Good video, Gene, thanks. I have the X8500, powering 13 Klipsch RP speakers, with 2 SVS subs. I have had this setup for about a year now and absolutely love it. I prefer 4k discs for my theater to get the best Atmos sound and reliable picture, but have been using a lower end 4k player. Although it sounded awesome, I underestimated the difference a better quality 4k Player can have, as I recently upgraded mine. With the new player, the "object" based sounds from Atmos movies are much more pronounced and coming from everywhere, whereas before they were obviously coming from a speaker's location. Granted, 13 speakers is a lot of locations, but I was amazed and shocked at difference. Video quality is better as well. Bottom line, now even more in love with the Denon! Thanks
Thank you Gene. You provide the best reviews of products on RU-vid. I like that you not only go over all features and specs but you measure and compare and provide your experience per your opinions. I have a Arcam AVR 850 when working has been a nice AVR however the key point is when it works. It has been on repair benches for all kinds of issues mostly destructive heat ruining components. Fortunatly 4 of the five repairs have been covered under warranty. When the unit comes back it goes up for sale. And I was considering a new AVR and this review most likely is helping me make a new buying choice. I will be going with SR8015.
I was able to experience great units from the past such as the Denon 5800 and Marantz pre and pro's. After over 20 years my Denon 5800, 170 watts, 7 channel, went into protection mode, so I needed a replacement. Even though the Denon 7200 was out for several years, I decided to go with the Denon 6300H. It was a fine unit, however, it just did not have the power of the older units and although it was feature rich, as my room is large and 12 ft ceilings, it just was not the same on so many levels. I then ordered the Marantz 8012 and was initially very pleased with it. However, I noticed that when utilizing the AVR to it's higher levels, it just seemed to get distorted and muddy. I know now, that Gene provided them with similar input and that those issues have been completely resolved with the new release of the 8015, and I was experiencing clipping. After the audition, I returned it and ordered the Denon 8500H. What a difference! No headroom issues at all and it is so quiet, clean, dynamic and yes musical. I have had it for over 2 years and have always been 100% impressed with every aspect. Yes, It like others, throws off a lot of heat, the AC Infinity T8 was performing well to keep that in check. I was concerned with longevity for that reason, and decided to upgrade to a separate amp at least running my front 3 channels. That lead me to 5, 7 and 8 channel amplifiers and the benefits they could add, from a cost perspective. I started to only look for 7 and 8 channel amplifiers. It came down to the Monolith 7 channel, Anthem MCA 525, plus a 225 or 325, and the Starke Sound A8-350, 8 channel unit. At the time Anthem, had no stock of the MCA 525, and the 325 was hard to find, the Monolith 7 channel was back-ordered and Starke Sound had just started their direct sales and the A8-350 was on a great sale. I ordered that unit and I have never looked back since. I am truly impressed with it's performance and the further dynamic difference that it made, not just at higher volume levels, but at all levels, especially in the front 3 channels. The added bonus of having that same amp running the bottom layer also made a difference, more than I expected. The load is off the Denon, and that gives me peace of mind. You simply can not go wrong with either the Marantz 8015, or Denon 8500. In most situations, they have all the features and the necessary power to satisfy. The only thing that I would prefer to have is the dual preset functions that the new Marantz 8015 enjoys. Kudos as well to Starke Sound. Take a look at the A8-350 which is a fully balanced amplifier.
