Marantz MM-9000 Amplifiers

Marantz MM-9000 Amplifiers 

DESCRIPTION

150 watts x 5 channel power output (into 8 ohms), featuring fully discrete output topology with high-current output transistors. The MM-9000 can drive even difficult loudspeaker loads with ease. Oversized power supply featuring a massive toroidal transformer and high-capacity electrolytic capacitors, for generous power reserves even when reproducing demanding action movie soundtracks at high volumes. Premium-quality internal components used throughout for maximum signal purity. The MM-9000 reproduces movie soundtracks and surround sound music discs with extraordinary clarity, resolution and dynamic range. THX Ultra certified-the highest level of THX certification available, given only to audio/video components that meet the very highest standards of performance and sound quality.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 26  
[Sep 10, 2015]
Spud Shed
Audio Enthusiast

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!!!!!
When I first heard this amp i nearly wet myself....really i almost did!
I have weak bladder stop laughing!
Anyway where was I....oh yeah, when you hear this amp you will be blown away. The sound it produces through even small bookshelf speakers is amaaaaaze balls! If you ever get a chance to find one of these for sale second hand don't pass it up. Do whatever it takes, climb the highest mountain, scale the largest sea, kill whoever gets in your way,sell a body part.......I'm getting carried away again.
If Darth Vader was an amp he would be a MM9000, ultimate power in the universe.
May the Marantz be ever in your favor......uhhh I mean collection.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 22, 2014]
Paul
AudioPhile

This is one amazing amp!...well in my case two...I have two of these which I use to be amp 5 B&W speakers...cdm c se center, cdm7 se mains and cdm1 se surrounds. And what a deal I purchased both for less than $800 total! These amps in this configuration is hard to beat running at THX levels in my home theater but for critical, 2 and multi channel audio listening they are supurb. The sound from the mm9000 is classically warm which helps tame the somewhat forward sounding tweeters on the b&w s making for a full, engaging and articulate sound field which never comes off harsh or fatiguing. I find the 150 watts into 8 ohms rating to be somewhat conservative as I have owned higher wattage amps that couldn't keep up with this amps dynamics and headroom...the power seems limitless with no hint of distortion.

If you are looking for a THX ultra certified 5 channel HT amp that doubles as a great way or multi channel stereo amp, and you can find one, don't hesitate. I believe they are one of the best deals you can get on the used market.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 27, 2008]
fejo
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Very Warm Sound.
Can drive Any Speakers.
Gel well with any Pre amp and REceivers

Weakness:

None so far

This box is a Slient Killer. i was wondering why marantz stopped prodcuing these any more. I have combined it with Multiple receivers yet i am able to get the sound i need. very neat, doesn;t run hot even after several hours of listening. I love this amp. the only thing in my HT which has not changed since i bought.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 12, 2008]
parsec
AudioPhile

Strength:

Build quality. Power output. Great sound. Flexibility. Runs cool, fan rarely runs and is quiet.

Weakness:

Speaker binding posts.

A great bargain in HT amplifiers, a shame it no longer is available. The build quality is very good, all circuit boards, parts, and wiring are of very good quality, and you won't find any sloppily mounted components or design bug fixes hastily put in place. For the price, it puts to shame the build quality of other make amps.

This amp does not belong to the indivdually built amp channel school of design, all five channels share one large heat sink (fan cooled), one large torodial transformer, one pair of filter capacitors, and two amplifier PC boards shared between the five channels. Each channel has a pair of large Sanken output transistors and all discrete component input and driver stages, no IC amplifiers components in this amp. Some enthusiasts may find the non-stand alone amp channel design style a compromise, which I can understand. OTOH, the rear surround channels in an AV system never require the same power requirements as the front and center channels, and many times use much smaller speakers. Some manufactuers now market three channel amps which I believe addresses this reality, the rear channels do not have the power requirements of the front and center channels. A smaller two channel amp can drive the surround channels just fine. This is why IMO this Marantz amp works so well in an HT system, most of the time only three channels are really using any power. In my experience, the cooling fan rarely comes on, if at all, and the clipping indicators on the amp have never come on (I had to deliberetly overdrive the amp to see if they even worked.) I have also used this amp in a horizontal bi-amp configuration, using four channels total, with no problems whatsoever.

I find the sound of this amp to be very neutral overall and not at all bright or harsh. Even with the single, shared power supply, it never runs out of power and I have never seen the overload indicators come on at any volume level. Usually, a 150 watt/ch. amp would have more than two output transistors per channel, but each channels pair of Sanken's work very well and bolster their reputation for high quality IMO.

The individual level controls for each channel are a plus although most HT pre/processors allow level setting of channels. I do not care for the speaker binding posts, even with the "fix" for them described in other reviews. With bare wire ends, they do work OK and you can tighten them down quite well. I've had no hum or ground loop problems with this amp, in contrast to others, although when I have simply running a ground wire from the offending component to the third prong ground contact on the AC line fixed that fine.

If you can find a used one at a good price, I heartily recommend it.

Customer Service

Never needed or used.

