One is a streaming all-in-one and the other is an amplifier. Judge them on how many boxes you want and what you already own, not on the spec sheet alone.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Noise floor | B | Marantz PM-10 is the quieter design on paper - 111dB against 90dB. Audible mainly with sensitive speakers in a quiet room. |
| Built-in DAC | A | Marantz MCR 60n has a DAC on board; the other needs an external one, which is another box, another power lead and another purchase. |
| Streaming | A | Only Marantz MCR 60n has AirPlay 2, Roon and HEOS. |
| Analogue inputs | B | Marantz PM-10 takes more analogue sources - 5 against 1. |
| Room to grow | A | Only Marantz MCR 60n offers preamp outputs - which decides whether you can add a subwoofer or a power amplifier later without replacing the box. |
| Built-in sources | depends | Marantz MCR 60n has a CD player built in. That is one less box if you still play discs or listen to radio, and dead weight if you do not. |
| Shelf space | depends | Marantz MCR 60n takes up about 60% less shelf area (845cm² against 2108cm²), and it is 175mm shallower, which is the measurement that decides whether a rack door shuts. |
| Price | A | Marantz MCR 60n costs less - $1,000 against $8,999 at list. |
A Marantz MCR 60n B Marantz PM-10
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, your system or how you will use them. Only specs published for both amplifiers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.
Which should you choose?
Marantz MCR 60n has the edge on paper, though not by much. The rows marked "depends" are more likely to decide this than the score is. If you already own a DAC or a streamer, the built-in one is money you are paying twice for, and Marantz PM-10 becomes the more rational buy. Think about the whole system: the roughly $7,999 saved by taking the cheaper one would buy better speakers or a subwoofer, which does more for the sound than the difference between two competent amplifiers.
What a spec sheet cannot show: how either sounds with your speakers, how the controls feel day to day, and what the app is like to live with - which is where most all-in-one amplifiers are actually won or lost. Power figures are the manufacturers' own and are not measured to a common standard, so treat small differences as noise. If you can hear both, that will tell you more than any row above.