Excellent discussion. I’ve had the Denon 8500H for 2 years. Overall, I really enjoy it but here are a few observations: 1. The 8500H does a much better job driving my Polk RTI-A9 and KEF R3 speakers than my prior Onkyo receiver. The sound is much fuller and more immersive. 2. The ability to drive 13 speakers is great but good Atmos content is still fairly limited unless you’re into super heroes. 3. Initially, it seemed that there was a discontinuity between the sub’s range of sound and the rest of the speakers. Tweaking with the cross-overs and audyssey have pretty much fixed this. However, on certain movies, it seems very apparent that there are two separate tracks, one for background music and one for dialog. This might be the movie, it might be the settings, or it might just be me. 4. On a day-to-day basis, Atmos and Auro 3D offer shades of improvement (even with 7 ceiling speakers) but the biggest bang for the buck is still 7.1 surround. 5. The integration of Spotify is excellent and is my typical way of listening to music. With Spotify, I use my cell phone as the remote coupled with fairly extensive playlists. Also, the ability to display album art on my 75 inch Sony is great. 6. This is probably audiophile heresy but with music, I find that the multi-channel stereo DSP sounds amazing and is better than other the music modes including two channel. 7. The HEOS app and the Denon app initially seemed appealing but in practice are seldom used. The Denon app is somewhat clunky and many of the options are mysteriously grayed out and unavailable. Also, HEOS and the Denon app should be integrated into a single interface. Also, from time to time, it can be very difficult to turn off HEOS on the receiver. 8. One minor annoyance is that the remote often is accidentally set to zone 2 or zone 3. Thus, in changing parameters or turning the unit off, the remote must be set to Main for proper control. 9. The 8500H gets hot. To address this, I have an Aircom fan permanently placed on top of my 8500H. The Aircom is completely silent in my rack and I think it will extend the life of my unit. 10. The upgrade path to HDMI 2.1 is still uncertain. 11. I prefer the full display on the 8500H over the port hole. 12. The 8500H does a lot of things well and delivers great value. It’s both a 15 channel AV processor with room correction and a 13 channel amplifier. It’s also a DAC, a streamer, a phono stage and a headphone amplifier. I would still highly recommend it.
X8500 owner here, came to endorse Point 9 : it really gets Hot, having an external fan is a must not an option, in it's first week (it was summer over here) the Amp shut down twice on me because of heat. Otherwise best purchase i did for my HT, this will defo last me 6+ years (2 years already)
I have the 8015 and RTiA9’s as well. Sound is awesome like you have stated. I only have a 5.1 setup with the CSiA6 and RTia1 surrounds. My sub is getting a massive upgrade next week to a PSA TV2112
@@Muskyfishn84 For some reason, audio snobs look down on Polk but the RTIA9s have great sound, great fit and finish, they’re gorgeous and they had a great price.
I purchased the 8500xha model set it up as a 9.2.4 speaker configuration. Calibrated it with audessy, yup you won't be disappointed whatsoever just like Gene said!!
I had a Yamaha 3060 but it burned out. So I upgraded to the Marantz 8015 and at first the Yamaha seemed louder with more punch. After tweaking the Marantz I started hearing sounds I never heard before. Like I said the Yamaha was more in your face but the Marantz was better at well everything. Most the sound before from the Yamaha was from mainly the front LCR but the Marantz was sound everywhere the separating was perfect. I heard notes I had never heard before. I did have to turn the bass up more though as expected. To let you know I'm running a 7.2.2 system, all klipsch. I do plan on running all 13 channels after we move to our new house. The only thing I don't like is (drum roll please) the port hole lol. But the reason being is I had a stroke and my eye site is not that good 😞. But really u can just open up the lower door to have more larger display. In time I'll get used to it. All in all I can say is that I've had Pioneer Elite, Onkyo, Sony and Yamaha and let me add they was all highend equipment. Nothing cheap lol. None of them come close to the Marantz 8015 😎! Also just so you know I studied these receivers for months and months and yes I also looked at Denon to. In the end I went with Marantz it had everything I has wanting. Glad I did.......
Hi Gene! Great video, many of us have been waiting for! So thank you for this video! Now, to take it one step further, I just sold my Denon X8500H and bought the new limited edition Denon AVR-A110 anniversary edition. This AVR is the nicest, best sounding AVR I’ve ever owned. I’d really love to hear your opinion on the AVR-A110 versus the Marantz 8015. I will say this, the A110 sounds better than the 8500H right out of the box! Can you speak to this? I’d really love to hear back from you regarding these two receivers! The Denon AVR-A110 versus the Marantz AVR-8015!
Rather than convert SR-8015 to an all or nothing preamp (all amps turned off), it would be nice to be able to manually activate specific amps. That way you're only using the amplified channels you need, whether it's 1 or a few of them.
Got my 8500 for 3ooo$ New unopened. I'm loving it! Just finished my new theather room and got it wired for 9.4.4 since I had the walls opened up:) only have a total of 9 speakers atm but plan on getting 4 more asap!!! Thanks for all your advice and wisdom over the years!
