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Post by Bonzo on Dec 2, 2018 13:10:49 GMT -5
I've had 3 center speakers over the years. I found with the first two that I was constantly adjusting the center up and down depending on what we were watching. But ever since I got my Def Tech LCR3000, I simply adjusted the levels even, and have never changed it. There has never been an issue with hearing vocals since. So in my case, it was most certainly the quality of the speaker.
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Post by Bonzo on Dec 2, 2018 13:25:19 GMT -5
I also view Marantz like Apple, every 6 months there is a "New Model" processor out, better this better that, why don't they just make one that is expandable/upgrade-able, I'm guessing they would make much less money doing so, I mean if they can sell you a whole new processor I'm sure profits are much higher this way, but for some who don't care as I much I see your point in waiting and buying used. Yes and no. I think they do new models less than other big name brands. The 8802 was basically out about 3 years. It did get a few upgrades along the way which does give Marantz some credit to upgrading and not making a new model. There is another odd tidbit to the 8802 that might make it appealing. If I'm right, since it was made before Dolbys new edict, on the 8802 you can still use what ever upmixer you choose to use. This is not the case on the RMC-1, nor will it be on the revised XMC-1 or XMC-2, or any other future processor from anyone.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2018 13:52:12 GMT -5
Not owning either Marantz of XMC and juggling the same questions, I made one observation. Emo intended to make a product that excels at basic HT pre/pro functions. The other manufacturers pack-in so many other functions trying to out-do the other. Emotiva lacks some features that cause me to scratch my head. For Emotiva not to include streaming a very simple feature is mind boggling. Nothing else needed but more code programmed into it's Linux software. In today's world, it's a must have, no excuse for not doing it. How much would a programmable/smart remote add to the units cost? XMC-1 @ $2000 was a fair price. The XMC-2 with less flexibility for a grand more...really?
My wife made an observation a couple weeks ago, "Why did the Denon AVR-5700 (2000 model with less processing power and older technology) have a better center dialogue than either the UMC-200 and Integra DTR50.4?" (both running through XPA-5) I have no answer.
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Post by Gary Cook on Dec 2, 2018 15:16:50 GMT -5
On the dialogue volume topic, with a 2 dB boost of the centre channel, around 90% of the time I don’t have to adjust it for movies from a disc. It’s not such a large amount that it’s remotely noticeable with panned effects. But it’s just enough so that often hard to hear dialogue is clearly audible. Could be my ears after so many years hanging around race tracks. Although my wife, who has a liking for quality movie dialogue, prefers it too. Not having the ability to do that within DIRAC would be an inconvenience.
Cheers Gary
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Post by Gary Cook on Dec 2, 2018 15:28:57 GMT -5
On the streaming inclusion, my AppleTV4K has streaming, the Sony BDP does too and so does the Samsung TV. The Sony and the Samsung both have deficiencies in their streaming processes, mostly poor menus. so I don’t use them. If the XMC-1 had streaming built in I most likely wouldn’t use it either. The best streamer, the ATV4K is a dedicated streamer, it doesn’t do anything else, it’s designed from the ground up for that one purpose, so it just does it better than any of the built ins. When it’s out of date technically it’s not a $2.5k deal to replace it. The guys with other streamers will no doubt say similar about their particular brand and why it meets their requirements.
I see a processor the same as I see other separates, I don’t want anything in it that is better served by another separate. Plus I don’t want to have to replace any separate just because one relatively inexpensive part is out of date technically.
Cheers Gary
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Post by emofrmcgy on Dec 2, 2018 15:33:15 GMT -5
On the streaming inclusion, my AppleTV4K has streaming, the Sony BDP does too and so does the Samsung TV. The Sony and the Samsung both have deficiencies in their streaming processes, mostly poor menus. so I don’t use them. If the XMC-1 had streaming built in I most likely wouldn’t use it either. The best streamer, the ATV4K is a dedicated streamer, it doesn’t do anything else, it’s designed from the ground up for that one purpose, so it just does it better than any of the built ins. When it’s out of date technically it’s not a $2.5k deal to replace it. The guys with other streamers will no doubt say similar about their particular brand and why it meets their requirements. I see a processor the same as I see other separates, I don’t want anything in it that is better served by another separate. Plus I don’t want to have to replace it because one relatively inexpensive part is out of date technically. Cheers Gary And I'm the opposite. I'm tired of having to use a second device as the go between to stream my music. I ponied up the extra $10 a month for premium spotify to stream direct to my anthem rather than having to use my shield in between.
