# Marantz 6005 receiver winner review



## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Hi everyone, Well I finally received the Marantz 6005 via Fedex yesterday. 










Looks like Fedex was a little rough on the box as the one corner was crushed in and upon inspection of the receiver its self the right side was slightly bent in but no damage to the inner parts and no broken parts rolling around. I was able to bend it back to a point you cant tell unless you look really close.

*So on with the review*.

The unit is a nice weight for its size, I unpacked it and placed it directly on top of my Onkyo TX SR805 and the Marantz is about the same height but about 3" shorter in depth.
I was asked by several members after winning it to do a comparison between my Onkyo and the Marantz as well as my upstairs Yamaha receiver. I will say right off the start that The Onkyo is in a much higher class than the Marantz so the comparison wont really be fair but I will do my best to point out the differences.










Included in the box is the remote, manual, Audyssey mic, power cord and of course the receiver LOL

Given the damage I thought it would be best to power on the unit just to make sure it was functioning and it worked without issues so I proceeded to unhook my speaker wires and HDMI cables from the Onkyo and hook them up to the Marantz.










I then powered up the unit again. I hooked up the HDMI to my Panasonic 40"LCD that I also have in my Theater room. I then plugged in the Audyssey mic to begin the auto calibration and did readings in 6 out of the possible 6 positions that Audssey MultEQ allows.










The Setup screen GUI is a little nicer than the Onkyo and is functional but I always wonder why they cant make it look more High Rez like most BluRay players menus or my Panasonic AE4000 uses.

Ok, now the real info that Im sure everyone is wanting to know.

I hooked up my iPod Touch via the built in USB/iPod input on the front of the receiver and it automatically recognized that it was an apple device. I like this feature and it also has some built in D-Max processing that is supposed to make digital music files sound fuller. I played with the settings and found that the LOW setting was best (I use very high VBR MP3 files for the most part).I used one of my favorit Jazz artists Lee Riteour and his most recent CD "6 string theory" as it has alot of variety and does not suffer the dreaded "loudness wars" compression that many recordings suffer from these days.

*First impressions* are that it sounded very full and natural. I seem to think its a little brighter and given I use High end studio monitors It was a bit much at higher levels. The Marantz did do very well in making the music come alive and imaging was just as good as the Onkyo 805. I found that the Marantz seemed to struggle (some distortion) if I really pushed the volume but that was far higher than I usually push it and was in around 95db at the listening position. 

So now a movie, I picked everyone's favourite Transformers DSOM the section where the troops are jumping out of the helicopters as they are being shot down over Chicago.

My system is 7.1 and I use good full sized speakers all the way around so this would test any receiver not worthy of a good setup. Audyessey set my mains at full range (I changed that to 40Hz) my centre channel at 80Hz (I left that) and my surrounds also to 60hz (I set them to 80Hz).

Again I noticed that it seemed bright not overly so but I like my movies at reference so this would be a little tiring over time. The internal amps were defiantly working hard and I was able to get to just below reference before I started to notice what seems to be a little distortion although plenty loud for most I am sure and as I stated my speakers are larger than most would use and I was very impressed with the quality of the sound and it was just as good as the 805 at lower levels. Just a side note, I do normally run my mains through an external amp so I did just for the fun of it re run my mains as I usually do Thankfully the Marantz has pre outs and I again ran the same section of the movie and the distortion that I heard was gone. So this means that the 6005 is just not up to the task of driving large speakers to reference but that by no means means that its not a capable receiver.


*Now we go upstairs*,
This morning I put everything back together in my theatre room as I just think that my Onkyo is just much better suited for duty down there as it has Audessey MultEQ XT and much higher power output (Bench tested to output better then 110wats per ch all channels driven) I also am a big fan of the THX processing that it has.

My goal here is to replace my aging Yamaha RXV995 that is Pre HDMI and even Component although Yamahas second from the top of the line back in 1999 it just cant do the job any more when it comes to video.

After setting up and running Audyssey I again ran the same music as before.  it sounded so much better than my Yamaha. I couldn't get over how much fuller it sounded. The lows were clean and not muddy and the warmth was so different than what I was used to. I really like the iPod input as that cleans up all the cords I had before and I think it also makes it sound better with the direct input rather then using the old analog connection I had.
I rairly watch movies up here so its not really something I will test at this time but given the improvement in audio Im sure that it will be just fine as well. 

*Pros and Cons*

Pros:
Small footprint depth wise, less than 16".
USB/iDock connector
Nice GUI for setup
Fully back lighted remote control with LCD that displays what is being controlled
PreOuts
Bi-Amp capable
Supports HDMI 1.4 Fully 3D capable
upconverts all video to HDMI 1080p
SIRIUS XM connection
HD tuner built in

Cons:
iDock USB connector should have been placed outside of the front door not inside.
No Tape or Phono inputs
No switched or unswitched plugins on back
Display text a little small if you sit farther than 10' from unit (cant read it)


Over all the Marantz 6005 is a great deal for the person who has a small to medium system and does not want to break the bank.
I recommend this to anyone starting a new system.

Once again Thanks to Accessories4less and the Shack for this great Prize :clap:


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

Thanks for the review Tony! :T


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Thanks Tony and congrats again!! :clap:


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

She's purty. Congratulations and I cannot be happier for you on your new toy.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Thanks guys, It is sounding great on my livingroom system  
Its the Christmas present to me as my daughters are to young to buy me one yet LOL


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## PoTee (Oct 8, 2010)

thats areally nice looking piece of equipment.Thanks for the review as sooner or later I'll have to replace my Yamaha RXV 663. At that time I need to upgrade my speakers as well. Its nice that as a winner you will be using it, Congrats


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I really like the Dynamic EQ it make listening at lower volumes nice with good strong lows that normally get lost because its to low a level.


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

Looks great Tony.


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## engtaz (Jul 9, 2010)

Nice review. Congrats.


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## jaymz (Feb 8, 2011)

Wasn't delivered by the same FedEX dude who delivered the guy's monitor and threw it over the fence, was it?

Jim


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

LOL, nope. Something tells me he is no longer working for them. Ive usually had better luck with Fedex. UPS is the worst for damaging stuff.


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## jaymz (Feb 8, 2011)

tonyvdb said:


> LOL, nope. Something tells me he is no longer working for them. Ive usually had better luck with Fedex. UPS is the worst for damaging stuff.


It was my understanding their employees got bonuses for finding creative ways to trash their deliveries!

Jim


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Very nice and lucky you! Pretty nice Christmas present.


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

Great review Tony, I think you will enjoy the Marantz for quite some time. Congrats and Merry Christmas. :wave:


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