@Bradley Pothoven mind if I ask where you found your 8500 new and unopened for $3k? Was it from an authorized dealer (with warranty)? The cheapest I’ve seen them is around the same price but they are certified refurbs from authorized dealers though. Thanks!
@@keithsamson280 I got mine from a certified dealer. I've spent over 10grand just in speakers from them so it was much of a thank you for your support. If you invest in local businesses they usually show thanks.
I have the Denon 8500 and it is great! Only minor shortcoming is the ability to play multi-channel via network - DLNA for example. But apart from that it can do everything and it sounds great. Using it for my 7.2.6 configuration
I'm replacing my Yamaha RX-A 3070 and have decided to go with the Marantz SR 8015. Then I've just discovered Yamaha New RX- A8A is on the horizon. What to go with ?
Gene -- Yes pleeease! ps. Back in November your writer Matthew Poes told us that he was evaluating the new AV7706 (and comparing it with AV7705 and AV8805). When is that review coming??
hi Gene i'm from India, I've got a chance to try the Denon AVC8500H and Marantz AV8805, the dealer(a friend of mine) was kind to offer me both to check it in my home and then make a purchase. The reason was i was wanting to get the 8805 since its a separate, but the dealer told me that 8500h will be a lot better than the 8805. we had difference in opinion and he just asked me to see it for myself. Just as he said i noticed a big difference between the two, i liked the denon more than marantz. *the denon make my sound stage bigger, room sounded more airy. *the denon had some serious bass corrections and seamless bass integration to my system,i hated the marantz in this aspect. I really wanted to get the marantz, but it was like black and white to me. The 8805 sounded similar to the AVR4400H(which was used in extamp only) that i was upgrading. BTW i used both system in external amplifiers. the denon was is preamp mode, and i used the unbalanced outputs from the marantz. Hope this helps someone. Thanks
I owned the SR7015 for 2 months. Then upgraded to the SR8015. There is a very noticeable improvement in sound quality. Well worth the extra money. ⭐ With that being said the 7015 was very good. Running B & W 705s2 speakers.
@@michael0791 also would like to see the difference between the SR8015 and the SR8012. Would also like to know if the Sr8012 is going to get an 8k update?
I've been working on resolving this exact question lately as I get ready to rebuild my theater. I've decide on the Marantz SR8015 plus a Monolith 3x200 amp to power my front stage. Can't wait to hear how it sounds.
I love this guys channel! when he said under $4000 to $5000 for a pre/pro your not getting a real XLR true balanced connection that was HUGE for me on my latest upgrade selection.
I am really happy with my Marantz SR-8015 that i have now for 6 months.Still no money for speakers but who cares.One day i will have my Home cinema sound and that is all that counts for me :)
I've had the x8500h for a year now, great sounding amp, running it in 7.2.8, wanted to get A110 but it's got hdmi 2.1 issues, klipsch rp 260f, 504c, 160m, 150m, two svs sb3000, eight dali alteco c-1 heights.
@@yurykuznetsov9552 yes it is, that is my system set up, with x8500h, all 15 channels connected with speakers, but the amp will switch speakers between the different sound modes on blu ray disks.
In march 2020 both Marantz & Denon solved the HDMI issue reported from the 2020 models but unfortunately they changed the DACs, they replaced the AKM for TI (Texas Instruments) which apparently are a downgrade because they are DACs used in entry past models from other brands. Have you tested these “new versions” of the each one? Does these flagship models keep the same sound quality and raring as their predecessors?
Hello Gene, I know these are basically last gen products at this point, but what do you think about the Marantz SR8015 now that they use the Texas Instruments DAC after the AKM factory fire? Is it a substantial enough difference to change your opinion of the SR8015? Thank you
@@toniromerogm2457 In what regard why I got the Marantz or why not the Denon. I am really happy with the new features of the 8015, it's a fantastic avr. The x8500 is also a top receiver with super power. They were both around the same price in Ireland.
@@chriswiser9976 I also loved the Denon that I had, it was midrange unit so I appreciate the extra power and upgrade's of the Marantz. Had Onkyo before that and would prefer both Denon and Marantz over Onkyo.