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Post by musicfan on Dec 2, 2018 16:24:53 GMT -5
Forgot to mention With the NAD I will have Dirac 2.0
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Post by creimes on Dec 2, 2018 16:54:55 GMT -5
On the streaming inclusion, my AppleTV4K has streaming, the Sony BDP does too and so does the Samsung TV. The Sony and the Samsung both have deficiencies in their streaming processes, mostly poor menus. so I don’t use them. If the XMC-1 had streaming built in I most likely wouldn’t use it either. The best streamer, the ATV4K is a dedicated streamer, it doesn’t do anything else, it’s designed from the ground up for that one purpose, so it just does it better than any of the built ins. When it’s out of date technically it’s not a $2.5k deal to replace it. The guys with other streamers will no doubt say similar about their particular brand and why it meets their requirements. I see a processor the same as I see other separates, I don’t want anything in it that is better served by another separate. Plus I don’t want to have to replace it because one relatively inexpensive part is out of date technically. Cheers Gary And I'm the opposite. I'm tired of having to use a second device as the go between to stream my music. I ponied up the extra $10 a month for premium spotify to stream direct to my anthem rather than having to use my shield in between. You spent all that time and money on a nice setup and stream compressed music ewwww
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Post by emofrmcgy on Dec 2, 2018 17:02:59 GMT -5
And I'm the opposite. I'm tired of having to use a second device as the go between to stream my music. I ponied up the extra $10 a month for premium spotify to stream direct to my anthem rather than having to use my shield in between. You spent all that time and money on a nice setup and stream compressed music ewwww Nothin but mp3’s For me big guy.
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Post by creimes on Dec 2, 2018 17:08:08 GMT -5
You spent all that time and money on a nice setup and stream compressed music ewwww Nothin but mp3’s For me big guy.
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Post by musicfan on Dec 2, 2018 18:04:57 GMT -5
Your gif game is on point right now!
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Post by pknaz on Dec 2, 2018 21:00:12 GMT -5
On the streaming inclusion, my AppleTV4K has streaming, the Sony BDP does too and so does the Samsung TV. The Sony and the Samsung both have deficiencies in their streaming processes, mostly poor menus. so I don’t use them. If the XMC-1 had streaming built in I most likely wouldn’t use it either. The best streamer, the ATV4K is a dedicated streamer, it doesn’t do anything else, it’s designed from the ground up for that one purpose, so it just does it better than any of the built ins. When it’s out of date technically it’s not a $2.5k deal to replace it. The guys with other streamers will no doubt say similar about their particular brand and why it meets their requirements. I see a processor the same as I see other separates, I don’t want anything in it that is better served by another separate. Plus I don’t want to have to replace any separate just because one relatively inexpensive part is out of date technically. Cheers Gary Totally agree, I've had pre/pros/receivers with streaming capabilities in them, and I never used them. I have both a Roku and ATV, and they are the devices of preference for streaming. When they need upgrading, its cheap.
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Post by ottaone on Dec 2, 2018 21:18:19 GMT -5
Update from the OP, though not sure what the topic is now.:-)
The Sony 900F has four HDMI inputs and although only Inputs 2 and 3 support 4K @60 4:4:4, the sources that I have should match the TV inputs for now. Inputs 2 and 3 will be used by the ATV 4K and Sony UBP-X700, respectively. HDMI 1 will be used by the UMC-1 and HDMI 4 will be for the 4K cable box from Rogers. If and when I add a game console, I'll just pull out the UHD player and use HDMI 3.
Hence, pass on both the Marantz and Chad's XMC-1. (You can tell that I'm waiting for HDMI 2.1 receivers in 2020.
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bootman
Emo VIPs
Typing useless posts on internet forums....
Posts: 9,358
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Post by bootman on Dec 3, 2018 8:22:13 GMT -5
We’ve all seen how modularity and upgrades work... Buy for the here and now, NOT what is “promised” a month, six months or in Emotiva’s case Multiple years down the road. If a customer wants the latest and greatest now, the OEMs are what they should get. When the next feature comes out you can be assured they will have a replacement ready for what you just bought six months down the line. It is their business model and HDMI in particular has been very profitable which makes sense since they wrote the specs. As far as the newer surround formats, that is an easy choice. Can you support the needed speaker layouts? If so that is what you get.
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Post by davidl81 on Dec 3, 2018 9:31:41 GMT -5
Although I like the concept of a modular design, it's hard to recommend a modular unit since it seems like the upgrade modules are at best a year or two behind the latest tech (or for the XMC-1 now its four years on Atmos). I am a fan of buying a unit that has all of the features you want now and not worrying about what will come out in the next year or two. With any AV product there is always the next big thing coming out and you can always chase it.
