Boston Acoustics A26 + Marantz PM Series Query

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>Spkr ordered on Hifimart : Boston Acoustics A26
>CDP on hand : entry level philips DVD/DVP3356 which has a coax out
>Typical CDs played : Mostly Indian pressed carnatic,hindi and Western music CDs available in India (mostly instrumental fusion )
>Amp on hand : Lepai 2020A+
>DAC on hand : Behringer UCA202

***Amp under consideration : PM Series ** (NAD,CA,Rotel not under consideration this time )

PM6004 : No Digital inputs (within budget)
PM6005 : Digital inputs but no USB B interface (within budget)
PM7005 : Has all digital inputs (but way above budget)

1. Does using the coax out really make a audible difference instead of using tradiotional RCAs for for the kind of source playout indicated.
2. Which setup offers better sound :
a)In case i go in for the PM6005 : Connection mode : PC to UCA202 to amp optical input may work
b)In case there is a possibility to go in for PM7005 : Connection mode is simple. PC to Amp USB B .Will this sound audibly better given that i may stick to A26 spkrs only.

3.May consider upgrading the CDP . Any suggestions from forum experts is welcome (entry level CDP only)

Thanks in advance and appreciate your time taken to respond.

 

[Amitkg]

>Spkr ordered on Hifimart : Boston Acoustics A26
>CDP on hand : entry level philips DVD/DVP3356 which has a coax out
>Typical CDs played : Mostly Indian pressed carnatic,hindi and Western music CDs available in India (mostly instrumental fusion )
>Amp on hand : Lepai 2020A+
>DAC on hand : Behringer UCA202

***Amp under consideration : PM Series ** (NAD,CA,Rotel not under consideration this time )

PM6004 : No Digital inputs (within budget)
PM6005 : Digital inputs but no USB B interface (within budget)
PM7005 : Has all digital inputs (but way above budget)

1. Does using the coax out really make a audible difference instead of using tradiotional RCAs for for the kind of source playout indicated.
2. Which setup offers better sound :
a)In case i go in for the PM6005 : Connection mode : PC to UCA202 to amp optical input may work
b)In case there is a possibility to go in for PM7005 : Connection mode is simple. PC to Amp USB B .Will this sound audibly better given that i may stick to A26 spkrs only.

3.May consider upgrading the CDP . Any suggestions from forum experts is welcome (entry level CDP only)

Thanks in advance and appreciate your time taken to respond.

_____________________________________________________
Go for Marantz PM6004 cause PM6005 doesn't provide considerable improvement over PM 6004, besides, you have a DAC at your disposal. Just a week ago, I myself bought PM6004, and paired with POLK TSx330T FS ( yes. I bought POLK, despite negative reviews) and music sounds awesome on this combo. Just used barely for 10hours, so, after giving good 'burn-in' period for 50-100hours, I think, sound will improve. BTW, I paid only 27K for POLK TSx330T FS and I bought it from ProFx, Kolkata.

 

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A buy query : Request for inputs.

1)Will the PM7005 sound way better than the PM6005 and PM6004 when paired with the A26 BA spkrs ?

2)PM7005 Vs PM600X .One issue is the PM6005 does not have a USB"B" interface.PM7005 (has USB "B"interface;only one pair spkr o/ps'; no loudness function).Yes the cost is 2X Vs PM6005. Not sure if the made in Japan add's some additional sonic advantage.

Thanks.

 

[Amitkg]

A buy query : Request for inputs.

1)Will the PM7005 sound way better than the PM6005 and PM6004 when paired with the A26 BA spkrs ?

2)PM7005 Vs PM600X .One issue is the PM6005 does not have a USB"B" interface.PM7005 (has USB "B"interface;only one pair spkr o/ps'; no loudness function).Yes the cost is 2X Vs PM6005. Not sure if the made in Japan add's some additional sonic advantage.

Thanks.

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If you like Trance, EDM and other bass-heavy music, avoid PM7005. But if you want pure music,without any coloration go for PM7005. I would rather suggest you to listen to both PM7005 and PM8005(price is almost 10K higher than PM7005) with your kind of music, with A26. it will help you take the final call. Moreover, this PM8005 is 'made in Japan' product. :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

 

[global rhythms]

>Spkr ordered on Hifimart : Boston Acoustics A26
>CDP on hand : entry level philips DVD/DVP3356 which has a coax out
>Typical CDs played : Mostly Indian pressed carnatic,hindi and Western music CDs available in India (mostly instrumental fusion )
>Amp on hand : Lepai 2020A+
>DAC on hand : Behringer UCA202

***Amp under consideration : PM Series ** (NAD,CA,Rotel not under consideration this time )

PM6004 : No Digital inputs (within budget)
PM6005 : Digital inputs but no USB B interface (within budget)
PM7005 : Has all digital inputs (but way above budget)

1. Does using the coax out really make a audible difference instead of using tradiotional RCAs for for the kind of source playout indicated.
2. Which setup offers better sound :
a)In case i go in for the PM6005 : Connection mode : PC to UCA202 to amp optical input may work
b)In case there is a possibility to go in for PM7005 : Connection mode is simple. PC to Amp USB B .Will this sound audibly better given that i may stick to A26 spkrs only.

3.May consider upgrading the CDP . Any suggestions from forum experts is welcome (entry level CDP only)

Thanks in advance and appreciate your time taken to respond.

