The present review is aimed to compare two AV receivers - Marantz NR1609 vs Marantz NR1510 that are meant to satisfy the needs of cinema and music lovers.
A significant difference between the receivers in the number of channels, Marantz NR1609 has 7.2 versus 5.2 for Marantz NR1510. Regarding power, then NR1609 has such a W/Ohm ratio - 50/8, 70/6 when NR1510 has a power of 50/8, 60/6. The THD is the same and is 0.08%.
Characteristics of digital to analog converter (DAC) are different, 192 KHz/24-bit for NR1609 and 192 KHz/32-bit for the NR1510. Only the NR1609 supports Bi-amping feature. Each of the AV receivers can transmit an audio signal directly to the amplifier and bypasses any DSP processing.
WI-FI modules have the same characteristics: 2.4/5GHz. Rivals from our review have Bluetooth support. The Apple Music service is implemented on considered devices: AirPlay, AirPlay 2. Spotify can be used on each receiver. The NR1609 can work with the audio stream from Deezer, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and the NR1510 can receive a content from Deezer, TIDAL, Pandora, Napster, SiriusXM, TuneIn Radio. Compared AV receivers retain the quality of 4K/60Hz signal when transmitting from a source to a TV or projector. HDMI signal transmission in standby mode is implemented in each of the devices. The NR1609 can scale the input HDMI signal, unlike the NR1510. The HDR standard - Dolby Vision is supported by these receivers.
Each receiver has 8/1 HDMI inputs/outputs. The HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC) feature supports both devices. The HDMI eARC is available only on the NR1510. The Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) feature is present in most modern AV receivers and the models in our comparison are no exception. The NR1609 supports the protection of digital content of the standard HDCP 2.2, versus HDCP 2.3 in the NR1510. These compared receivers have a built-in phono stage for connecting a vinyl player. Supported voice control technologies are identical - Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Josh.AI. It is also worth noting that the ECO mode is presented in each of the receivers. Both NR1609 and NR1510 can be configured using the Setup assistant.
Only the NR1609 has a Dolby Atmos multichannel audio format support. A surround technology DTS:X is supported only by the NR1609.