your Thoughts on AV8801?


Hi all,

I am very excited as my wife said i could finally update my old Pre/Pro my Yamaha Rx-z7 Receiver i was using as a pre/pro with my parasound A52 and 2125 amps along with my Def Tech 7002, CLR 2500 and Infinity rears and rear center along with Def TEch Trinity Sub..Sounded great..and i liked some of the DSP modes but not all of them.. But i always felt i could increase the sound quality with a true peamp processor and get better sound on music especially while still getting the same or better sound with movies.. i have read alot of reviews on both the marantz av8801 and the new Yamha CX-a5000 pre/pro.. and i had always owned Yamaha in the past including some of their older flagship receievrs..(the Marantz is actually made in Japan, impressive for newer stuff nowadays! its a rarity) I strongly considered the cx-a5000 against the 8801.. i decided to buy the 8801 and i got a smokin deal on it brand new from auth dealer with full warranty for 2399.00... it will be here by UPS on tuesday..as i figured i would try something different.... i have no need for atmos at this time so those were the only two i was considering.. The marantz actually reminded me more of the old Yamaha flagship recivers i have bought in the past in regards to its build qulaity etc HDAM's.. it looks like the newer Yammie's are stripped down.. even the new pre-amp looks like it is somewhat stripped down inside the chassis... anyway.. looking forward to other Marantz 8801 owners on how much they like their Marantz 8801... I am sure the new Yammie cx-a5000 is great as well...hopefully i won't miss the DSP's very much as i feel the Marantz's more musical sound will obviate the need for it ... what a fun hobby we have comparing all of this stuff....
audiomike1
OH! I stand corrected!!
FOUND IT!!!!...Apparently, a recently introduced Marantz AV surroundy sound processor (manufactured in which country again??) = HI-FIDELITY AUDIO EQUIPMENT!! WHAT IN SAN HAINES WAS I THINKING?!!!
...sooooo, um, ok, if you run it in two channel mode, it clearly competes with the likes of Ayre, CAT, Pass Labs, MBL, Audio Research Ref and so forth?! Well scoop me sidesaddle, there Magic Michael! Cause apparently this mythical AV beast is what audiophiles all these years have been missing, as the solution to high fidelity signal preamplification and refinement!! YYYEEESSSS!!!
Well I guess I have a lot to learn here then, cause I've missed it, it seems.
That's it!..Im selling off my expensive exotica and getting a Chinese Digital surround maker! DOH!
Ok ok..that's probably a bit cynical on my part. I condeed.
However, apparently, in a pinch, I can substitute the Marantz for my Pass Labs pre, no problem. Who knew!?!!
So, thanks for that...
Audiomike1, You do want to use the front LR outputs from an Oppo 105 whether for stereo or surround. You might want to by-pass the processing of the AV8801 for stereo, because the Oppo may have a superior analog section, but I don't know that. I suggest you visit the Oppo 105 owners' thread at AVS. An alternate connection from the Oppo to the Marantz would seem to be HDMI. I don't agree with much of what Avgoround writes, but I do agree that spending a lot of money on a processor seems misplaced.

db
Some of you should here the 8801 do multi/ch sacd with Audyssey over hdmi simply beautiful comes to mind! And as a preamp from my Oppo 105 its still the cats meow for 2/ch. And yes I've hooked up my 105 direct to my Halo A21 for some killer 2/ch but guess what? the 8801 remains very, very transparent to those sabre dac's. Its been 2yrs and the music collection is growing!