If you opt for PM6004 then you will have to rely on your other setup for the digital to audio conversion. PM6005 comes with a very high quality DAC, same as that of Marantz CD6005 CD player supporting up to 24 bit/192 kHz and it can surely out do PC/DVD player/Behringer UCA202 for the digital to audio conversion. I am using the same amp PM6005 and use the coax in for DA conversion and amplification. If you can go for PM7005 then there is nothing like it and it chucks out an extra device in the setup. Anyways both PM6004 and PM6005 can drive your A26s with ease.

 

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Request guidance : For PM6005 with external DAC : Which brand/model is recommended to get as close to the Marantz inbuild DAC .I did search the forum and found Hiface USB-Coax . This then can be used to connect optical input in the PM6005 as suggested.

PM7005 : USB B type is convenient . The cost is 2X up and i may not really need the extra watts' to drive BA A26's or a better bookshelf in future .

At this point not ruling it out...evaluating options.

 

[global rhythms]

I did search the forum and found Hiface USB-Coax.

Are you referring to M2Tech's hiFace or hiFace Evo? Just curious to know how are you gonna get hold of it here in India?

 

[alpha1]

If you like Trance, EDM and other bass-heavy music, avoid PM7005. But if you want pure music,without any coloration go for PM7005. I would rather suggest you to listen to both PM7005 and PM8005(price is almost 10K higher than PM7005) with your kind of music, with A26. it will help you take the final call. Moreover, this PM8005 is 'made in Japan' product. :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

Does this mean that PM7005 has a flatter frequency response, than others?

 

[nn_in]

Are you referring to M2Tech's hiFace or hiFace Evo? Just curious to know how are you gonna get hold of it here in India?

Refer to m2tech's hiface ; how to buy them India ...idea here to search for some online sellers . Note as mentioned in my post that i do have external DAC.However the hiface is compact with none of the inter connect's of a external DAC.

 

[nn_in]

Thanks to all .Appreciate your quick response, timely guidance and suggestions.

System : The final config is Marantz PM6005+Q Acoustics 2020i.Running the coax out of the Philips player to PM6005.


Result ersonal preference for sound signature of Q Acoustics 2020i paired with PM6005.

Other spkr's paired with PM6005 were : Boston Acoustics BA26 ; MA Bronze (i think), Qacoustics 2010i all using the same audio track and setup.

Other spkr's auditioned with amp details :

BS : KEFQ300 with Denon Amp (had a label : Hi current) and CDP
BS : Cabasse with Denon Amp (has label : Hi current) and CDP
BS : Wharf's 10.x ,Wharfs 2XX ,and Tannoy with CA Azur 300 series
FS : Wharf's 10.6 with CA Azur 300 series ( as hi watt amp not available at that time)
Stayed away from FS as its not required for the room size and higher watt amp needed.
Future : upgrade the bookshelf's ,Hence put up the BA 26 on the owner's thread.

Thanks to Audio Planet .

 

[qimesofas]

yes,Yes the cost is 2X Vs PM6005. Not sure if the made in Japan add's some additional sonic advantage.

 

[skillace]

I recently had a few extensive listening sessions before buying another budget amp for my friend. Since I liked Marantz amps (for mellow sound & design) especially as I've already bought PM6004 last yr for myself and extremely pleased with it since day one, offered some listening sessions to my friend. He found the sound very pleasing and decided to go into Marantz.
We shortlisted PM6005 & PM7005 (
( At that time PM6004 was already not available and he also needed a DAC to go with and these two fit the bill exactly in the budget)

My findings are:

PM6005
Sounds similar to PM6004 in power and character 45w@8ohm
It's musical, understated in power.
Comes with in buit DAC capable of handling 24/192.
Digital inputs ( optical and coaxial but no usb)
Still retains the huge toroidal transformer!
Only one gripe about the amp even though it may not be obvious
in the performance is Made in China badging!??
My PM6004 was Made in Japan.

PM7005:
Slightly higher rated power 60w @8ohm( but not enough to go louder than lil brother)
The plus points are
Comes with in built DAC capable of handling PCM & DSD formats.
Digital inputs including usb (great if using computer as the source)
Another strange thing that I've noticed is it comes with a EI core transformer instead of Toroidal ones found in PM6005.??
But I believe EI CORE is better in handling fluctuations in power supply over toroidal.
The good thing is yes....Made in Japan badging!

Anyway after back to back auditioning these two with Dali Lektor 2 & MA BX2
Bookshelves we felt PM6005 sounded more mellow and rounded compared to pm7005 which felt flatter in response.
Test was done with CA CDP as source and also using the optical digital input of the amps
To test the DAC as well.
Hope this helps??

 

[shibashis]

Interested to know what the OP finally purchased? Which amp and which speaker?
It would be nice to update the forum, a lot of us rely on actual experiences of buyers for our research.
Hugely interested to know if almost the twice price of 6005 is justified on the 7005.

 

[nn_in]

Interested to know what the OP finally purchased? Which amp and which speaker?
It would be nice to update the forum, a lot of us rely on actual experiences of buyers for our research.
Hugely interested to know if almost the twice price of 6005 is justified on the 7005.

System : The final config is Marantz PM6005+Q Acoustics 2020i.
Running the coax out of the Philips player to PM6005.

 

[nn_in]

Re: UPDATE Boston Acoustics A26 + Marantz PM Series Query

Real world auditions indicate the cost vs equip brand/quality is not a linear equation . Added to this are variables of availability /models/service and few others.

For now its a Pio entry CDP,classic integ amp CA651A ,Triangle BS from Audio Planet,Bglr.

CA651A also has more inputs than i need with DAC built in.

I think a single input with tone controls would be suffice for my usage.

Also started on the DIY path (chip and discrete)as its possible to get advantage of great diy designs for stereo 2.0 w/o the features and convenience of commercial amps.

Thanks to all FM members.