@@chriswiser9976Hi Chris. Im just to make decision between denon x8500 and Marantz sr8015. Which one would you recommend for music listening. 90 % I use avr for just audio. Low frequency is done with sub but I would like to have crisp and clear hights frequency. Any help you may come up with? Regards Andy
I think that the 4700 is really good. It's not as strong as the 8500 but I think that you will enjoy it. You can add later a TPA3255 excellent and cheap amplifier and it will be perfect.
@@ilandvash6746 - Not everybody needs the power or the extra channels the 8500 has. For many the the 4700 or 4500 is perfect. It depends on the application which you never asked.
Ordered the 8015 in early December at my local hi-fi shop. Still waiting for it to arrive. I already have a 2 channels Emotiva and he can wait to be hooked up with the Marantz... I have chosen the 8015 because I had that amplifier, and that way the possibility of having 13 channels of amplification with the main 2 on high power. My final decision was made after your excellent review of the 8015 and it’s measured performance that you noticed under the preamp mode that I intends to use on music listening. All the best for the New Years from ❄️ Montreal!
Heh Gene. Love Your channel. So helpful and informative. Here’s my question. I have deep dedicated home theater and was ready to pull the trigger on the Denon 8500 to utilize the 6 available height channels. Until.............Anthem released their new line of receivers and processors. I’m dying to get your thoughts on these. Any possible reviews coming. I’ve heard the anthem room correction is superior to audessey. I will definitely be making the jump to separates in the future and feel the Anthem 1140 would be a great candidate for purchase. Any thoughts?
Stay away from the 1140. Returning mine, so many quirks and bugs. I am exchanging my Anthem for a SR8015 or the 8500. havent decided yet but leaning towards the Denon.
Great comparison, thank you. Curious how the Denon AVR-X6700H would compare to the Marantz SR8015 since both have 11 amplified channels @140 watts and the Denon is 700 dollars less. I know the Marantz has the processing for 13 but what other differences are there? Both are made in Japan which is confidence inspiring as well.
If its a toss up for you, go with the Marantz. They seem to be better build quality IMO over the Denon even though they are both owned by the same company.
Hello from Mumbai (Bombay) India! I got a Denon AVC-X8500H amplifier (they dont sell the receiver option here) as an insurance-claim replacement for my AVC-A1HDA which had broken down. Denon has an excellent distributor here with full technical capability and facilities (they are very cooperative and nice people too) far better than the guys who import and sell Marantz. I would describe the sound of the 8500 as being light, airy and neutral...as compared to the A1 which has a solid and tactile quality that I miss. But I am learning to appreciate the more contemporary sonic signature of the 8500 and enjoying it!
Gene - As always a great review with all the pro's and con's of each receiver. I bought the Denon AVR-X8500h a year ago before the Marantz SR-8015 was introduced and your video confirmed my original decision was a good one. I did pair my Denon with a 5 channel (200W/channel) Monolith amp for the fronts, center and surrounds and the married sound is amazing both for home theater and 2 channel listening. Keep up the excellent work!
Hello Gene, thank you for the detailed and insightful reviews you have posted on the Marantz SR8015. I am particularly interested in this comparison with the Denon X8500H because I own it; and find it cannot compare in sound quality with the Denon AVC-A1HDA that it replaced, when the latter broke down. The A1 had an organic SOLIDITY to the presentation which the 8500 lacks. Do you think this is because the A1 had a toroidal power transformer? Although it had only 7 channels, the unit was larger and heavier than the 8500 with its 13 channels! Which brings me to my final question: will replacing my Denon 8500 with the Marantz 8015 give me the same kind of sound quality that I enjoyed with the Denon A1 amplifier? By the way, I am running only 5 speakers plus subwoofer, with the Front L/R pair bi-amped. Music listening is done entirely in stereo, using the Pure Direct mode.
Further, I would like to know how these flagship avrs compare to the Marantz pre/pros. The 7706 and the 8805. Or is this a more difficult comparison because we must somehow match the external amps to the internal ones of the avrs? That’s another question: which amplifiers compare well to the 8015 and 8500h amps while not breaking the budget? Options!
I’m sticking with Yamaha until the others include parametric equalizers like Yamaha’s have. My traveling audio engineer A/V calibrator also says Yamaha ( and Anthem) always gets the software right vs the others.
All of my HiFi stuff is Yamaha. Being the world's biggest producer of musical instruments, including the best synthesizers, just gives me a lot of confidence that they really know good sound.