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Post by musicfan on Dec 3, 2018 11:17:16 GMT -5
true...if i get 5 years out of a processor Im happy Im on year 4 of my 7200wa....so its time to try somthing new.....dirac with atmos inbound....delivery tomorrow AND IF...i like the sound of the new processor.....i will be able to sell mine and have no monies out of pocket...or best case even...pocket a few hundo sounds like a win win for me but first to test the sound out
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Post by rbk123 on Dec 3, 2018 12:50:01 GMT -5
Although I like the concept of a modular design, it's hard to recommend a modular unit since it seems like the upgrade modules are at best a year or two behind the latest tech (or for the XMC-1 now its four years on Atmos). I am a fan of buying a unit that has all of the features you want now and not worrying about what will come out in the next year or two. With any AV product there is always the next big thing coming out and you can always chase it. I would prefer the modular design IF it saved me money. The problem is upgrading the XMC is going to cost $1k to get Atmos and 4k. Selling it and getting a new processor with 4k/Atmos will cost me $1k or less net. There's this urban myth out there that buying an upgradable device is cheaper, but the numbers for the XMC and other processors that are upgradeable clearly speak otherwise.
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Post by musicfan on Dec 3, 2018 14:00:22 GMT -5
Although I like the concept of a modular design, it's hard to recommend a modular unit since it seems like the upgrade modules are at best a year or two behind the latest tech (or for the XMC-1 now its four years on Atmos). I am a fan of buying a unit that has all of the features you want now and not worrying about what will come out in the next year or two. With any AV product there is always the next big thing coming out and you can always chase it. I would prefer the modular design IF it saved me money. The problem is upgrading the XMC is going to cost $1k to get Atmos and 4k. Selling it and getting a new processor with 4k/Atmos will cost me $1k or less net. There's this urban myth out there that buying an upgradable device is cheaper, but the numbers for the XMC and other processors that are upgradeable clearly speak otherwise. this
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KeithL
Administrator
Posts: 9,938
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Post by KeithL on Dec 3, 2018 14:20:02 GMT -5
I agree with you entirely - however you also need to keep things in perspective - and keep your priorities in mind.
You can currently buy an AVR for less than $1000 that has Atmos (I see several listed for below $500). In fact, you can buy a new AVR every couple of years - and be assured that you'll always have the latest collection of features that are popular that year.
However, it's not going to match the SOUND QUALITY of the XMC-1. The whole point is that, if you already own an XMC-1, and you decide you want Atmos, but you also want the sound quality that was the reason you bought the XMC-1 in the first place... Then upgrading your XMC-1 is going to cost you a lot less than buying a whole new product, which includes Atmos, but also matches the sound quality of the XMC-1.
Although I like the concept of a modular design, it's hard to recommend a modular unit since it seems like the upgrade modules are at best a year or two behind the latest tech (or for the XMC-1 now its four years on Atmos). I am a fan of buying a unit that has all of the features you want now and not worrying about what will come out in the next year or two. With any AV product there is always the next big thing coming out and you can always chase it. I would prefer the modular design IF it saved me money. The problem is upgrading the XMC is going to cost $1k to get Atmos and 4k. Selling it and getting a new processor with 4k/Atmos will cost me $1k or less net. There's this urban myth out there that buying an upgradable device is cheaper, but the numbers for the XMC and other processors that are upgradeable clearly speak otherwise.
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Post by emofrmcgy on Dec 3, 2018 14:31:08 GMT -5
I agree with you entirely - however you also need to keep things in perspective - and keep your priorities in mind.
You can currently buy an AVR for less than $1000 that has Atmos (I see several listed for below $500). In fact, you can buy a new AVR every couple of years - and be assured that you'll always have the latest collection of features that are popular that year.
However, it's not going to match the SOUND QUALITY of the XMC-1. The whole point is that, if you already own an XMC-1, and you decide you want Atmos, but you also want the sound quality that was the reason you bought the XMC-1 in the first place... Then upgrading your XMC-1 is going to cost you a lot less than buying a whole new product, which includes Atmos, but also matches the sound quality of the XMC-1.
I would prefer the modular design IF it saved me money. The problem is upgrading the XMC is going to cost $1k to get Atmos and 4k. Selling it and getting a new processor with 4k/Atmos will cost me $1k or less net. There's this urban myth out there that buying an upgradable device is cheaper, but the numbers for the XMC and other processors that are upgradeable clearly speak otherwise. I don’t think he was looking at entry level avr’s. One could sell an xmc, use that money plus $1000 and have an up to date piece with similar performance. While the xmc is very nice, it’s NOT the greatest piece in its price bracket. So while your response is certainly valid it’s HIGHLY biased.
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