Some notes on my experiences so far, 1 week in -
I can’t compare the NA6005 to the Squeezebox, but I have had a Sonos system for a number of years. The Marantz and Sonos perform can the same functions, i.e. stream music (wired or wireless) from your computer, NAS or online music streams.
If you want to use the Marantz DAC you can go with the cheaper 6005. If you want to use your own DAC, you will need the 8005 for its digital coax. The Sonos only has RCA outputs, so it can only use its own DAC. I wanted a way to get the music to the SR8200 DAC. That meant something with digital output. There are other ways, but I ended up using the 6005 DAC and the 8200 for the amp.
Setup - I have an Airport Extreme with (1) 2.4 GHz network and (1) 5 GHz network. When I used either of these, the 6005 would only pick up my Sonos for music servers. I could not get it see the NAS. It also had problems connecting to the internet. It may have been due to not having a setting just right, so YMMV. When I went directly through my router, everything worked. I did go in and assign static IP’s, but it also worked using DHCP. I have occasional stutters with internet music, but I believe that is due to my internet speeds, not the 6005 dropping the signal. I should also note, as per my previous post, I had problems with every way I tried until I performed a factory reset on the 6005.
Previous equipment chain for stored music was External HD/Mac Mini/Sonos Bridge/Sonos ZP100/SR8200
Current equipment chain for stored music is NAS/router/NA6005/SR8200
Software: using the Marantz Hifi app, Spotify app and iTunes app on the latest iPad with IOS 9.0 but it also worked on IOS 8.3
Marantz Hifi App (not Marantz Remote App) – This is the newer app. It works, but is slow and looks dated. I am able to navigate to the music folder on my NAS, set up playlists or play songs as I pick them. It originally would only show the first 15 folders. After a factory reset of the 6005, I can access all files. If I choose Spotify, it will open the Spotify app and then you choose the 6005 to stream to (not sure is this is via Wi-Fi or Airplay). Pandora connects just fine. You can use the iTunes app and it will connect via Airplay. If I hook up the iPad to the front USB port, I can start 1 song via the Marantz app, then switch to the iTunes app and control play from it. The interface is much nicer on iTunes vs Marantz. I connected a 2TB hard drive to the USB, but the app was very slow to navigate through the artist folders and I only have about 150 or so. It is much faster via the NAS for some reason.
I have yet to test other apps or music servers, but plan to do so at some point.
Bottom line – I very much enjoy having the 6005 in my system and would recommend it if it fits your needs.
wto