Unfortunately the new Yamahas don't got the software right. The RX-A8A has been released for a year, and most is of the features still aren't working due to incomplete software.
Own the x8500 and find it to be a great unit. Just a couple of comments -Gene made a comment that the sr8015 measures as good or likely better than the x8500. To my knowledge Audioholics hasn’t measured the x8500. How is this known to be the case? Are you comparing it with other reviews, such as the x8500 review at audiosciencereview? -The X8500 can be had for $2800-$3200 if you shop with a good dealer, and or find one with an open box unit. These come with full 3 year manufacturers warranty. At that price, I think the x8500 becomes a better value -Great to see a the Marantz measure so much better than past models
Hi Gene, thank you for the informative video. We learn alot from them. My question is.... How do you see the AV8805? The only video I've seen is from Sparechange talking about it but haven't seen no"benchmark" videos on it. I just (upgraded?) my 8012 to the 8805 and went complete seperates. Thanks in advanced
You just saved my a lot of money and a very long wait for the Amps that are not available at the moment. Very grateful for honest unbiased expert information not very common here. I see a lot of people are selling but do ir very discreetly. Thank you very much!!
I’m planning on buying the Marantz because I’m told it’s warmer sounding. I am a huge Harman Kardon fan, I have an AVR80 and AVR7200, and just love to sound. But now I need the modern features of the SR8015. I’m hoping the Marantz sounds as good as my old Harman Kardons
Hi Gene you are great 👍 that’s exactly what I wanted to know I was looking at getting an 8805 for the balanced output but if the 8015 has a very good pre-out section as you’ve just stated I’m happy to upgrade our 8012 to the 8015 because I’m running on Anthem MCA325 for the front LCR and I’ll be using all the rest of the inbuilt channels on the 8015 as I am currently using with the 8012.
Another excellent video Gene! Question, I currently have a Denon AVR-X6500H which is also made in Japan along with a set of Revel F36 towers with older Infinity IL10 bookshelf and an IL25C center. I'm looking to upgrade to Revel Performa3 F208s with the C208 center.I'll move the F36s to the surround channel. I'll also be upgrading my Infinity sub woofer to dual SVS SB3000s at some point. I am wondering if the Denon will be able to handle powering the Revels without having to get an external amplifier? It's a living room setup with room dimensions of 25x14x9. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I recently upgraded my Infinity's to Revel F208 / C205 / M106 combo and omg I'm in love. Worth every penny. I drive LCR with monolith 3x external and the surrounds driven by Yamaha avr. You could always add the external amp later if your not happy with it, but for me the external amp has been fantastic, especially when listening to 2-channel music at very loud volumes. Those Revels are going to sound incredible for you either way!
@@michaelchenault3774 I tried a crown amp prior to the monolith and I wasn't entirely happy with the crown, so I upgraded. Very happy with the monolith for LCR.
Great video as usual Gene, was wondering if you could shed some light on the different sound signatures of these models. I've always heard Marantz has more of a musical sound and Denon is more for home theater. I have a lower model Denon but would love to upgrade to the 8015. Thanks for all you do not only on the channel but in the community 👍
This is a topic I been very interested in I really like the denonx8500 and am wondering some of the minut differences in them because I had no idea that the marantz was a close competitor to the denonx8500
Thank God we have people like Gene to help us... Balanced vs unbalanced... Who could've known that avrs/processors under $5000 have fake balanced outputs... People like me would've fallen for this trap... Thinking about not having balanced inputs/outputs really triggered my ocd... But thanks to this guy, I've made my decision now... God bless you Gene...😢
Great video I know you guys are audio centric but these are AV receivers could you mention the difference between the video out putting or video enhancing features these receivers may have? Which would you rate higher video wise?
