...just that one channel will be lying idle so you would be saving on the electric bill..

Thanx Abhi. :-)

The Floorstanders can take around 110-130W whereas the Bookshelves (rear) can take only up to around 60W.(in the Sonus).
Is that how it is? Does the Floorstanders have move capacity than the rears?

Its not like that........just because the Fronts share the major load of dynamics (apart from the sub) so its better to have a more powerful front speakers thats it. Normally for an ideal HT all the 5 speakers should be of the same make and model but since its expensive to have all floors so the fronts are given the floors and others are given speakers which suits the frequence it mostly handles. For example, the Center speaker is supposed to handle Vocals so its designed specially for Vocals and the rears are designed to give better surround effect (e.g Dipoles/Bipoles). Dont worry so much about that it all falls in place if you are buying them from the same manufacturer. Also remember one thing that its always advisable to have an amp which has atleast 50% more power than your speaker ratings. That way there is a better control on the speakers.

I read in one article that to listen to floorstanders we shud be 7-8 feet away. is that true? (coz I wud get a max of 5 feet from the HT in my small room. hope sonus wudnt be an overkill)
Wud normal bookshelves as rears do, instead of a bipole/dipole?

5 feet is little less for Floorstanders (and even bookshelves). There is good chance that you won't be able to hear them at their potential.

but yes, bookshelves will do fine as rears, but be cautious about positioning them if you want them to be effective.

Hi Juggy,
5 feet is too low a distance. You should have atleast 7 feet distance between you and your front speakers. If it is just temporary then you can go ahead but if this is your permanent house then better stick to Bookshelf speakers or even sattelites. Also select your reciever accordingly.

There goes my dream of having the Sonodyne Pre-Power Amp with the Sonus Towers down the drain!! :-(

My next option is a Marantz-5500 with Genie-2s and the Roarr Sub(5.1). Does that option give good response with Muzik as well as Movies?

Yes that would be a very good option...even for music...
Later on if you feel the need then you may add a good bookshelf speaker dedicated to stereo (you can do it even now btw)...your marantz will do pretty good with them. Also check out Wharfdale subs. If you are going for the sonodyne sub then go for roarr 1815 dont go for the more powerful ones as that will be an overkill in your small room. Actually at this point you should look for buying the best sub possible in your budget because you are going for satts so all the bass is going to be delivered by the sub and bass is not easy to reproduce accurately that too in a small room (where booming is is just too probable) so you should get the best quality sub for your bass duty. And when I say best I dont mean powerwise....its sheer musicality I am talking about. So checkout Velodyne, Definitve Technology, Wharfdale (SW-150), B&W, Jamo etc and obviously sonodyne as thats where you need to start.

Marantz as an AV reciever is one of the best for the price so there is no looking back on that...

If you are strict about Satts then Genie2 is very good.
But if you can think of bookshelves for the front then you would have many choices (depends on your budget)......Mind you that I am reccomending bookshelves only for the fronts that too sheerly because it can give you better stereo reproduction than Satts...also you can switch off your sub while listening to bookshelf speakers (as they have pretty accurate and good bass) but with satts you should always have your sub on...so you need to decide on this part.

thanx abhi.

nope, i am not on a budget. looking for quality music.

How about the Wharfedale 9.2s plus the SW-150? I wrote to the Wharfedale dealers and got a quote too.
I have heard that the Wharfedale bookshelves are very pleasant, but not bright enough for HT. is that true?

(Like u said, if the sats arent as good as bookshelves, i wud go for bookshelves. I just want all my speakers of the same company....preferably even the sub)

so Marantz AVR is confirmed. Is there any particular Marantz AVR model you wud recommend?

Abhi, one more thing...... How wud the Sonodyne Pre-Power and the Wharfedale 9.2 combo sound?

9.1 would be a better bet with a sub. Sky high VFM.
And, if you're married W A F.

juggy_25 schrieb:

thanx abhi. nope, i am not on a budget. looking for quality music. How about the Wharfedale 9.2s plus the SW-150? I wrote to the Wharfedale dealers and got a quote too. I have heard that the Wharfedale bookshelves are very pleasant, but not bright enough for HT. is that true? (Like u said, if the sats arent as good as bookshelves, i wud go for bookshelves. I just want all my speakers of the same company....preferably even the sub) so Marantz AVR is confirmed. Is there any particular Marantz AVR model you wud recommend?

I use Marantz SR4500 with a pair of Wharfedale Diamonds 9.1. Wharfedale & Marantz are definitely not bright but it has sufficient bang to fill up your room. At least I am more than satisfied with its performance only with 2 speakers. So, I would say they are good for movies too. However there are other receivers with more zing available. But audition yourself to see whether they are good enough for you.

Since you are not on budget, try Marantz SR5500 or SR5600 and above.

