Siblings in Marantz's PM range, so they share a design and a house sound. It comes down to power, features and price.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Power | B | Marantz PM8006 has more power - 70W against 45W into 8 ohms. That is about 1.9dB, which is a small step in loudness but real headroom on peaks. |
| Room size | depends | We rate Marantz PM6007 the better fit for desk or near-field listening and a small room, and Marantz PM8006 for a mid-size room, a large room and a very large room. Match the amplifier to the room you actually have, not the one you want. |
| Grip on hard loads | evenly matched | Both behave much the same into 4 ohms - output increases modestly (60W and 100W). |
| Noise floor | B | Marantz PM8006 is the quieter design on paper - 106dB against 102dB. Audible mainly with sensitive speakers in a quiet room. |
| Built-in DAC | A | Marantz PM6007 has a DAC on board; the other needs an external one, which is another box, another power lead and another purchase. |
| Analogue inputs | B | Marantz PM8006 takes more analogue sources - 5 against 4. |
| Room to grow | evenly matched | The same expansion options on both. |
| Price | A | Marantz PM6007 costs less - $899 against $1,499 at list. |
A Marantz PM6007 B Marantz PM8006
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?
The usual trade-off: Marantz PM8006 measures better, Marantz PM6007 costs about 40% less. With most speakers in most rooms that gap is smaller in practice than it looks here. If you already own a DAC or a streamer, the built-in one is money you are paying twice for, and Marantz PM8006 becomes the more rational buy. Think about the whole system: the roughly $600 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.