Marantz 1066 and it's trinkets

[daniam]

Hi all,

 

My Yahama receiver blew up - which has prompted me to not go on with the status quo, but to go back to the beginning of my musical journey.

 

So, that's a Marantz 1060.  My brother bought my Uncles in 1980 and we proceeded to educate the elderly neighbours about changes that happened to music.  They didn't know their Jethro Tull from their Pink Floyd, so someone had to tell them.

 

I pick up my new, second hand Marantz 1060 this weekend.  It will temporarily pair with a set of Dali Concept 6's (that I used with the Yamaha).  These will be sold to make way for appropriate speakers.

 

So if you don't mind my picking your collective brains...  I could use it as an amp and get some appropriate speakers, or I could use it as a preamp - and then get an amp and a set of appropriate speakers.  What are the pros/cons of those 2 approaches, which then leads to gear recommendations please.  

 

Gear recommendations is a how long is a piece of string question I guess, but I'd like your thoughts.  My budget is slim as I have a disposable income of $300/month - so I'll be sacrificing my beer intake for this cause.  I guess, the sale of the Dali speakers plus $300 for a set of speakers.  If I go the 1060 as a preamp route, I guess that will be a longer term project and amassing a budget for the amp and speakers, but I guess would be the dali sale plus $900.  

 

Unfortunately, I don't have my records anymore, they're long gone.  I have my cd collection that I turned to flac, then made a 2nd library as mp3 for the car.  I've been merrily playing those from an xbox one through to the yamaha.  So I guess, I'll also need your opinion on the best affordable route for playing, will I need something in the middle of the xbox to 1060 or not (I could just get a cd player, the cd's are still around).

 

Ultimately, I will pick up a turntable - and need a recommendation there, as I miss the listening experience of sitting in the chair and looking at the artwork and reading the album notes for the 100th time.

 

Thanks

Edited August 7, 2018 by daniam
Made a mistake :)

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Marantz 1060? Not 1066?

[bob_m_54]

By the looks of it, the Xbox One only has digital outputs (optical and HDMI), so yes, you will need a DAC between the XBox One and the amp. Actually, I have been using an original XBox to stream my FLAC files from a NAS, to a Marantz 1090 for my shed system.

[daniam]

6 hours ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said:

Marantz 1060? Not 1066?

Yes, I meant the 1060.

 

It seems that my typing fingers have a secret agenda to derail this...  I will have one of them shot, court martialled, then sent to the Russian front as a warning to the others.

 

 

[daniam]

4 hours ago, bob_m_54 said:

By the looks of it, the Xbox One only has digital outputs (optical and HDMI), so yes, you will need a DAC between the XBox One and the amp. Actually, I have been using an original XBox to stream my FLAC files from a NAS, to a Marantz 1090 for my shed system.

Thanks Bob.

 

As the tv is on when the xbox is on...  Maybe my signal chain for the interim is xbox => tv => 1060.  

 

That will get me through a week or two.  But I hated the yamaha receiver for wanting to colour the sound, it had a pure direct button which surely should have been the default but didn't seem to be (scifi or other ambient settings on Joni Mitchel's "Blue" - they can <insert colourful language here>).  So, I will look into DAC options.

[Wimbo]

4 minutes ago, daniam said:

Thanks Bob.

 

As the tv is on when the xbox is on...  Maybe my signal chain for the interim is xbox => tv => 1060.  

 

That will get me through a week or two.  But I hated the yamaha receiver for wanting to colour the sound, it had a pure direct button which surely should have been the default but didn't seem to be (scifi or other ambient settings on Joni Mitchel's "Blue" - they can <insert colourful language here>).  So, I will look into DAC options.

Topping D10 mate. For around $100, very good.

[daniam]

1 hour ago, Wimbo said:

Topping D10 mate. For around $100, very good.

Thanks mate,

 

It seems that it's only input is usb, whereas I'd be going xbox to this unit, so optical or hdmi.  A shame, it's priced right and reviews well for the price.

[daniam]

On 07/08/2018 at 2:01 PM, Wimbo said:

Topping D10 mate. For around $100, very good.

So it looks like the d30 and d50 has the optical in, whereas the d10 is optical out.  But price is a fair bit different - damn these budget constraints...

 

The SMSL SD79II  has a headphone amp, but it only engages when the cans are plugged in.  So it does what I need, ie optical in and rca out.  But do what I want, good sound, that's the $87 question. I'm hesitant because of the headphone circuit, and any impact to only wanting to go out to rca.

 

https://www.amazon.com.au/SMSL-SD793II-PCM1793-DIR9001-amplifier/dp/B077YNMHR3

[Wimbo]

On 07/08/2018 at 3:51 PM, daniam said:

Thanks mate,

 

It seems that it's only input is usb, whereas I'd be going xbox to this unit, so optical or hdmi.  A shame, it's priced right and reviews well for the price.

Yeah, sorry mate. Got that mixed up.

[daniam]

11 hours ago, Wimbo said:

Yeah, sorry mate. Got that mixed up.

No worries, I appreciate that you were trying to give a hand.

 

I can't determine the difference in specifications between the units, it is a bit on the goppledegook side to me.  Is that  SMSL SD79II comparable to the d10?  Or should I stay away from it?

[Wimbo]

14 hours ago, daniam said:

No worries, I appreciate that you were trying to give a hand.

 

I can't determine the difference in specifications between the units, it is a bit on the goppledegook side to me.  Is that  SMSL SD79II comparable to the d10?  Or should I stay away from it?

Personally I couldnt say. I'm really not into digital. Vinyl only. I've just started using Spotify Premium with the higher bit rate selected. I use it for background music and did some research on DAC's and found that the D10 was very good for the dollars. It has improved Spotify Premium a lot, (smoother with more bottom end) but still not decent for serious listening. Great for background music.. My turntable still blows it away, but then it should at the price, retail close to 10k.

[daniam]

A bit heartbroken, the Marantz purchase fell through.  

 

Driving to Adelaide this week, will be picking up a Sansui AU-317.   Same path for the DAC, but I'll need to rethink the speakers.

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

On 12/08/2018 at 1:32 AM, daniam said:

A bit heartbroken, the Marantz purchase fell through.  

 

Driving to Adelaide this week, will be picking up a Sansui AU-317.   Same path for the DAC, but I'll need to rethink the speakers.

No big deal. The 1060 was a pretty ordinary amp. The 1070 was MUCH better in every way. The ultimate 1970s Marantz integrated amp was the 1200b. Built in Chatsworth, California, it sounded very nice indeed. 

[daniam]

Thanks Zaphod, I'm certainly pleased with the Sui 317 now it's home and plugged in, it's more articulate than the dead Yahama receiver, which by comparison sounded like it had a couple of blankets thrown over the speakers. 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

2 hours ago, daniam said:

Thanks Zaphod, I'm certainly pleased with the Sui 317 now it's home and plugged in, it's more articulate than the dead Yahama receiver, which by comparison sounded like it had a couple of blankets thrown over the speakers. 

The AU317 was a much better amp than the Marantz 1060. It was also a lot more sophisticated. Good choice.