I would suggest you to stick to Diamond 9.1 instead of 9.2 (use the saved money on cables). you can use a pair of 9.1s for front duty and use another pair of 9.1s for surround. For sub SW150 will be enough as your room is small. Get a center channel from Wharfedale Diamond series. (All speakers from same company and they are all great VFM)

Be sure to use some good coaxial interconnect and speaker cables. I can tell you the sound has improved after I got a QED interconnect for my system. For speaker cables, you can use QED Silver aniversary for front and center. For surround you can use something a little cheap (because for wiring surrounds cable length is more and QED Silver anniversary is 440Rs/mtr)

Marantz SR 5500 - 45k (approx)
Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 (2 pairs) - 25k
Center channel - 4k-8k
SW150 sub - 18k
Cables - 4k-6k

System cost 1 lakh (approx)...

Ok...since I can see that your budget is quite flexible so I would suggest this

Fronts Bookshelves: Dynaudio Audience 42/Wharfdale Evo/Quad 11L/ Dali Ikon Series / Kef iQ series

Center: Series Matching or atleast tonally matching

Rears: Again same company or similar sounding (wont make much of a difference)

Sub: Wharfdale SW-150

AV Reciever: Check out Marantz SR-4500/5500 and Sonodyne Pre-power but the point here is you dont require a lot of power as your room is small and your sub already has an amp built in. Also Marantz 4500 and 5500 sound almost the same except that 5500 has more power (which you can rarely utilize). So instead of spending 45k on 5500, go for a 4500 at 26k and be happy. I can bet you would never find shortage power especially considering your room size.
So better spend on high quality front speakers so that you get the most detailed and high quality sound. Later if you want you can spend another 25k and get a good stereo amp as well (thats always an option). But spending 20k extra for a more powerful AV reciever is useless IMO.

All the bookshelves I have reccomended are of very high quality and way beyond Diamond series. They would be priced between 25k to 50k. Look at them and decide which gives you the best bang for the money you can afford.

abhi.pani schrieb:

Ok...since I can see that your budget is quite flexible so I would suggest this Fronts Bookshelves: Dynaudio Audience 42/Wharfdale Evo/Quad 11L/ Dali Ikon Series / Kef iQ series Center: Series Matching or atleast tonally matching Rears: Again same company or similar sounding (wont make much of a difference) Sub: Wharfdale SW-150 AV Reciever: Check out Marantz SR-4500/5500 and Sonodyne Pre-power but the point here is you dont require a lot of power as your room is small and your sub already has an amp built in. Also Marantz 4500 and 5500 sound almost the same except that 5500 has more power (which you can rarely utilize). So instead of spending 45k on 5500, go for a 4500 at 26k and be happy. I can bet you would never find shortage power especially considering your room size. So better spend on high quality front speakers so that you get the most detailed and high quality sound. Later if you want you can spend another 25k and get a good stereo amp as well (thats always an option). But spending 20k extra for a more powerful AV reciever is useless IMO. All the bookshelves I have reccomended are of very high quality and way beyond Diamond series. They would be priced between 25k to 50k. Look at them and decide which gives you the best bang for the money you can afford.

Quite valid suggestion, yeah you can cut down to SR4500 if you decide for Marantz receiver. Investing in better front bookshelves instead is a good idea, only point to worry is the more expensive speakers are a little more space hungry (not always). So better if you can arrange a home demo.

diskspinner schrieb:

only point to worry is the more expensive speakers are a little more space hungry (not always). So better if you can arrange a home demo.

Nothing can beat home demo but its rare in India......
Its only possible if you commit a dealer that you are going to buy stuffs from him (atleast a part of your system).

As far as space is concerned, it wont need more space than the Sonus Floorstander which juggy had planned earlier.
In any case these high quality bookshelves would give Juggy quantum leaps in Sound quality as against stuffs that we were discussing prior to this.

Juggy,
Dont forget to include good Stands in your budget for your bookshelves...say around 2-3k. It matters a lot for bookshelves.

[/quote]
Nothing can beat home demo but its rare in India......
Its only possible if you commit a dealer that you are going to buy stuffs from him (atleast a part of your system).
[quote]

Maybe dealers should charge a Rs 500 fee per home demo, adjusted against the final purchase... ?

Thanx everyone.....loads of info here to set me thinking again..... :-)

Howz the Quad 11L and 12L? The Wharfedale dealers in bangalore also deals with the Quad. Yep, its almost double the price, but howz the quality? is it significantly different?

the quad also has Quad L-Sub. Howz that compared to the Wharfedale SW-150?

juggy_25 schrieb:

. Yep, its almost double the price, but howz the quality?

Excellent!

Quad Subs are awesome....if you can afford it.

Pleeeese dont compare Wharfdale Diamonds to Quad.....they are in two different leagues.

Can I get the Quad 12Ls for fronts and the 11L for rears and a Wharfedale SW150 sub??? Is that a good combo?
Does Timbre matching come into play when the Sub is involved?
(Quad sub is even way beyond my flexible budget!!)