2. amps-preamps
  3. 139397-120446

Is Marantz AV8805 good enough pre amp for McIntosh MC8207

In the market for a new preamp to hook up to my MC8207 and was wondering if the Marantz AV8805 is worth the investment. I was gonna go with the McIntosh MX-122 but that thing is already outdated when it comes to new features and it costs twice as much. I don't have a store to go to to listen to the AV8805 and this is gonna be a blind buy for me this time. This setup is gonna be for my new home theater room that I am about to start building and planning to add another McIntosh amp down the road for the rest of the speakers and probably it's gonna be another MC8207 to be able to fully use the 8805.
tomiiv30
jackd
1,068 posts
 
Aren’t some of the Mc AV processors based on Marantz designs anyway? That Marantz should be far ahead of the outdated Mc offerings at a lot lower cost.
tomiiv30 OP
65 posts
 
That's what I've heard and that's why I am leaning more towards the Marantz than Mcintosh for my preamp. Second of all I am getting the latest and greatest of what Marantz offers and it's Made In Japan(can't go wrong there). I heard that Mac used and maybe still uses Marantz's designs into their own premaps and was told that Mac is the last place to buy a preamp from and that they do not update their gear on time. Problem or dilemma that I am having is how does the AV8805 sounds when compared to the MX122
jackd
1,068 posts
 
High end Marantz processors seem to be the go to choice with people integrating HT and two channel systems so it must be fine.  Other options at a higher cost would be the Classe' SSP series. Unless you "need" all the extra channels of the 8805 you can probably drop down to the 7705 and from someplace like Accessories4Less save even more. The problem with Mc digital based products is that much of their parts are outsourced and they don't have a clue up firmware and software delivery or updating.  Also their repair times are very long. If you stick with their amps or analog based preamps you are fine as that is what the company was built on.  
More to discover