On paper this thing should make sense. For those of us who stream from an Apple TV and have a single external line input, this should be all you need. Also has tons of gain, is small, and energy efficient, and all for $1k.
It’s too good to be true.
Amp sounds about the same quality you might find in an av receiver for a fraction of the price. I genuinely don’t know what people are on about saying this thing sounds good. Maybe if you have a subwoofer and speakers with extended high range this might fill out more. I’m not going to go into all of the psychoacoustic audiophile technobabble about how these sound, just know that this thing does a poor job of amplifying audio signal.
For context, I’m coming from an old Yamaha CR1020 70W amp from the 70s and JBL 4412 speakers to this with the JBL’s. Lost the lows entirely, just have mids and some mid bass now. Absolutely no punch - transients are just lost with everything else. Only thing I can say is the dac seems pretty good and stereo image is good but not amazing.
And that’s not even the worst part, that stuff is reserved for the tech integrations.
Had to factory reset this thing twice to even be able to get sound out of it because you need to complete the setup to be able to access the inputs. Even now that it is working, it’s on the factory firmware version and everytime I try to use the HEOS app it prevents me from doing anything at all until I upgrade the firmware which will just brick the unit all over again.
You have to use an app with this and of course there is data collection and ads in it because why wouldn’t there be?
Also, one can’t even change the input from the device. This shouldn’t be an issue but because mine just bricks itself everytime I update it I can’t use the app. So HDMI only it is for me I guess.
So don’t buy this dumb thing. Just get an AVR used if you need the arc integration - it will sound just as good or better.
If you don’t believe me and are convinced you need this thing, buy it used (there are tons for obvious reasons) or get the Denon version which is exactly the same except $200 cheaper.
Ernesto Sandoval Martinez
★★★★★
I love it ;)
Awesome amplifier, sounds wonderful, clarity and fidelity.
FishLips
★★★★★
Excellent
Solid build, works great. HEOS has been fine for me. Drives my Revel F36 and SVS sub beautifully. Using with Sony TV via HDMI and Apple TV.
C
★★★★★
So far so good
Pros: looks nice, sounds good, sorta easy setup and is working as designed w/eARC.
Cons: this thing could be 1000% awesome if it wasn't chained to the Helo app - long update times, kinda cheap feeling - expensive for what it doesn't have.
Needed some sound in my office to go with a new NUC and OLED. Sony (or whatever) sound bars are not the answer for a few reasons. Wanted a 2.1 amp with eARC to just kinda set and forget. So, the final design: M1, some Martin Logan 4i's and an 800x sub for around the same dollars as a nice bar and sub combo.
Everything works as intended and the sound out of the box can't be matched by any soundbar I've tried. The martin Logans probably don't hurt. Still have everything strung together in a temporary lab sort of way and haven't adjusted anything expecpt the crossovers. This simple 2.1 plain old Blows my old Sony avr and Sony 7.3 on clarity and depth. About the same price - way more enjoyable for music, but also the Sony is a classic theater experience. Surround & deep deep deep bass. Difficult to compare * felt like the only legit choices.
The M1 has Apple crap, multi room this and streaming that, which is cool.. I might use those features at some point. I'm a Google dude & The app is bad - but it's good enough to set up the Amp. Basically, if you're in the market for a class D Amp to connect to eARC, looks cool & just does it's job.. it's a pretty good choice. Is it better than a 349.00 Sony two channel or 500.00 avr? Idk.. has eARC, looks cooler sounds better. Or.. is it just a Denon in a fancy dress with a crap app that isn't worth 500.00 more to get the look and eARC.
Bought the 3 year warranty for 100 bones. Will report back if it's absolutely amazing OR bad.. otherwise it's doing it's work as described.
Update: moved the M1 into the living room while changing offices and hooked it into some old crappy sony towers... Holy smokes! This little thing really shines with towers and a sub. It's completely flooring how good it is. I can't wait to come home and experience it again every day. It's that good.
Moving on to Martin Logan F2 towers after this experience. Hands down, it's happening!
D
Derrick Cruz
★★★★★
For a minimalist, a big step up from my Rega IO + Blusound Node
The Marantz M1 delivers a wide and deep soundstage with detailed highs and nuanced mids and lows, providing powerful performance without distortion. I’m using it with KEF LS50 Metas and a KEF Micro Sub, and while I wish the HEOS app included a parametric EQ, it’s still great to have independent frequency management for both the paired speakers and the sub. That said, using Tidal Connect through HEOS isn’t as smooth as it was with the Bluesound Node I had connected to the Rega IO.
This may be controversial for purists, but I definitely prefer how vinyl sounds through the M1 compared to the analog direct on the Rega IO, even using the same phono stage.
Overall, highly recommended. (Btw, I had ChatGPT edit my writing, so while robotic, it’s a real review)
