I’ve had a heck of a time with both surround receivers and processors. I had a Harman/Kardon that had tons of problems from the beginning, and it sounded terrible. Upgraded to Marantz processor to go with my Emotiva XPA-5 and it sounded great, but died just after its 3 year warranty ended. Got another and the same thing happened. I looked at other brands, but the value of the AV7702 seemed unbeatable at the time in 2015 for $1,100, so I got Marantz #3. That lasted 7 years before dying, but I was ready to try something else, especially since the current AV7706 is nearly three times what I paid for the 7702.
I got a deal on a Rotel RSP-1576 mk2 for the same price as a Marantz, and it doesn’t sound any better, and is also riddled with problems. It won’t send a signal to the subwoofer for any of the surround modes except for Dolby, and won’t connect to my computer to run the DIRAC software.
I kind of hoped to try the Emotiva MC1 or XMC-2, but this thread is discouraging. I’m not excited about the idea of Denon, who I believe is owned by the same company as Marantz. I had a nice experience with using an old Yamaha HTR in the basement for many years, but for some reason everyone on this thread seems to prefer Denon? Looks like the X2700H for $1,099 is promising, with the carrot of Dirac in a "future update." Will look for a thread specific to that.
I was curious about Dirac because room correction seems to be the most effective way to improve sound in my difficult open floor plan. The HTP-1 looks enticing since I use Roon, but it’s $1,000 over my budget, and sold out.