Can a Marantz Cinema 30 REALLY Power 11 Speakers? Let's Find Out

I didn't realize the JTRs are so sensitive!! For their size that's pretty impressive!! JTR definitely knows what's up! One day Marantz...one day 😂

I have a Denon X8500H only powering my four heights. My seven bed layer being powered by outboard amps. My Center channel is powered by a 400 watt H/K amp that has LEDs showing me how many watts are being used at any time. I just watched the Accountant 2 on Amazon Prime and the last 20 minutes was very loud. I could easily see my center channel amp was pushing just over 100 watts. I'm sure if I was just using my receiver driving 11 speakers there is no way there'd be enough power for that Center to run and I was -10 below reference. The receiver claims 150 wpc but again two channels driven. That's a reference receiver. Lesser receivers at 100 wpc would clearly run out of steam driving 11 channels as those with that many chasnels is typically running around 40wpc all channels. You need dedicated power to get to sound levels for sudden bombastic sounds like in The Accountant.

I'm kind of lost. Are you comparing The Marantz to the Anthem with Monolith power? Because if you are then of cause the Anthem with extra power is going to sound better then the stand alone Marantz without extra power.

Wow big moneys done it again ! Incredible, please let us know how it goes ! I’ll never know all those pleasures .

I think it’s a handshake issue when your switching from inputs and you’re using a projector which I think also delays it. If it was hooked up to a TV switching would be faster. I believe I hope somebody else hasn’t already said this. Thanks for the video. keep up the good work.

Appreciate the vid Youthman. Have you heard an update on the new 7 channel OSD amp? Thanks again.

Hi Youthman, seperates are the way to go in my opinion. I have been running my HT for a longtime with my Marantz SR-6015 and this year I got the Summit HiFi A11 gen2 amplifier and I can tell you that my movies and music are way better sound wise. Soundstage way better and for movies I now hear stuff that I didn’t hear before like details and much cleaner.

No issues changing inputs on my x6700. Nor other previous denons.

Have you checked that marantz doesnt defeat the calibration with the internal test tone?

Separates will always rule

My home theater system grew from a home theater in a box.. to Denon 4308ci .. to Anthem 1140... to Denon 6700H ... Now to a Denon A10H ...
I am really impressed with the A10H performance and power.. and I think I could still benefit from separate amps using PreOut Mode.
- Alas .... my theater journey is haulted for now .. until I can figure out the next moves.
Really nice to offer experiences to locals like this .. A very valuable asset in HiFi comparisons.

I wonder how Marantz AV10 would perform compared to Anthem?

What do you think Dirac would have done? I purchased the full package of Dirac. I do have an Emotiva amp for the front mains. And I have 6 Atmos.

How did it handle quiet to loud sounds? Was the dynamic range the same? I noticed that when I powered my Denon X3700H with my Emotiva amp, the dynamics noticeably improved. Even the center channel dialogue became more pronounced, especially at lower volumes—which I found surprising. Also, and this might just be in my head, but the soundstage seemed more spacious and individual sounds felt more distinct.

Just watched this video I was interested to see how you got on without external amplifiers .. I have a Marantz Sr7015 which I'm loving and with your advice I use Reference volume which I cannot go more than -25 which is more than loud enough. But I'm still going to get a couple of external amps especially one to use for the front stage as I know it will make a difference especially in detail as you say..
Another great and informative video.. Many thanks 👍

I can’t wait to see the next video I can’t always watch. But I want to see you hook up those new amps to your Marantz. I’m looking to buy your new OSDP amp. Lol whatever they are. My flag ship Sony won’t drive my Costco Klipsch 5.0 + 2 B&W rears & 4 Klipsch Atmos

@Youthman are you getting accurate readings with the Toptes meter? I purchased the meter, and noticed after playing low frequency test tones for the sub, the meter gets out of wack dropping my calibrated speakers readings of 75dB down to 71-73dB. I fix this by stopping test tones, letting the meter read down to room level, then playing test tones again, and all is good until sub test tone is played again...very irritating!
Anybody else experience this?

What is your primary source material for movies in your home theater? I have a simple home theater with a 1080p projector and a 5.2.1 setup with Sony receiver and have noticed that streamed movies can't compare to the sound a get from a BluRay movie. Am I imagining this? I enjoy your videos, but they sure make me want to spend more money on my home theater!

I have a Marantz Cinema 40 in my theater. I would have gone for the 30, but it didn't exist yet. My main gripe with my 40 is superficial; I wish it were silver. Outside of that, I don't have too many issues. The HDMI can be slow at times. The interesting thing for me is listening to JP talk about slow HDMI with his Denon 6700. I used to have the 6700, and I didn't have any issues with HDMI.
Back to my Cinema 40, I'm using external amplification for all channels, but truthfully, I don't need it. My theater is small. I have them just because I like gear and I like the experience of separates, or hybrid separates. I will say that I do feel a sense of safety using power amps. Once I had an Onkyo AVR, and I guess there was an issue with one of the speaker wires and somehow got a short in one of the speakers, and had to send it in for repair, which took months. Had I used a power amp, the problem would have been with the amp, and I would have been able to keep using the theater while it was being fixed.
Michael, when you did the manual level matching, what test tone did you use? I heard it mentioned that when manually level matching your speakers with an SPL, you shouldn't use the AVR's internal test tones, but test tones on a disk or other source. I don't remember why exactly, but I think it's because the AVR's test tones bypass the AVR's Auto calibration software or something similar.

Separation is the perfect word. I love bass but Separation is my favorite part. (7.3.4 Anthem 1140,Anthem 525 amp for the LCR, definitive technology 9080 towers and center. Def tech pro 1000, for surrounds and 4 Polk for the voice of God. I love it.

Nice!!

