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  1. #1
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    Marantz problem I have?

    I bought a Marantz SR55300 because of the reviews it got on this site. It sounds very very weak. I have to have it about 90% turned up to get any sound out of it at all, my onkyo tx-Sr601 smoked the Marantz in power. Th Marantz has a better sound though. My Speakers are Klipsch reference and I have a 2 channel Sherwood that I tested out and that smoked the Marantz?? What is up? I spent 1 hour on the phone with Tech line and they agreeed that its set up totally right. It sounds like it is really putting out about 20 watts it starts off at volume -75db it doesnt pick up any sound at all not even a whisper until -38 db I even have the speaker levens set at +7 db all around. My onkyo at 80 x 5 coul make my ears bleed this one cant scratch my ear drums, Should I return it? If I return it how much extra is the 10 watts really gonna make between the 5300 and the 6300, its about 150 bucks more. I like Marantz sound alot.

  2. #2
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    Sorry to hear you are having problems with your Marantz receiver. I have the SR7300 and love it. When you have this low volume problem what is beening input into the reciever. I have this same problem but it is not the receiver, but my Pioneer DVD player hooked into the analog 7.1 inputs. Make sure your problem is not the input device. If you continue to have this problem then I would return it and replace with the same unit, yours may be defective. Good luck!!!

  3. #3
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    I see no serious problem with that. Volume level can be due to the source. Number -75db or else in other receiver is really arbitrary. The advantage is that you can really fine tuning the volume at low level. I have SR 7300 and normally I listen at around -35db and that is not loud. Just crank it up more, say up to -20db, and see if the receiver can tickle your ears. You like the sound anyway, better than the Onkyo. BTW, volume level is not an indication of power.

    As for the SR6300, given that there is no problem with your SR5300, it should have the same phenomenon. 10 W more power won't change significant volume level. But SR6300 comes with learning remote, which can replace your other remotes (TV, DVD, VCR,etc).

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by John1974
    I bought a Marantz SR55300 because of the reviews it got on this site. It sounds very very weak. I have to have it about 90% turned up to get any sound out of it at all, my onkyo tx-Sr601 smoked the Marantz in power. Th Marantz has a better sound though. My Speakers are Klipsch reference and I have a 2 channel Sherwood that I tested out and that smoked the Marantz?? What is up? I spent 1 hour on the phone with Tech line and they agreeed that its set up totally right. It sounds like it is really putting out about 20 watts it starts off at volume -75db it doesnt pick up any sound at all not even a whisper until -38 db I even have the speaker levens set at +7 db all around. My onkyo at 80 x 5 coul make my ears bleed this one cant scratch my ear drums, Should I return it? If I return it how much extra is the 10 watts really gonna make between the 5300 and the 6300, its about 150 bucks more. I like Marantz sound alot.
    Yeah, doesn't sound like this makes sense; I have an Onkyo TX SR600, the predecessor to your 601, and I have all my speakers calibrated at "+6"dB (except for the center channel which is a bit higher to compensate for the dialogue), and while originally I thought the receiver sounded weak because I needed to bring the volume up to like "60" on the display, I eventually learned to raise the gains in Onkyo's "IntelliVolume" system, and now, music and movies sound louder at lower volume levels, which is what I wanted and it sounds like what you want -- if you have all speakers jacked up to "+7" on the dB's, and it still sounds that low, something is off. I dont have much experience with Marantz receivers --- I own a Marantz CC67 CD changers and DR700 CD recorder, but not a receiver. Is there something Marantz has in their receivers that controls input sensitivity, like Onkyo's IntelliVolume? That may be your answer. Your components may not be set right through the receiver, as Onkyo claims it does with their IntelliVolume control....

  5. #5
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    Sort of the same thing happens with mine (SR-5200) on certain sources. For example, when I have a digital signal (dvd or xbox) the volume is louder then other sources. When playing a CD on my DVD player, I usually can;t turn it past 0 dB or ill risk damaging my equipment. But on my input for my computer music, i can turn it all the way to +12 dB and it will be loud, but not nearly as loud as if I played it on my DVD player. So make sure your DVD players volume control is up all the way. If this doesn't work I'd send it back in for another one. And no you will not notice any difference in power if you go for the 6300.

    -Joey

  6. #6
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by John1974
    I bought a Marantz SR55300 because of the reviews it got on this site. It sounds very very weak. I have to have it about 90% turned up to get any sound out of it at all, my onkyo tx-Sr601 smoked the Marantz in power. Th Marantz has a better sound though. My Speakers are Klipsch reference and I have a 2 channel Sherwood that I tested out and that smoked the Marantz?? What is up? I spent 1 hour on the phone with Tech line and they agreeed that its set up totally right. It sounds like it is really putting out about 20 watts it starts off at volume -75db it doesnt pick up any sound at all not even a whisper until -38 db I even have the speaker levens set at +7 db all around. My onkyo at 80 x 5 coul make my ears bleed this one cant scratch my ear drums, Should I return it? If I return it how much extra is the 10 watts really gonna make between the 5300 and the 6300, its about 150 bucks more. I like Marantz sound alot.
    First off, if you're pumping 20 watts into a Klipsch reference speaker, the sound level will be pushing close to 110 decibels, which is well above the comfort threshold and can cause hearing damage.

    What you attribute to a weak amp probably has more to do with the gain on the digital volume control than anything. Wattage has nothing to do with it. Having your volume position at 90% does not mean that 90% of the amp's power is committed. This would be the case with an analog volume control, but not necessarily so with a digital control, which steps up the sound in a more linear manner. Every 10 db increase means that you're doubling the volume, whereas in order to double the volume, you need a tenfold increase in the wattage. The efficiency on a Klipsch reference speaker is around 96 db, which means that ONE watt will get the thing to a very loud level, and going to ten watts increases it to 106 db. Conversely, a moderately high listening volume of 86 db can be achieved with ONE-TENTH of a watt.

    Using the volume position as a means by which to assess that one receiver "smokes" another is very faulty reasoning because the gain and zero levels vary from one model to another. If you really want to look at this objectively, you need to match the levels with a SPL meter and do some kind of bias control.

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