One more thing about the Marantz and OPPO. I have a large collections of SACD’s and DVD-A’s as I enjoy multichannel music. The main reason I kept the OPPO is it plays all these formats with ease and with the OPPO can send either the native DSD over HDMI or can convert it to PCM first. The Marantz will take either stream via HDMI. The Marantz is just so super versatile. You can feed it any digital stream (DSD, FLAC, etc.) whether from your own device (like the OPPO or your PC) or from any high-rez streaming service and it will play it.
Marantz vs. Oppo or Theta
Hi everyone,
Sorry for the weird comparisons. I'm thinking of getting a Marantz 7706 because of the manual EQ features (that's right, not looking for room correction).
My biggest issues with processors and HT receivers in the past is that some of them just sounded like garbage. Really really thin, like AM radios. Several Japanese brands and Emotiva were brands I could not really listen to for long.
My question is how the Marantz compares say to the Oppo BD players, which were excellent, or say a Theta from a decade ago. I'm not looking for perfection, but robust and transparent.
Thank you,
Erik
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@jmeyers I wasn't trying to offend your brand loyalty. I just have experienced that there are some HT processors which are at least enjoyable to listen to and some that are just really not. I thought maybe someone with experience listening to the same gear I have could give me a recommendation in the range I could afford. Clearly that wasn't something you felt comfortable doing. |
I have the Oppo 205, love it, does practically everything, use it as a dac preamp direct to my power amp. Run a subwoofer and separate surround channels from it. Not sure how it compares to others mentioned BUT I am not aware of any other universal components that can do as much as the Oppo 205, unfortunately not made anymore. |
@erik_squires You did not offend me. I was just pointing out that the Theta Digital Casablanca V ("CB5") is a unique preamp/processor -- and extraordinarily flexible, too. I also happen to own an OPPO 203, but it is not anywhere like the OPPO 205 because its analog output is only two-channel. I send multi-channel, whether audio or Blu-ray/4K, to the CB5 for DAC processing. Based on my experience with OPPO (I have owned every model since the original, I think, 83), I can say with confidence that their products are well-engineered and well-built. I also know ESS Technology's SABRE DAC line well, too. Their 9038s are exceptional DAC chips. Combining them with OPPO's overall engineering and build prowess, and the result should be one terrific universal "shiny disc" player with seven audio channel analog output. However, it does not offer parametric equalization. Frankly, that is better left to your pre-amp. |
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