The present review is aimed to compare two AV receivers - Marantz NR1609 vs Yamaha RX-A6A 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 9.2 for Yamaha RX-A6A. Regarding power, then NR1609 has such a W/Ohm ratio - 50/8, 70/6 when RX-A6A has a power of 150/8. The THD is 0.08% for the NR1609 but 0.06% for the RX-A6A.
Characteristics of digital to analog converter (DAC) are different, 192 KHz/24-bit for NR1609 and 384 KHz/32-bit for the RX-A6A. Both the NR1609 and the RX-A6A support Bi-amping. 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 RX-A6A can receive a content from Deezer, TIDAL, Pandora, SiriusXM, Napster, SoundCloud. HDMI signal transmission in standby mode is implemented in each of the devices. Both rivals can scale the resolution of the incoming HDMI signal. The HDR standard - Dolby Vision is supported by these receivers.
The Marantz NR1609 has 8/1 HDMI inputs/outputs versus 7/3 HDMI connectors of the Yamaha RX-A6A. The HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC) feature supports both devices. The HDMI eARC is available only on the RX-A6A. 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 RX-A6A. These compared receivers have a built-in phono stage for connecting a vinyl player.
The NR1609 supports 2 Multi-room zones, versus 3 for the RX-A6A. 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 RX-A6A can be configured using the Setup assistant.
Both devices have support for Dolby Atmos multichannel audio format. The surround sound technology DTS:X is supported by devices under review.