Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems HD621 seems more prominent in the classified adverts

7702 unit have Atmos.
7702a unit have Atmos and DTS:x

I do not share your experience with dull sound.

Perhaps not too lucky match with speakers or room(eq) (the room eq downsamples to 48 KHz).

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I've compared the Marantz 8802 with my 861v8 and for cinema material they compare favourably with standard DTS HD soundtracks.

Cliff,

How does the 861 compare to the Marantz 8802 for music material?

Kind regards,

WillyP

Well, I was wondering maybe I had a defective unit because soundwise it was a disaster. I don´t think it was a matter of a match, I also had an older AV7005 with completely other speakers and it also sounded dull.

I´d really love to have a nice sounding processor with all options and formats for relative small amount of money, at least comparing to Meridian prices. In my case unfortunately I see (hear) no advantages.

I have to confess that I’ve not done any A-B comparisons of the 8802 vs 861 for 2-channel sources. The ID41\861\Roon combination sets a very high bar. Also, I really enjoy Meridian’s Trifield which allows subtle rear speaker support to the fronts. The Marantz doesn’t have that so will certainly sound different.

I also could not get along with the Audessey room correction on the Marantz. It’s great for setting up the speaker delays etc, but in operation it adds to the noise floor in my system. In my setup, the FL, FR, RR and RL channels always passes through the 861 and are subject to MRC.

What I will say is that multichannel music sources (and particularly Atmos – Roger Waters, the Wall) sound stunning through the Marantz\861 combination.

Thanks, Cliff.