Marantz SR8015 Reviews – Premium AV Receiver

Peter Howard
  Mar 29, 2024 7:37 AM

The Marantz SR8015 is a fantastic A/V receiver. It has many features that make it an excellent choice for any home theater enthusiast. This allows for an immersive experience that can't be found anywhere else.

Do your needs change often or do they have a unique set of requirements that can't be met by the general population? If this sounds like something I might help with, my name is Peter and I'll be more than happy to answer all of your questions about the Marantz SR8015 Review!

Overview

The Marantz SR8015 is the perfect centerpiece for any 8K AV system, and it’s certified by THX®. Almost two decades ago to the day, Marantz delivered their very first 11.2-channel receiver to cinemas around the world - this cutting-edge receiver was their answer to the technological disruption of other industry competitors like Dolby and Pro Logic IIx at cinema theaters.

In addition, you can also add at least two speakers to create a more realistic three-dimensional sound via HEOS wireless technology. And since this model supports 24/192 resolution music files from CDs or even USB devices, you will be able to enjoy all your favorite songs in high quality without any loss in the quality of sounds coming out of these speakers.

Marantz SR8015 Review

Design

The Marantz SR8015 is a big receiver, I mean really big. It's built like a tank and will take up quite some space in your living room. But if you're looking for something that looks good too, the Marantz should be fine. The black finish looks very nice and combined with the blue lights it's actually rather attractive for a receiver. I don't think it's the most beautiful design ever but overall it is quite nice.

Sound Quality

The front channels of the SR8015 are rated at 125 watts per channel, while the surround channels are both 100-watt speakers. Now, this might not sound like much compared to some other receivers on the market but keep in mind that we're talking about 8 channel amplification.

Features

With the SR8015 you get a ton of features and connections including a 4K passthrough over HDMI, Dual Subwoofer outputs, and a Phono input. The Marantz can also be controlled via an iOS app which is really nice if you're used to only controlling your receiver via a remote. Although many would probably prefer an actual remote and not have to always go through the menus on their phone.

The SR8015 comes with Audyssey MultEQ XT32. This is by far the most advanced EQ system on the market today which will automatically calibrate your speakers to ideal settings for your living room. It's also possible to manually adjust all speaker settings if you want even more control over how your audio is processed.

Remote Control

The remote is rather big and looks pretty nice. It has the core functions of the receiver on it which makes for quick navigation. The remote doesn't light up either which is a shame but it's nothing major in my opinion.

Performance

I paired the Marantz SR8015 with some Klipsch RF-82 speakers and a Sony HTCT100 soundbar and the whole setup sounded absolutely great. I was honestly surprised at how good it all sounded and I can say that this was by far my best sounding home theater setup ever. And it only took me an hour to set up too! Thumbs up to Marantz for making such a fantastic receiver.

Audyssey

One of the main features of the SR8015 is Audyssey. This is a calibration system with which you can alter things like speaker distance, crossover, and equalizer settings. If your speakers sound off (or you think that they do) then this might be something to look into. It's very nice that Marantz offers such a feature for free even if it doesn't work perfectly out of the box.

What I noticed is that the Audyssey calibration works pretty well but for some reason, it tended to turn my center speaker into surround left. Fortunately enough you can change all these settings manually as well if they don't quite sound right.

Stability

I didn't really run into any issues with the stability of the SR8015, everything worked as intended and I had no random restarts or power cuts. When watching 4K content on my PS4 Pro I did notice a few times that there was a very short black screen before the picture came on again, but this didn't happen often and even then it wasn't anything big. Overall I'd say that Marantz has done a good job with making the receiver reliable although there are definitely some small things that I've noticed.

Remote App

The remote app is very nice to have, but I think that the design could use some work. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination it just needs some more love in my opinion. Unfortunately, there is no iOS 9 support so if you're using an older device this might not be for you.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Good sound quality
  • Plenty of inputs
  • Reliable receiver
  • Dual Subwoofer outputs.
  • Audyssey.
  • Immense power output from small speakers makes for a great sound quality experience.
  • Great looking design
  • Handy remote app for Android and iOS

Cons:

  • 4K screen bugs (but not too often)
  • Lack of support for iOS 9 devices

 

Conclusion

The Marantz SR8015 is a brilliant receiver that offers great features and also exceptional sound quality. It's incredibly easy to set up which makes it really desirable if you're just getting started with an AV setup. While the remote app could use some work, I think that this is mostly because they want to be consistent across all their receivers instead of just having one universal remote system. If you want top-notch sound for your home theater then the SR8015 is definitely something worth checking out.