Marantz NR1506 5.2 Channel Network Audio/Video Surround Receiver with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

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Product Specifications

5.2ch platform with 2.2ch Pre-out
50W(8ohm, 20Hz-20kHz,THD:0.08%) Power Amp
HDMI 2.0 - 6 inputs / 1 output
Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
4K/60Hz full-rate pass-through and HDCP2.2

Product Description

Style:Receiver The Marantz NR1506 is a versatile 5-channel home theater receiver with network capabilities in a slim-line body that delivers spacious, realistic surround sound from a wide variety of sources. This receiver features support for next-generation TV displays capable of displaying 4K Ultra HD (3840x2160) video with HDCP2.2 support. Along with 4K Ultra HD and 3D pass-through. The network functions of the NR1506 let you enjoy the music library of your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad using Air Play, and a wide variety of content such as music streaming from Sirius XM, Spotify, and Pandora. With the network functions you can also use your Android or iOS device to operate the NR1506 via the available Marantz Remote App. In addition, with the Multi Zone functionality you can even output music from the main room to a different room such as a kitchen or bedroom. Once you complete the setup, you can connect the NR1506 with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to your home network and open up a whole new world of listening enjoyment.

Product Reviews

Functional, slim, powerful, and great sounding. No issues or problems so far. Recommended.

I have been looking for a new receiver for some time now, and had my eye on a marantz unit due to their reputation for quality. I nearly ordered the 1605 last summer, but was hesitant regarding the posted reviews that were critical of freezing and connectivity issues. In addition, I don’t need a 7 channel system (nor even 5.1) as the vaulted ceilings don’t allow for hiding wires to the surround speakers. As such, upon moving into my new location I jettisoned the surround sound, and purchased some stereo bookshelf speakers (NHT absolute zero) and have been running a 2.1 channel system (velodyne 10” sub and older denon 1910 receiver).Upon seeing the release of a Marantz 5.1 receiver with wireless and hdmi 2.0, I took a chance on it, despite not seeing any reviews to indicate its performance. So that’s why I’m here, I don’t believe ever having written a product review in the past. Hopefully it will help someone else, who may have had the same concerns I did (perhaps unfounded, as those with problems are more inclined to post, etc.) with this line of receiver.I got it set up last weekend, and turned it on. Setup was easy and straightforward, a tripod made of cardboard was included in the box for Audessey setup mic (Super bootleg - being a paper tripod - but a definite plus from Marantz! I don’t own a tripod, and wouldn’t purchase on just to calibrate, so it was a nice touch.) I did read a forum post from someone who got hung up on this model with the setup software not recognizing his left channel speaker, but I did not experience any issues during calibration.After which, it guided setup of the home network through an iPhone/iPad. I’m not sure if it does the same with android or not, but setup with Apple was pretty painless. Select the Marantz receiver from the wifi settings, and it does the rest, connecting to the network and providing the password, etc. It connected wirelessly without extending the antennas (The Receiver sits on a component rack with the router and modem (Motorola surfboard and apple airport), so perhaps the proximity is a factor. But I get a solid connection, and have not had any issues thus far with network connectivity. What is appreciated is being able to change the video setting to the cable box (or other input) while having music playing through the system. I love being able to change the display to news or sports, while getting separate audio.Using apple music to stream through AirPlay, I have had it act weird and concky once thus far, prior to updating the receiver’s firmware. (Although, I’m giving Marantz the benefit of the doubt on this one, and truly believe the performance issues are tied to the buggy-as-all-get-out launch of Apple music.) I have had no such issues streaming spotify, and have difficulty regularly even when trying to stream AirPlay to the Apple TV upstairs. You’d think that their features would work seamlessly within their Eco-system, but I have gotten far more solid performance with spotify streaming to PS3 prior to having a network receiver. Neither here nor there, (but as someone drinking the apple kool aid being firmly entrenched in their product line, I do hope apple gets it together again at some point. A far cry from how functional and simple their solutions were 10-15 years ago. The competition seems to have caught up a bit, and I’m not convinced the pricing premium they place on their products nearly provides the value it nice did.)Setup was easy, and performance has been great as well. Although the sound quality is improved over my old denon unit, the difference certainly has not been night and day. I’m still tinkering with it, and haven’t explored everything within. It is better with dialogue, and I certainly enjoy 2.1 channel music to a larger extent. But I cannot comment on the surround capabilities or performance, since I’m running a 2 channel system.I will say the power is more than adequate for my needs. The speakers it powers aren’t terribly efficient (86db), and the room has a lot of open space with high ceilings. Nevertheless, any concerns about cranking out enough sound have been completely unfounded. This will get loud, and sounds clear even at high volume. (Something about 50 watts of clean power being better than however many watts with poor amplification, etc.)I’m not entrenched in home theater or audiophile culture, but do like nice things and have somewhat of an ear for it. No doubt there are those that draw from far more knowledge, experience, and history with audio that can provide better feedback and assessment of the receivers capabilities. But in the absence of any other posted reviews, I wanted to throw my 2 cents in. Bottom line, it’s a great sounding receiver for my needs (and I would imagine yours as well, assuming the feature set is right for you), has enough power to fill a big room with a 2.1 channel system with less than average efficiency speakers, and the network functionality has been no problem whatsoever. In addition, the slim profile is a plus, though for purely aesthetic reasons. Although my experience is only my own, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the receiver. My experience has been positive, and have had no issues.

