Upgrade Marantz PM7200 ??

Hi,

I've upgraded a few components over the last year and my eye's are now turning to my Amplifier. I have recently bought a Michell Technodec Turntable together with a Graham Slee phono amp and I'm beginning to wonder whether the trusty Marantz is starting to let the system down a bit. The sound from the turntable is superb, however, the bass frequencies can be a bit overwhelming sometimes and I have a feeling the Marantz is to blame (my speakers are Castle Severn II's by the way and I'm not ruling out that the bass muddiness may be due to these).
Can anyone recommend a suitable upgrade from the Marantz, budget below £500. I listen to a lot of Surf, Groovy Instro, Jazz stuff mainly but also a fair smattering of Rock, Pop, electronic etc.

Thanks,
Mark Morb

 

There isn't that much 'wrong' with the Marantz PM7200 especially in it's price range because it's a very smooth perfomer compared to some of the harsh/thin/shrill amps available. I have the PM7200 feeding a pair of Dali Ikon 5's and these speakers certainly do add some zing and sparkle to the Marantz amp, whereas with other amps they can sound a bit too bright.

Have you tried moving your speakers out well away from room boundaries because this really does clean up the bass frequencies tremendously. What speaker mounts are you using, spikes? Rigid coupling really is imprtant when bass is a tad overwhelming. Please, please, please don't say you are using QED Silver Anniversary speaker cable because this too is the kiss of death in any system.

 

Hi Effen,

The Speakers are away from corners and stand about 30 cm away from the back wall, they are floorstanders mounted on spiked speaker mounts.
I have moved them about a bit to experiment and where I have them now seems to be just about the best place.
Interested in your comments about the speaker cable as that is exactly what I am using (Biwire version). The cable comes extremely welll recommended!! I use two 2.5 metre lengths.
The Bass problem is not overwhelming, it just slightly takes the edge off the enjoyment sometimes. It just doesn't seem to be as "tight" as it could be.

Mark Morb

 

Indeed, except for extremely dull systems.

 

I'm interested in the QED bashing here as that's what I'm using - what exactly are the detrimental effects of said cable?

(apologies for thread hijacking)

 

Last year I bought a pair of Castle Conway 3 speakers and when the guy bought them round to audition I wasn't very impressed at all. They were a good price so I bought them anyway.

A day later I decided to shift them from here to there to get the sound right but they still sounded dreadful. Spun them round to change the brass terminal jumper links but I found instead some 3" lengths of QED SA across the jumpers. Replaced them with silver wire links and BOOOOOM! the sound simply took off and I heard another pair of speakers than the ones I had been listening to for the previous 24 hours. Awesome difference I can tell you. Now if this is what I perceived three lousy inches of QED SA could do to a speaker I dreaded what 3 metres would do, so I went round to a mate's house who uses QED SA and I replaced it with cheap Maplins speaker cable which again transformed his speakers.

On a couple of other forums I have made these observations to others that use QED SA and sure enough they reported massive improvements from replacing it. How it ever got highly rated in reviews is beyond me :rds2:

 

If SA = Silver Anniversary what we have is a thick figure 8 silver plated multistrand cable with polythene insulation. The only way that such a cable could have dramatic negative effects on sound are if long runs were used with an amp demanding the use of very low capacitance cable, such as older Naims.
Under normal curcumstances and with stable ampliifiers it sounds benign.

So stop worrying


PS: I have used it.

 

I have a nth hand incatech claymore, heavily bodged (since it arrived on my doorstep) so I have no idea what speaker cable it demands or indeed how stable the amp was/is. Tempted to pick up some van damme stuff off ebay and try that out. I suppose I should be able to sell on the SA stuff (4x5m runs) at a profit on that transaction...

 

Claymore is a fine amp and cable stable so the SA should be fine. IMO Van Damme will show no benefit.

 

I disagree. The Van Damme is far superior by a mile.

I don't have a downer on all QED cables BTW; I'm currently evaluating their Genesis speaker cable and quite impressed by it

 

I have tried both Van Damme and SA and in my system the SA were better. The Van Damme produced a very muddy bass heavy sound. Maybe it's my taste but I prefer a lighter, crisper sounding bass which the SA provided in my system.
Donut