Similar Products Used:

Technics six channel HT receiver. Many other stereo amps for comparison purposes. Compared it with friends Parasound, ATI, Sony, and Pioneer amps and receivers.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 02, 2004]
1967chevelle
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

great power handles 4 ohmn load with ease

Weakness:

none

I added it to my Sr-7200 marantz receiver which is powering rm7500 polk speakers. It powers 4 more Polk LSi-9 speakers for my second set of surrounds, polk LsiC for my second center and a velodyne cht-12 for my second sub. Marantz told me to expect around 230 watts/ch since I´m driving a 4 ohm load. Most spkrs are 8 ohms. When you have less resistance the amp naturally gives more power. This twin system is in the corner of an open 1000sq.ft. basement. There are 10-1 inch, 16-5.25 inch, 2-10 inch and 1-12 inch spkrs pointed at my head. The new spkrs are connected with 10 gauge python wires. Everthing else gets monster cable. I had 5 weeks of vacation to break in my system with an assortment of sacd´s, music 5.1 dts dvd,s and movie 5.1 dts dvds. I can say they needed a break-in period. As time went by they just kept sounding better. I had a friend over to listen to the Queen dvd. He brought his wife and two children. He had the volume up so loud that his wife and two kids had to cover there ears. He on the otherhand wore a big smile. I luckily can still hear and can say that with all the peak indicators lit the amp still deliverers crystal clear music. The scene with the bi-pod racers in star wars 1 is like you were right beside the thing. Another friend listened to the first scene of twister and called it tramatic. Compared to the Rm7500 alone without the new amp engaged the system still sounds good. The difference with the new amp is in the way the sound engulfs you, its just every where and its much louder. The accuracy and depth is very good. I listened to a demo which included much more expensive components. Johnson Conrad tube amp hooked to smaller front and center martin logans and boston acoustics for the rear. All audiophiles know the johnson and logan to be in high high end territory. However I thought my sr-7200 hooked to my rm7500 sounded almost as good. With the additional mm9000 I don´t think the johnson and logan sound any better!!!! I was told that treating the walls and ceiling can make make a difference. The walls at the demo were cement block, not good. My walls are solid concrete with a partial 4 ft. wood wall, not good. I think ceilings were similiar. I do not consider myself an audiophile and I suppose a trained ear would say the conrad produces a cleaner sound, for $10,000 it better. For the money I don´t think you can go wrong. It sounds much better than my denon and ac hc-6 system. Just like the denon system sounds better then the kenwood htb-204 system. $300 for HTB-204 system, $1000 for the Denon system and $5000 for the Marantz system. Get the picture. Better sound equals more money, alot more money. I enjoy all three systems, however some more than others!!

Similar Products Used:

Denon 1803 receiver acoustic research hc-6 home theater spkrs kenwood htb-204

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 13, 2003]
mikeacarroll
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Relatively inexpensive considering what you CAN pay for amplifiers. Not horribly heavy, one person can manage moving it. Simple setup. Works by remote with my Marantz receiver. Just got it today, I'm sure I'll find other qualities as time goes on.

Weakness:

Stupid blank plugs in the speaker connections. I had to drill a hole then use the screw to extract the plug. Thank all of you who wrote about this in other reviews. Had I not known what to do, I'd be swearing a blue streak right now.

I really didn't think this unit would make huge difference since my Receiver is Marantz 8200, but WOW. Hearing so much more depth and clarity, focus, harmonics amazes me. I have good connecting cables and an acoustically neutral room but the improvement is noticeable.

Similar Products Used:

First amplifier. Other receivers: Marantz 8200, various Sony's, Yamahas, and ugh Bose through the years.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 22, 2003]
ADAM
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

great power -- drives all speakers well

Weakness:

binding posts -- need bare wire to insert into posts.

EXCELLENT AMP FOR THE MONEY... Have used mostly a/v recievers -- added the amp just a few days ago to my onkyo a/v rec. -- What a HUGE difference -- very powerful and sounds clean.. no complaints -- its fairly new so I will write more as time tells -- get one as soon as possible for the price -- brand new -- factory warranty

Similar Products Used:

onkyo-yamaha-denon- av recievers -

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 05, 2002]
Daninthemix
AudioPhile

Strength:

Excellent driving ability for the price, reasonable detail, dynamics, and timing.

Weakness:

'Distant' character, not the most involving to listen to, musically.

The best thing about this amp is it's driving ability - it is well able to handle difficult impendance loads and phase fluctuations. For the price, I doubt you'll be able to find a better five channel amp. The sound seems quite distant at times, particularly with music, which often made me want to turn up the volume more than I would otherwise.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Oct 17, 2002]
worley
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Excellent dynamic range, clarity, and accuracy. Good power and quality value.

Weakness:

Zip.

Purchased AV9000/MM9000 as a "matched set". They work great together (as designed), and I'm very happy with both. The MM9000 is a very clean and powerful amplifier. More than enough power to get as loud as you can stand, with terrific dynamic range and absolutely no background noise or hiss. Basic perfection for a moderately priced home-theater amp. I use Polk RT55 for L/R, Polk CS400 center, and Polk RC80i surrounds. Sony NS715 DVD, Marantz MA700 mono block driving two 15" subs. I use this setup often with both movies and audio, as well as gaming (xbox). The amp works well in all roles. Very, very clean and accurate musical reproduction, even on the newer remastered DTS DVD-A material (i.e. Police "best of" in 5.1 DTS, simply awesome). Bottom line, very strong "buy this amp now!".

Similar Products Used:

Carver, Adcom, Sony (don't remember model#'s, sorry)

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 03, 2002]
Viker1
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

- pure musical sound quality - value - quality build - plenty of power to spare (5 X 170W)

Weakness:

none

The MM9000 has taken my system to a new level of appriciation. I now use my Marantz SR5200 as a pre-amp to feed the MM9000, and to say the least the quality of audio has improved dramatically. The audio depth, richness, and full bodied sound from my speakers has truly impressed me, its as though my system has been re-born. I am now a true believer in seperates. The quality of this unit is excellent, as well as the price. There is no amplifier avaliable at this price that can perform at this level of quality. Its just too bad that Marantz has made the 2002 model year the last year for the MM9000 (accordding to the Marantz rep. I spoke to). Its truly in a class of its own.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel RMB1075, good unit, just could not match the musical quality of the Marantz MM9000

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 26  

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