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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 I was gonna go with the McIntosh MX-122 but that thing is already outdated when it comes to new features and it costs twice as much.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 That Marantz should be far ahead of the outdated Mc offerings at a lot lower cost.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.  
big_greg
6,632 posts
 
I recently replaced my Marantz AV8801 (two generations removed from the AV8805) with a refurbished Marantz AV7704.  The price difference was over $3K.  

If your main interest is home theater and you don't need some of the extra connections available on the 8805, I would get the 7704 or 7705.  For home theater I can't tell any difference between the 8801 and the 7704.  It seemed like the 8801 sounded better than the 7704 for 2 channel, but not dramatically better. 

Supposedly the 8805 sounds better than the 8801.  I have not had an opportunity to compare.  If 2 channel listening is important, then it may be worth the money to get the 8805.  You might be able to pick up an AV8802 for about half the price of the AV8805.  I've seen some used ones here and some refurbished ones on a couple of web sites.

My preference is for 2 channel listening and I use a Modwright LS100 for 2 channel and use the HTBP function to send amplification to the AV7704 for movies. 

A good quality 2 channel preamp should sound significantly better for 2 channel listening.  It depends on your listening preferences and space considerations.
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