Deciding between Yamaha or Marantz

In the 15 years I am in this business I Always test as many as I can do see what the properties are of a brand. Depth and wide is a very important part you always test and compare. And yessss you have to find this out yourself. It is very easy to let people hear the difference in stage between Onkyo and brands like Marantz and Arcam. A client used a Marantz surround receiver so we brought in the Onkyo TX-NR818. This one gives a much bigger stage and a much sharper image compared to Marantz. It is very easy to let peolple hear why it is better. When Marantz would be better, this would be the one to sell. I can get Marantz for the same conditions. But I want my client to get a 10 and not a 7,8 or 9. Arcam has a very musical sound, but has not the 3D image Onkyo can give. Every person understands the difference. Most shops has less knowledge and do not know all the different properties of all the brands they sel. This makes it so easy to compete. That is why I love to send my clients to other shops for 2 dimensional products. I do this way for over 6 years know. It gives a lot of fun to do.

I sold a lot of Marantz and Arcam in the past. They still make good products. I am Always looking for the best overwhole sound. So I choose those products who are able to give a better end result. It is the difference between good, better and best. I am only interested in the best. This makes it a lot easier to compete against other shops in audio.

Soundstaging, dimensional realism, and imaging are speaker performance terms...and in order to achieve this one has to take into account the entire system...not just amplification...where power...or reserve power comes into play...is in dynamics and low distortion...in short...a more liquid, effortless sound...depth and 3d imaging are largely due to speaker design and placement...

I compared many amps in my life. They have a very important influence on the stage as well. When you compare Onkyo, Pass Labs, Primare, Denon, Marantz and Arcam on the same speakers the difference is huge. The Pass Labs has by far the widest and deepest stage, Followed by Primare. Then Onkyo comes. Arcam, Denon and Marantz have only a little of depth. I have done these tests over and over again. For me it is like 1 and 1 is 2. Even When I used speakers who could give a deep stage and the amps as well. After we connected a Arcam cd or dvd player the depth was gone. For depth all parts need to be good at giving a deep and wide stage. In 15 yera sof time I have done thousends of tests in audio. Because this is the most fun thing to do. I was addicted to this for many years. In the beginning when I started in this business I did 80 hours every week in audio.

+1 to Phasecorrect's comments as he is correct! Speaker design and especially its placement in a room, is critical to achieving a deep soundstage and thus obtaining the 3 dimensionality that Bo so often talks about. Not the brand of amp.

The amp is important Bo, as long as it has the power and reserve to properly drive the speakers and effortlessly supply whatever power the speakers demands without distortion.

Your only proof of dimensionality is that you listened in tests for 15 years. Many of us have double that amount of time listening too, yet we don't rattle off a list of brands proclaiming one is superior in dimensionality and the other isn't. And the ones that you claim are superior just happen to be the ones you sell. But its based on your opinion and nothing more.

Bo, if there was a way of proving that some amps are more dimensional than others by actual objective testing and printing those results on a spec sheet, the manufacturers would do it. And not need Bo proclaiming which ones are.