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Yamaha HTR-6160B vs Marantz SR4002

3K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Frameboy 
#1 ·
Hey All,

So I had been planning to buy the Yamaha HTR-6160B, but the Home Theatre installer I am using suggested I get the Marantz SR4002 saying "It will just sound better."

Now, that could be true... but am I looking at apples to apples here? I think Yamaha sounds pretty good... and I wonder what I am giving up to get Marantz.

Any opinions on either of these? Does anybody have another option I should look at in this price range?

The critical factor is HDMI switching...

-Mike
 
#2 ·
In general, I have always preferred the sound of a Marantz product versus most of the other mainstream products. I have nothing against Yamaha or others that I have used (like Onkyo and Harman Kardon) over the years, but when it comes to listening to music I have always found that Marantz provides a better listening experience.

However, in your particular case, if you are looking for upconversion of analog sources, the Yamaha will outperform the Marantz. Further, if you're looking for next gen audio decoding for a Blu-ray (or HD DVD) source, the Yamaha has TrueHD and dts-HD Master Audio making it a much better choice except that it is limited to two HDMI inputs. Not sure how many HDMI sources you have but HD STBs, newer Xbox 360s, all Blu-ray and HD DVD players, and most upconverting DVD players are all HDMI. Cable boxes and 360s can certainly be run via component cables but one of the advantages of HDMI is one cable instead of four (three video, one audio).

Not sure of your price point, but I would look at the Yamaha 6180 for the extra HDMI input. In Marantz, I would not look at a current model below the SR7002 and that is significantly costlier. Other options include Onkyo's TX-SR605/606 or TX-SR705 (although be warned that Onkyo receivers run very hot).
 
#4 ·
When you start getting up to that price point, perhaps you should take a look at the Sherwood Newcastle R872 to be released in July.

Not only will it can deinterlace and scale any of its video inputs, analog or digital, to 720p, 1080i or 1080p and output them over HDMI; but it also outputs all inputs, analog & digital, to zone 2 - which most AVRs cannot do.

It decodes DTS Master Audio HD and Dolby Tru HD

http://sherwoodusa.com/prod_r872.html
 
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