Marantz av7005 vs av8801 vs Theta Casablanca

Thanks Auxinput. I was unaware of the class A output section in the Marantz, do you know if the av7005 is also class A output?

I am planning in the future to use the Emotiva amps for the low end and something tube or class A for the mid/high on the front 3.

Side question, have you ever done an A/B comparison of the Emotiva amps in class A vs A/B? I was not able to tell the difference, however we had a cold snap this weekend and my girlfriend and I were listening to the system. I switched the amps to A mode, to warm the room, she stopped dead in hear tracks and said what did you do. Apparently her hearing in much better than mine, makes me question a bi-amp setup.  

One question along the line with replacing the fuses. Should I plug the amplifiers into my Furman power conditioner? It's the 20a version. Thanks 

I definitely agree with you on the full sound, I'm just watching Netflix movies right now and I can tell a difference between the av7005 and av8801 in the low frequency content. It just seems smoother than the av7005. I plan to use the av8801 at least through the weekend, providing I can get Audyssey to set up correctly, then I'll try out the Theta. 

Thanks for all the info aux. I'll definitely try the fuse upgrade for the Emotivas, anything else while I'm in there? I have read about the compromise with the class A A/B mode. I'm OK with these amps for now, there are not as black background as the marantz they have replaced but the additional power is worth it so far with dynamic range.

As far as the bi-amp goes, I was going to try an Ashley analog Crossover rather than messing with the processor. Not there yet nor sure if I will yet.

Just got the av8801 hooked up, having some trouble with audyssey, keeping giving me a phase error for the rear surround speakers. I tried flipping the polarity but still no luck. I did a quick manual setup just to try it out. It is giving me a full range center option and surround in certain configurations. So far I can the center channel is much better than the av7005. Full range makes the voices sound much better and the center effects now have improved impact. I'm going to try and get Audyssey working again tomorrow, I'll update my thoughts if I can get it to work.

Also did a brief analog session, first impressions is a bit more dynamic however the subwoofer output is not functional in 2 channel mode currently. 

One other thing I would note is between the av7005 and av8801 streaming movies sound much less like an mp3. The av7005 would sound very digital at times. 

Thanks for all the input Aux. I'm going to get some fuses and give them a try after I A, B, C the preamps. 

Just a brief update on the av8801, I used the on screen Audyssey setup and was able to pinpoint the phase error that way. Looks like when I flipped the phase I might actually kept it the same on the rr surround. I was also able to run full range on the front 3 and after running Audyssey was able to add the subwoofer into the mix during 2 channel. I really like to feel the music. The room correction seems to sound much better than the av7005, after I tweaked some settings more to my taste. I will say overall the av8801 sounds great, I did notice a slightly digital / mp3 sound from the surround and rear channels on DTS matrix while streaming music. I'm going to try it tomorrow with vinyl. The av8801 seems to get pretty hot, doesn't seem to matter what you are doing with it. I think it may have cut off a few times, I thought it was the digital source the first few times but while I was listening to vinyl it cut off for a second but I was in the other room so didn't observe. I'm going to keep an eye on this, turned my rack fans on. I think I'm pretty happy with the current setting so I ordered a set of bookshelves to try out the height / width options. I'm going to continue with the av8801 until they get here before I hook up the Theta. 

Just another brief update, the av8801 is really growing on me now that I have the room correction figured out. I think the set of speakers I ordered to use as wides will be here today so I'm excited to see what 9.1 will sound like. I can say that the av7005 was great but I didn't like the room correction, this all changes with the av8801. I'm actually thinking about just selling the Theta because I really like all these channels, I'm not sure what it would cost to bring the theta to a 7.1 or a 9.1.

Agreed, I think my money is still better spent on the rest of the speakers. Maybe someday I will be at the Theta level. 

Got ya audiojan, what did you like better about the Av8801? 

I have been using the av8801, replacing the av7005,  for about a month now and I absolutely love it. The built in surround sound modes for a 2 channel signal are night and day better than av7005. Analog music is better also. I have used 2 inexpensive active crossovers to extract the front subwoofer signal and blend in with the dedicated subwoofer channel, this allows me to leave the front 3 channels in full range mode. I still have the Theta, I think I am going to try it just for comparison to fulfill this thread. 

Just a brief update, I tested the Theta, was only able to do this in 2ch mode due to lack of time and source material. Also I've grown to love my current 9.2 setup and can't image life with 5.1 lol. As described above by Aux, the Theta was very fast/accurate. It sounded good but didn't really seem like a good match for my current setup, although I didn't take too much time here in tweaking. I will say putting the XPA's into class A mode was more noticeable than with the Marantz.