The present review is aimed to compare two AV receivers - Yamaha RX-V685BL vs Marantz CINEMA 70s that are meant to satisfy the needs of cinema and music lovers.
Considered AV receivers have the same number of channels 7.2. Regarding power, then RX-V685BL has such a W/Ohm ratio - 90/8, 150/4 when CINEMA 70s has a power of 50/8, 70/6. The THD is 0.06% for the RX-V685BL but 0.08% for the CINEMA 70s.
Characteristics of digital to analog converter (DAC) are different, Burr-Brown 384 KHz/32-bit for RX-V685BL and 192 KHz/32-bit for the CINEMA 70s. Both the RX-V685BL and the CINEMA 70s 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 Yamaha RX-V685BL has support for AirPlay, and its competitor in our comparison - AirPlay, AirPlay 2. Only the CINEMA 70s supports Spotify.
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 Yamaha RX-V685BL has 5/2 HDMI inputs/outputs versus 6/1 HDMI connectors of the Marantz CINEMA 70s. The HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC) feature supports both devices. HDMI eARC is available in each model. The Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) feature is present in most modern AV receivers and the models in our comparison are no exception. The RX-V685BL supports the protection of digital content of the standard HDCP 2.2, versus HDCP 2.3 in the CINEMA 70s. These compared receivers have a built-in phono stage for connecting a vinyl player.
Each of the AV receivers from our review supports 2 Multi-room zones. It is also worth noting that the ECO mode is presented in each of the receivers. Both RX-V685BL and CINEMA 70s 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.