I'm not ready to go Atmos yet, desecrating the ceiling for an Atmos instal is still a bit much for many of us. I think I'm not alone in just wanting a really high fidelity horizontal bed of surround channels. So I headed over to the Marantz website. The SR5015 model is 7.1 100watts per channel, EL transformer. I think it's a bit odd that to get more watts per channel (140) , you also need to get more channels and more processing, and more hdmi outputs. I personally feel that multiple hdmi outputs is kinda silly, as is the whole concept of using one receiver for multiple zones. For me I would rather have each part of my house have their own dedicated amplifier, one that is focused on only fulfilling it's task, reducing chassis congestion, and cost compromises made to include features I don't plan to use. Not to mention, obviously the more electronics that are in a box the more potential for emi is also in the box, and of course throttled performance from choked off thermal dissipation. I'm personally counting how many HDMi inputs I'm going to need, I'm topping out around 5 or 6. I can see some use cases for 3 HDMi outputs, and for my lifestyle that would be to have a TV mounted over the stove, so I can watch news during meal prep and then sit down to eat with the main theater. And also for Video capture of gaming, so that people can record or even stream their console gaming sessions. So If I really settled in with the product, I may use all 3 hdmi outputs, even simultaneously. But as a shopper I like the option of looking at the product lineup, and being able to buy a trimmed down receiver with just the feature set I plan to use, but all the fundamental channel performance of a flagship power supply. So my two use cases for multiple HDMi outputs are both to have those HMDi running the same video stream simultaneously, and one for video capture. I don't know if the hdcp 2.3 copyright protection is going to allow me to do video capture, or if trying use a special game streaming video capture device before or after the receiver is going to somehow mess up some other handshake protocol. All I'm saying is the HDMi engineers would be smart to anticipate how much of their current and future user base is going to also be wanting a seamless video capture experience of their gaming. Because these twitch streams of people watching each other play videogames is all the rage.
I currently own a Harman Kardon AVR7200 and I love the sound, but it is outdated, and I was about to buy an SR8015 because based on all the reviews, it’s the closest sounding to the HK. Only reason I don’t have the SR8015 yet is because they are out of stock everywhere
Gene hows the in screen software comparison of both these AVRs cuz Arcam makes very good hardware but their software is stuck in the 90’s. By the way u promised to review Arcam AVR, waiting for your views on that.
Hello gene, since you have direct contacts with sound united, could you emphasize that they think to improve audyssey xt32 is lagging behind since arc or dirac is superior and those of us who pay the flagship models want to have access to a better equalization and not the same micro in mass that they manufacture for all their models ... you would help buyers a lot!
Thanks for a great channel! Is it possible to get to know if the smaller new Marantz receivers like the Sr 5015 or 6015 have the same quality pre outputs as the largest Sr8015? Best regards!
11 channels. With a bad ass 2 channel. XPR2. That's the way to go. I love both brands. I did the same with an older 5 Channel Denon with 7 channel processing with a 2 channel amp for the front. It's the way to go.
Hi Gene, maybe if you could do the same measurements in the 8500H that you did with the 8015 we could have a fair comparison. Thanks for all your reviews, nice work!
hello Gene. happy new year..can you test some higher end units please.im looking to upgrade from my CX-A5200 yamaha pre.im interested in how much money ive got to throw into the pot to hear a clear gain over what i have now. many thanks
Great video, and very informative.. If I was in the market for an av receiver, think I would still go with the marantz .. I have a 8012, and love how it sounds with my klipsch set-up . . Would have been nice to have the 2 extra channels, but ohh well. Maybe once the 8012 blows up lol . Take good care, and peace ✌️..
So in your opinion the 8015 is better sounding than the 8012? I was looking to save a few bucks and get the 8012, but if the 8015 sounds better, in particular for 2 channel music listening, I'll go with the 8015.
Excellent video, super informative. The end where you suggested the Marantz then using your own 2 channel amp just answered a question I had. I'd love to use my Onkyo M510 with the home theater.
Does the receiver need a power supply that will provide clean electricity? like this : www.kempelektroniksshop.nl/brands/keces-audio/keces-audio-bp2400-balanced-isolation-power-conditioner.html
Wondering if you could add a 3 channel external to the Marantz to run the Fronts (Main Left and Right), and the Center, then if you could reassign that now unused internal center channel amp to a dedicated ‘Voice of God’ speaker. That would be a cool feature, still allowing for a 7.2.6 as well. Or add a matching Marantz MM7055 5 channel external amp (for aesthetic matching), and do the same but have two extra channels for a second zone. Just dreamin’...but Marantz, I think that is a good idea!
I'm running the 8500 with 13 speakers (Klipsch bcz they are super sensitive and don't really require excessive external amplification). Great experience so far.