At 101db sensitive, just about anything will drive those JTR's to reference ;)

Might be a silly question but I have a cheaper Denon with Audessey and a Onkyo 5100 with their correction. My question is which one would you recommend

Oh man, i've been waiting for you to talk about the cinema 30

I’m using a SR 8015 with McIntosh MC257 and MI254 amps to drive Goldenear speakers in a 9.2.6 system. I’m using the 8015 as a pre/pre but am using the internal amps to drive the front wides and front heights. I think the McIntosh amps really make this system sing with power to spare. I don’t think a cinema 30 could drive this system to the levels I like. Of course the Goldenear speakers are not very efficient.

I love these videos, I learn heaps. 😊

I love the Cinema 30 too. And it's in my upgrade path from the Cinema 70. But I wish Marantz made a Cinema 10 with more power, 13 channel amplification and XLR sub outs for those longer cable runs. A Denon A1H competitior. They could use the tech they have in the Marantz M1 to keep size and temps manangable.

I HATE THE LOOK OF THE Marantz, WITH THE CYCLOPS ROUND WINDOW IN THE MIDDLE ... I AM OLD SCHOOL AND I LIKE A LOT OF DISPLAY AND BUTTONS

Marantz + dirac is the way.. Try dirac and the bubble is perfect

Ps. La differenza di db tra lcr e surround è perché surround sono a 8ohm e le altre a 4ohm

Michael, I have a 7.2.4 system. I have Marantz Cinema 50, Emotiva Basx 3 channel amp powering fronts (Focal 301 and 302, Emotiva BaseX 4 powering surrounds, Focal 301 and Focal Sib XL, and 4 atmos speakers powered by AVR.

Just wondering - what is that cable running down the back wall under your projector ?

I think a seperate amp will usually always out perform an all in one AVR … or better still, using seperate mono blocks, one for every channel would be the ultimate … but $$$ ! 😉

i have so many questions about this stuff, but I'm wondering what would a setup look like for everyday tv watching

Marantz has really become overpriced for what they offer.

I absolutely do not understand the switching time complaints. Why does anyone need fast switching. Push the button and wait for it to come up. Folks act like switching is something they are going to do every 5 seconds. Are you not about to enter an input and be in it for the duration of a movie or gaming session.

Hi gents! A couple notes. HDMI-CEC turned on between Apple TV and the Cinema 30 will be seamless. You push any button on the Apple Remote and it will switch to Apple TV instantly and the image will be on screen. You don’t need to push any button on the Marantz remote to switch to Apple TV. The Apple TV controls both. The long hdmi switch times to the Kscape may have something to do with the MadVR in the chain? 300 watts continuous is inaccurate — it’s probably sending single digit watts most of the time even at reference level playback. Dynamic peaks consume more wattage, but you know the math, the JTR speakers sure don’t use much power and they aren’t pulling 300 watts continuous, else they’d be incredibly incredibly loud - unbearably loud all the time. Also to check if an external amp makes a difference it would be keen to test with and without amp on the same AVR, vs anthem with amp, against Cinema 30 without amp. Too many variables. Different EQs, dynamic EQ, different EQ target curves, different calibration mics (with different tolerances, all play into the comparison. It’d be good to blind test the anthem or cinema 30 with or without amps. Hope all is well Michael.

Nice video sir. I think this will be very helpful for those who may not want separates, don’t have the space or just want a simple solution.

I am not surprised that the room correction on the cinema 30 didn’t get it right. Most don’t. I am old school as you and always have been a trusty SPL meter to level match. It’s just how I was taught

change compression = WOW!!!

Older series Atmos chips are not lasting more than a 7 year average. If you have 10+ year AVR you likely have a nice cooling system or use it minimally. Start saving your money.

I’ve been thinking of buying an Atmos board just to put it away or applying a heat sink on it.
Maybe I’m strange but I don’t expect to move away from Atmos in 15 years. Movie studios have a hard time budgeting for Atmos as it is. 9.2.6 is probably the largest noise my living room can take before converting the garage to a theater.

Youthman thank you for doing this video, Where did you get those Accoustic Panels on your wall?

Should the speakers be the same SPL, even at the same listening position for every situation? I have to ask because I have tested a few times and when I set the SPL of all speakers to the same level, especially the front speakers it does not sound as natural and open. This happens whether using DIRAC or MCACC on my Pioneer LX-305. To me it makes sense that they would not be the same SPL since the FL is near the hallway and the FR is open to the room. I will also add, I use my system for both music and theater, and I like to walk around when listening to music sometimes. Basically, I am saying I want the music to sound good throughout the room when listening in stereo.

To get the audible level you should be using the A weighting not the C weighting.

Patchbay, patchbay, patchbay.

Since i added external poweramp to my Denon AVR2800 in the early 2000s, i never ever driven my main speakers with an reciver alone :)

I’ve got the Cinema 30 using Emotiva DR1’s for the L & R speakers so the sound is amazing!
The Cinema 30 on its own with no Emotivas the sound is also amazingly smooth with music and with films.
Haggle with the sellers as l paid£2,999.00 ( $4,000.00 ) with a 6 year warranty

How about a is emotiva

I use highly efficient pro audio speakers. Noticed a huge difference in sound when switching my power from my Denon A1H to a Buckeye Hypex 6ch x 500w. I mean… the obvious power gain is obvious. But there’s a significant difference in low end grunt, overall cleaner sound, and dynamics. The A1H has a firm cap in place on its power and you can easily hear it compressing when it hits that cap.

No such cap in place with outboard amps.

I’d suggest the miniDSP UMIK-1 and using Dirac Live (I know it means buying the licence but worth it!). I think you should witness much better results, including the channel steering.

Can u do a detailed video on how to level match your speakers..?..thanks