Which AV Receiver?

I’d advise getting the best Marantz AVR that you can for $1k, if that is your budget. Marantz revs models yearly, so the $1k list price AVR will be available for $600 at some point - that’s what I did for my main H/T system (SR5012). Similarly, the $1.5k model (or whatever) will probably be available for $1k at some point. As I recall, the differences between these levels are primarily associated with the number of amplification channels and supported decode logic for Atmos or regular Dolby surround, and to lesser extent with wpc. I only needed seven channels for my setup, so the 5012 was perfect for me (by now that model is probably called the 5014 I’d guess).

I believe Marantz and Denon are sister companies and have similar product lines, but some dealers will tell you that Marantz gets slightly better component parts than Denon and that at comparable levels to go with Marantz (that said, I’m sure there are others who advise just the opposite). I can’t speak to Denon, but have been very happy with my SR5012 powering a 5.1.2 Atmos system (B&W front stage; Speakercraft height speakers (in-ceiling), Paradigm rear surrounds; Energy sub).

My other relevant experience is with Integra, the upscale sister company of Onkyo. I have the DTM-7 stereo receiver as the H/T hub in my 2.1 channel secondary system.

It works well also, but if your AVR is doing double duty for music and H/T, I prefer Marantz for at least two reasons. #1, Heos is much better as a streaming music controller than Playfi is in my experience, and #2 I prefer the sonics of Marantz as compared to Integra. Why is it better, IMO? It sounds fuller, more musical, less forward, and just brings out the emotion of the music better, IMO. I say this even though I currently have better speakers with the Integra system 2 than I do with the Marantz system 1, and it still sounds better to my ears.

So yeah, Marantz is my recommendation. Good luck.

Hi laher,

I don’t have specific experience with that NAD model, but I believe that it has been around for several years, and 7011 has also been around for about 3 years I think. I owned an NAD T770 AVR for 18 years (purchased in 2000) and it performed well and sounded good for Dolby Digital and 2 ch music.

A big difference between your choices looks to be that the 7011 is 9 channels, while 758 is 7 channels, so depending on how many surround channels you will power/decode, that could be important.

I’d expect the NAD to be more conservatively spec’d regarding amplification than Marantz -- that is, NAD claiming 110 wpc probably hits harder than Marantz claiming same, if you like to play loud or have to drive difficult speakers (I’m not sure whether your speakers are hard to drive, but if Klipsch probably not I’m guessing). NAD is 110 for 2 ch, and 60 for surround; Marantz is 110. Either probably okay for most everything.

I would expect the Marantz to have a warmer sound than the NAD. Several NAD amps that came after the 758 had the reputation in reviews for having a somewhat bright sound, but again I’m not sure if the amplification circuits in those amps are different than what is in the 758.

If I had to classify them as companies or brands, I’d say generally that Marantz is more focused on home theater than NAD is, and NAD is more focused on music than Marantz is, but that is a generalization. Meaning, a majority of Marantz’s product line seem to be focused on home theater (although they are getting more and more into 2 channel recently - prior to this summer they only had multichannel receivers and 2 ch integrated amps, but now they have more 2 ch offerings (see 7000n and a couple others I forget now). By contrast, most of NAD’s line is geared towards 2 ch music.

NAD uses BluOS as it’s streaming control service (NAD is a parent company of Bluesound), and BluOS is very good as well (my third system uses a Bluesound device). I’d call BluOS and Heos similar in effectiveness, although I think BluOS is probably more full featured and probably higher regarded within the industry, but that’s just a guess. For me they both work well. BluOS is arguably a leader in stream management though, so maybe they get the nod.

Hopefully that helps. I’d seek out 758 reviews and see if the sound is described as bright or forward, because if it is I’d be hesitant to pair with Klipsch. But if not, then probably a great choice (except that the model is pretty old, as mentioned previously).

Both appear to have some room correction. NAD has Dirac; Marantz has Audyssey. I think that Dirac is regarded better, but there are different versions of each so check that out.

It looks like the DAC chip used in 7011 is AK4458, which is same that I have in my SR5012. It’s a mid-level dac chip but I like the sound of it. The NAD appears to use a very old dac chip that I’m not familiar with. I’d give Marantz the edge on this point.

Bottom line, I think either would probably be pretty good. If it were my money, I’d go Marantz, but just barely.

Come to think of it, however, my guess that the NAD may be a bit bright may be off-base, if the 758 is a class AB amp as opposed to the more recent class D NAD amps that had the reputation of some brightness.

Like I said, I haven’t heard the 758 so I’m only making educated guesses.

To be honest, I would have seriously considered the 758 a year ago when I got my SR5012 on clearance, but it was almost 3x the cost so I went the cheaper route and didn’t spend too much time considering the 758 because at that time I didn’t want to spend $1500 or $1800 or whatever it was on my AVR.  My budget at time was also $1k, just got lucky that $1k SR5012 went on clearance for $600 at just the right time.

Here's a thread discussing those two same amps - can't vouch for correctness of things there but relevant anyway:

https://www.avsforum.com/forum/90-receivers-amps-processors/2967780-should-i-swap-marantz-sr7011-nad-t758-v3-just-access-dirac.html

Yes, amp in 758 is class A/B, so I would disregard my previous suggestion that it may be brighter than ideal, as that was based on an incorrect assumption that the 758 may use same class D amps as later NAD amplifiers.

That's not to say the 758 may not be bright, but if it is it won't be for the reason I suspected.

I cannot find any information on which dac is used in the 758.

Yes, there are newer marantz models.  Here's how marantz model numbering works:
7xxx is better than 6xxx which is better than 5xxx

As to the last two numbers, 
14 means current year
13 means 1-2 years ago
12 means 2-3 years ago
11 means 3-4 years ago

They don't always rev each line each year - for example, 7013 is most current in that line, while they have 6014 and 5014 out already, but 8012 is the last model in the 8xxx line.