Denon AVR-X6800H vs Marantz Cinema 30 - Inhouse Review - Sound Comparison 

Thanks Jon, Love how you explained how you listened and compared this time around! Great content!

Wooooo wee! I have been waiting for this one!

Saying you go above and beyond with your reviews will be an understatement.

Glad to see the X6800H in Tier-1. Thats the one I'm planning to get. It checks all the boxes and is $1000 cheaper than the Cinema 30 so thats my choice.

Jon, great review again. Curious if you still compare these new units to the RMC-1? And, after having it for over a year, have you experienced any bugs or nagging issues with it?

Never really considered start-up times. Very interesting comparison.

Thanks Jon, I have a older Marantz and do prefer the warmer sound, interesting that you found lower distortion with the HDAM circuitry in contrast to other reviews.

Thanks Jon!

Great video. Where do you think the Integra drx-8.4 would place on your list?

Great breakdown as always. Does the graph of tiers for AVRs measure it using room correction software or without? So are both the Cinema 30 and 6800h using Dirac for instance?

Excellent comparison video. Very surprised to see the frequency response curves. I have the Marantz 7015 and 8015 (Cinema 40 and 30 minus a few features). There is a clear difference between them. The 8015 has much better definition and better channel separation. It's bigger and bolder and gets you Auro 13.1. The 8015 sounds as good as a $1,000 stereo amp but it powers 11 channels and processes 13. Right now they are on close out for $2,500 maybe less. The Cinema 30 is a smidge better but if you can live without Dirac I'd take the 8015 on sale all day long and spend the difference on quality speakers. I guess what I'm saying is save up, buy quality pieces only at great discounts, continually refine your system and you'll end up with a home experience that puts commercial theaters to shame. And of course stay tuned in to Ripewave Audio to help you figure it all out!

@Ripewave_Audio you may have overlooked the reason for the distortion level differences: it was simply because the SPL levels were different. The louder it was playing, the more the (loudspeakers) distorted.

Thanks for the great content! I have a Marantz Cinema 30 on order replacing a Marantz SR6012 - do you think using it with an Emotiva external amp is a good idea vs the Cinema 30 internal amps? Assuming so - for a 5.2.6 setup with new Martin Logan 4 ohm XM motion LCR and the rest 8 ohm DefTech - would you get a 3 channel XPA DR-3 for LCR channels and use the Cinema 30 amp for the rest of the channels (and maybe get an Emotova XPA amp for the rest later) - or get an XPA-11 for all Chanels (with higher power channels used for LCR). Cost is about the same for those two options. You have experience with both the Cinema 30 and the Emotiva external amps so your thought would be very helpful in making a decision - and I expect a specific question like this might be very helpful to others.

Thx so much - exactly the content we desperately want when choosing and you are unique for it. I’m struggling to understand how the measured response doesn’t translate to your listening though - what would account for the cinema 50 being tier 3 when its output and distortion are the same or better as tier 1? I so want to use your tier chart but can’t wrap my head around how the chart and the measurements diverge? What could be missing from your measurements that explains this. Thx so much!

Let’s go ! 😊

Hi Jon, For the listening test toward the end, what DAC filter setting did you have selected on the Cinema 30, was it the Filter 1 (The Marantz Sound) or Filter 2 ( the Bench Test flat-filter)?

It would b interesting 2 compare the sound quality between the Yamaha to nad and audio control ..I know they both sound great..specially in home theater

Dear John, it would be awesome to see how the DAC Filter Setting 2 would compare in measurements. I think it is on page 192 in the manual, at least in Germany 😄

I think you’re right that different genres may make the differences more noticeable. I could not get say punk rock to sound good on my SR8015, no issues with Arcam AV40. Sound like I feel it should.

It would be interesting to see a comparison of the Denon AVR-X3800H in preamp mode vs the Anthem AVM 70

I will pick Marantz Cinema 30. One of the reasons, the use of torodial transformer and use of copper parts like screws and internal components. Plus 50/50 Music/Movie choice.

Nice graph comparing different AVR/AVP for sound quality. Can you please make a similar graph / table for user experience considering bugs / ease of setup / user interface / software features etc. So that one can make decisions based on user experience. Like I’ve seen rave reviews for ARCAM sound quality but similar reviews regarding buggy software which ruins the experience. So it’ll be helpful to make balanced decision based on Sound quality & user experience. Thank you.

Have you considered an additional comparison using your outboard amps, using the receivers as a processor only?

Nice video. Thanks. But but I miss the sound comparison? For example, what does HDAM SA-2 do to the sound quality? I don’t care much about the frequency analysis, although it pictures some performance, it doesn’t entirely picture sound quality. How does the C30 perform at 2 ohms impedance? There must be a reason why the C30 is more expensive than the X6800H.

Thanks!

Hi.. When will the next update be released for the avr-x3800h device.. to support 360 reality audio??. Please respond to me 🙏🙏

im ready.....

Is it the preamp/processor or amplifier that determines where a product lands on the chart? So if you run the LR from a 6800 through a nice 2channel power amp, does that change the sound characteristics?

Would the denon 8500ha sound good as they replaced the dacs with something inferior

It would be nice to see the comparisons with Dirac ART implemented. Where are you ART🤷‍♂️

I get the distortion, but how do you compare the sound quality from listening, if the Emotiva is a processor without any amps? Which means final sound quality is dependend on the connected amps.

I think the x6800h is the right choice. Being $1000 cheaper. But also, I'm sure you may see a discount on Crutchfield around black friday on Denon receivers. That'll be even more savings. Also, you have to factor in the DIRAC bundle cost that stays with the receiver and can't be transferred. This is what makes the choice difficult because you have to sort of marry your receiver.

I ordered the Cinema 30 a week or so ago. These reviews make me happy with my decision. It is going to be a really nice upgrade from my 5-and-a-half-year-old Denon AVR-X4500H. My next step will be to decide if I want to add Dirac.

Do you think the cinema 30 sound better than anthem avm 70? Interesting!

So when you turn the tv on the Arcam takes 36s to start? So no sound for that long?

"but we do it anyway" -- lol, nice, and I thank you for it.

He should have placed them up to the anthem mrx 1140 and the integra drx 8.4 to give it a real test.

Curious why you didn't have someone else flip between the A-B-C switches randomly so that it would be a (much more valid) blind test?

I have found that, Nad, Arcam, Marantz, Anthem and Onkyo is better for stereo music than Denon. It seems to me that these brands have been made for stereo music as well, where as Denon put stereo music in their product just because they had to. The Emotiva never did it for me.

I may have missed it but was this test done with dac filter 2 on the marantz? It essentially has no color added with filter 2.

Denon presents a new AV amplifier: 11 channels, power 205W

Chesky Records ultimate record cd. Would be nice if u commented / listened in two channel too.

From my experience Arcam make the best sounding amps l have found

6800H for 3500 $ 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 weak trafo , only 17 kg , 16 cm h , old 8500HA is almost similar in price but his power , weight etc .Making 6800H worth max 2500$ !!!!!!!