Slim, trim and as advertised

Everything was up and running as advertised quickly; full setup with wiring & configuration (Bluray, DVR, Tablet, Bluetooth), plus speaker optimization (Audessey) took about an hour. Internet connection was straight-forward and firmware update started within a few minutes (ran for ~15min). Bluetooth and Pandora starts were dead simple. Setup menu isn’t pretty but it’s clear and effective.As for operations, the unit is small, sleek and runs cool for cable & movie sound levels. Sound is very nice and well-balanced for the small room (15’x18’) where it is installed. Subwoofer volume is about right. Easy adjustment of input levels to balance for like volume levels across components.Remote is basic but I like the “smart select” feature to allow one-touch recall of a chosen component/volume/inputs/EQ combination. I set one up for TV viewing, one for movies and one for Bluetooth listening (incl. video selection while listening). Could use backlighting on the keys but that’s a minor gripe.Once the unit is up and running, I strongly suggest use of the web/wireless remote option on your PC, tablet or phone in order to move through the deeper audio options at a reasonable pace while you’re learning the machine. Pull up the remote in one browser window and the manual in another and take your time. The AVR remote “app” is OK as well but the web/wireless version is cleaner and more comprehensive.One week in, I have no complaints. Will revise if I find anything.

Great sounding receiver with plenty of power

I used to rock a NAD T753 in my living room for both music and movies. It was an amazing receiver with incredible sound quality, but after 11 years the DSP circuitry finally went, so I’m retiring it to my basement where I’ll use it just as a stereo amplifier (i.e. analog input…no DSP circuitry required). Given how much I used that receiver I have nothing but praise for it, but I just didn’t want to spend another $1k at this point in my life to get the updated model. Priorities change over time.Down-selecting a new receiver is quite a (pleasurable) chore. My must-have list was really pretty simple… 5.1 or more channels, 5 HDMI inputs, HDCP 2.2, HDMI 2.0, be manufactured by a reliable brand, and most importantly, it must produce high-quality sound. Not necessarily audiophile quality sound, but closer to that than a boombox. For reference, I’m powering some Klipsch Gallery (flat panel) speakers in combo with a Paradigm 10” sub.I considered quite a few brands including NAD, Pioneer elite, Onkyo / Integrity, Denon, Yamaha, Anthem, and a handful of others. I tried going to some local big-box stores to listen to various models, but that endeavor was relatively worthless because there was so much background noise. Next I tried some local audiophile stores, but they had very limited inventory in this price range, and wanted me to listed to $5k amplifiers instead. So I resorted to reading lots and lots of reviews. I finally settled on Marantz due to a good reputation for both reliability and sound quality. Given my requirements, it basically came down to the NR1506 or the SR5010. I was a little hesitant to go for the NR1506 since it only has 50 watts per channel, but it was so much cheaper than the SR5010 (100 watts per channel) that I had to at least give it a try. (Note that there are lots of extras besides just power in the SR5010 (and the NR1606), just none than mattered to me personally.) After all, my prior NAD was only rated at 70 watts per channel, but it could go so loud that your ears would bleed.I listed to a variety of music including Susan Tedeschi, Game, Mozart, Eric Clapton, Skrillex, Frank Sinatra, Jaz-Z, Foo Fighters, Beethoven, U2, Michael Bublé, Johnny Cash, Toby Keith, and dozens of others. Add in a couple of movies and some TV. I tried out several of the sound modes, and they’re okay, but I’m generally not a fan of switching between modes because I honestly just don’t think about it. I prefer to go with a more neutral sound and to dial in my subwoofer manually. My overall conclusion is that the sound is great with plenty of power for my needs 99%+ of the time.The good:-Setup was very easy with no issues, including Audyssey-Sound quality is greatThere appears to be plenty of power for both movies and music in a medium sized living room (addressing my biggest concern, but YMMV)-HDCP 2.2 and HDMI 2.0 enabled / 4K compatible-Airplay / DLNA / Bluetooth / Wifi-HDMI signals are rock steady, and the on screen overlay for things like volume is nice (but somewhat outdated visually)The neutral:-I don’t like the remote. But I use a Logitech Harmony, so this doesn’t really impact me past setup.-The iOS app gets bad reviews. I didn’t love it, but also didn’t have any issues with it.-Airplay works fine, but I like the interface via the Apple TV much better. It looks like it was designed in 1985.-It was easy to find Sirius XM (which I didn’t test because I don’t subscribe) and Pandora (which I did test and worked fine). I didn’t play with Spotify Connect because I don’t use Spotify.The bad-This isn’t really Marantz’s fault, but I bought this unit right when it came out, and Logitech hadn’t entered the model into their Harmony online database. So it took an extra ~20 minutes to do some manual programming.-It took me a while to figure out how to use the dynamic sound compression for nighttime viewing (Setup Menu -> Audio -> Audyssey -> Dynamic Volume), and it’s a big cumbersome to enable and disable frequently.Overall this seems like a great receiver. If there are any major changes in my opinion of it, I’ll come back and update this review.

Great Value

This was a factory refurbished item. It looked new and was easy to setup. Perfect for our living-room home theater.

Five Stars

Works fine

Outstanding Receiver!

Outstanding audio/video receiver and the price is very reasonable.Get one, especially for tight spaces.

Doesn’t work in the US

Doesn’t work as advertized. The picture shows the FCC sticker (to indicate it works in the US). The actual product only works with 230 Volt input.

Great Compact Receiver with Classic Marantz Sound

With the purchase of a new TV, I needed to move some equipment around. My old receiver (also a Marantz) took up too much space.

Bluetooth only works the first time when you pair. …

Bluetooth only works the first time when you pair. After that it doesn’t connect. Also, the app is very flaky. It doesn’t detect the device more often than it does.

Outstanding Receiver

Absolutely love this receiver. I connected all the wires, hooked up the HDMI cables, etc and it sync’d itself to my TV. The volume and OFF/ON works via the receiver.