The Marantz PM6007 is the premium of the class: the most expensive of our entry integrated amps — it nudges the six-hundred-euro ceiling — and the one that, in return, gives you more. Because it is not only an amplifier with a phono stage for vinyl: it has a quality DAC already inside, with digital inputs, and that makes it the only one in the selection that handles vinyl and digital sources in a single machine.
It is our number two, behind the Rega io, and the choice between the two is a choice of philosophy. One clarification on the model: this is the PM6007, the current model of the line, not the PM6006 that preceded it — we say what changes further down.
Context
Marantz is a long-established hi-fi house. The PM6007 is its entry-class offering, with the company's current-feedback technology and a phono stage Marantz has always cared about.
In our ranking of entry integrated amps it takes second place, with the premium badge. It is second because it costs more, and because the ranking rewards, in first place, the vinyl purist. The Marantz plays a different card: completeness.
Design & build
The build is substantial, more so than the Rega io: a serious metal chassis, a toroidal transformer, nearly eight kilos on the scale. You can feel it is a "full" machine, the kind that gives an impression of solidity the moment you lift it. On the front are the tone controls (bass and treble) and the Source Direct button that bypasses them for the cleanest path, plus a dedicated, discrete headphone output.
But the highlight is round the back: the AK4490 DAC. It is a converter of real quality — not a stopgap chip — paired with two optical inputs and one coaxial that accept files up to 192 kHz / 24-bit, with two selectable digital filters to shape the sound. In practice, you connect a CD player, a TV or a streamer and you do not need an external DAC: it is already on board. There is also a subwoofer output and A/B terminals for two pairs of speakers.
What reviewers say
The sound character on this page does not come from our own listening: we report it from published reviews, with the name of the person who wrote them.
What Hi-Fi? (review first published in August 2020, updated in October 2024) describes a full, smooth and balanced sound, with a spacious presentation. Against the PM6006 it finds it clearer, more precise and more rhythmic, with tighter bass and a livelier presentation, but with voices less solid and less anchored. The phono stage and the headphone output come across as cohesive and punchy, if a little less clear and bright than the line inputs. Among the limits the magazine also notes the lack of Bluetooth and USB.
Vinyl performance
The MM phono stage is a new circuit, inherited from the PM7000N, with a FET input to lower noise and distortion; What Hi-Fi? finds it cohesive and punchy, if a little less clear and bright than the line inputs. You connect the turntable directly and you do not need an external preamp.
The limit, consistent with the house, is the same as the other amps with a phono stage in this class: it is MM only, so with a moving-coil cartridge you need an external MC preamp. But for those who listen to vinyl with an MM and also want to handle digital sources without adding boxes, the PM6007 does both.
Value & competition
The PM6007 is the most expensive of the five, and the price must be justified. It justifies it with two things the others, in this class, do not bring together: the AK4490 DAC with digital inputs and a more substantial build. If your world is only vinyl and you want the most return per euro, the Rega io costs less. But if you also listen from CD, TV or a streamer, the Marantz saves you the external DAC and puts everything in one chassis.
Against the NAD, which bets on the hybrid and Bluetooth — wireless digital, a more modern soul — the Marantz is the traditional one, with wired digital only. It is the amp for those who want the DAC on board, without streaming. In a word: completeness, against the Rega's purity and the NAD's modernity.
In the vinyl chain
The PM6007 is the centre of a chain that is not only vinyl: a turntable with an MM cartridge in the phono input, but also a CD player or a streamer in the digital inputs, all in a single machine. With 45 watts into 8 ohms (and 60 into 4) it has more headroom than the Rega io on paper, useful with slightly more demanding speakers such as the Dali Oberon 3.
In our speaker ranking you will find suitable pairings. It is also the right amp when a chain — the idea of the £1500 system, reaching up — must accommodate both vinyl and digital without adding a separate converter.
- AK4490 DAC with digital inputs (up to 192/24): vinyl and digital in one amp
- Full, smooth and balanced sound according to What Hi-Fi?
- MM phono stage with FET input
- Substantial build, tone controls, dedicated headphone output, remote
- The most expensive of the selection (nudges £600)
- No Bluetooth or streaming: digital is wired only
- MM-only phono: with a moving coil you need an external MC preamp
- Phono and headphone output a little less clear and bright than the line inputs (What Hi-Fi?)
Speakers: bookshelf models of normal sensitivity; thanks to its 45 W (60 into 4 ohms) it also handles slightly demanding speakers like the Dali Oberon 3. Turntable: any with an MM cartridge, into the phono input. Digital sources: a CD player, TV or streamer into the optical/coaxial inputs — no external DAC. Headphones: a dedicated output.
Verdict
Buy the Marantz PM6007 if you want a single machine that does two jobs well: vinyl with the on-board MM phono stage and digital sources with a real DAC, in a substantial build. It is the premium of the class, and it is the choice for those who do not want to compromise between analogue and digital.
It is not for you if you listen only to vinyl and want the most return per euro — there the Rega io costs less — or if you want Bluetooth streaming, which is not here (look at the NAD). But for those who want everything in one chassis, carefully made, it is the most complete amp in the selection.
