Marantz 6400/6500 or rotel rdv1050?

[rick c]

I have been thinking of replacing my panny rp56 with a dvda/sacd player.I have a few dvda disks now.Also thinking of sacd.My question is the selection of which player for PQ as well as Audio.Between the marantz and the rotel which would be the better unit.I realize the rotel is only dvda and more expensive.Is the cost of the rotel over the marantz justified?In other words would the marantz be just as good maybe better because of sacd and is one better than the other in PQ.I'm hoping someone has compared the 2 or if anyone has either unit could they chime in.thanks

[Jraducha]

i have the marantz..i wish i heard the denon before i bought it..but i still like the 6400...

[audioqueso]

Hey Rick,

I've never owned a Panny, but do have the Marantz 6400. I absolutely love it. When I was first looking to replace my last receiver, I was looking into the Rotel RSX-1065 and Marantz 7400. And to add to Jraducha's post, I did listen to a Denon, but I don't really like the type of sound of a Denon or HK. It's a bit too colored for me.

Compared to the Marantz I found the Rotel to sound more natural, but very very slightly. I heard the 7400 had heat issues, so I started leaning into the Rotel. Then I found out there was a Marantz 6400 (wasn't on their website) which the only difference is one less channel. That was fine for me as I never plan on using 7.1. I was able to fine a brand new 6400 for almost $800 less than the Rotel, so I jumped on that quick.

When I first received it, the sound was harsh and very cold. It didn't sound good at all. I throw in a Linkin Park CD for a day to burn in the setup. After that, I still didn't listen to music. Just watched tv and movies. After a week I sat down and listened to my CDs again. This is the sound I was waiting for! It was very warm and natural sounding... just the way it sounded in the shops. My B&Ws sound so much better now. Bigger sound stage, details are more distinctive, and the bass is richer. I think I have listened to my Rhasody In Blue more in the past few months than ever in my life combined. I love the sound.

Now the video is another thing. It's a little strange. One, I couldn't get the video to upvert to component as it's suppose to. But also, with my DVDs, the menus looked funny using the component connection. It would get grainy. The RCA connections was blurry, and this also occurred with my PS2. Finally after messing around, I found that the s-video did the best job. Clean and crisp image. I know that component video has more bandwidth, but if you want to use it, bypass the Marantz component connections. For RCA, if you go through the Marantz, then you'll get a bit of blurriness. Like I said, S-video was the only one that gave me a very clean and transparent signal.

I'm getting my B&W 704s next month, so I'll see how the Marantz handle those without separate amps. Hey, check your PMs.

[rick c]

JC, the marantz i was referring to was the dv6400 universal player.Any how i will probably get the dv6400 or dv6500.I have a rotel rsx1056 which is probably the best decision i have made.It sounds great with my 603s3/lcr600.Congrats on your 704's.FWIW i used to have a marantz sr7000 prior to the rotel.Marantz receivers are great in my opinion.I was going for the 7500 but got such a good deal on the rotel i couldnt pass it up.By the way i'll probably get the dvd player at the place i referred you to.

P.S. check your PM