Concerns for the Future of Sound United and Update on my Marantz 7706.

[TLS Guy]

Business as usual is the atmosphere with my SU contacts and other SU-dealers who have been selling B&W, Marantz, Denon, etc., all these months.

A lot of other SU products are made in Vietnam and China. I am not seeing complaints about their reliability.

Many of us have been saying the past few years that the AV7706 has performed “poorly” compared to other products like the Denon x3800 AVR, which is made in Vietnam. So perhaps this is just an isolated case specific to the AV7706 or maybe just your bad luck.

The major issue is service. When the 7705 failed after a little over five years, the first warranty service center was just plain unhelpful. The second one I spoke to, I had a long conversation with a very nice and helpful technician. He said that these units were in fact known for my problem and that parts availability was pretty much non existent and the boards I would need were NLA.

I then made the mistake of buying the 7706 which developed a very similar fault to the 7705 after three months. I sent it via my dealer with a nice covering letter and full contact information. I have heard nothing and nor has the dealer. Enquiries will be made after the holiday weekend as it is now past their stated 90 day window. That window itself is way long and not really acceptable for a three month old unit.

At the moment I have to advise members that purchases of Marantz products entail significant risk. The service they have provided me I regard as totally unacceptable.

So, I bought the AV 10 and hope it has long legs, but my choice was really only between the and Anthem. I think I made the better choice between the two. The AV 10 has had zero glitches and has performed perfectly and sounds a lot better then the 7705/7706.

The point is that the behavior I have experienced from Sound United, particularly Marantz has been outrageously bad and unacceptable. So I think any member has to be cautious about the purchase of any Marantz product currently.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The major issue is service.

Your case of repair service is lacking for sure. Have to agree. You’ve already mentioned this, but this is probably due to the lack of parts specific to the AV7706.

No point crying over spilled milk, but if you had asked us for our opinions months ago, we would’ve told you not to buy the AV7706.

We would have told you to get the AV10 or Denon/Marantz AVR that had much better measurements than the old AV7706.

If you wanted something made in Japan, it would be the Denon x4800, x6800 and up and Marantz Cinema 30 and 40.

 

[TLS Guy]

Your case of repair service is lacking for sure. Have to agree. You’ve already mentioned this, but this is probably due to the lack of parts specific to the AV7706.

No point crying over spilled milk, but if you had asked us for our opinions months ago, we would’ve told you not to buy the AV7706.

We would have told you to get the AV10 or Denon/Marantz AVR that had much better measurements than the old AV7706.

If you wanted something made in Japan, it would be the Denon x4800, x6800 and up and Marantz Cinema 30 and 40.

The problem is that I thought that it would be a good bet the 7706 would outlast me. I will be 79 in January so well past my LD50! However, I am very happy with the AV 10 and there will hopefully still be money left for my kids.

None of those models you mention could work in my system. The system was basically designed with Marantz AVPs in mind. There is no receiver in the world compatible with this system.

 

[lovinthehd]

The problem is that I thought that it would be a good bet the 7706 would outlast me. I will be 79 in January so well past my LD50! However, I am very happy with the AV 10 and there will hopefully still be money left for my kids.

None of those models you mention could work in my system. The system was basically designed with Marantz AVPs in mind. There is no receiver in the world compatible with this system.

Why wouldn't a flagship avr have same options as your pre-pro? What are they particularly?

 

[TLS Guy]

Why wouldn't a flagship avr have same options as your pre-pro? What are they particularly?

It is absolutely essential that the pre pro have both RCA and XLR on all outputs, as many channels have both in use. There are 18 power amp channels to be driven, and the amps for the front three require both RCA and XLR on the same channels, to drive the pro crossovers. The rear backs require XLRs, to drive the crossovers as they are active speakers.

 

[lovinthehd]

It is absolutely essential that the pre pro have both RCA and XLR on all outputs, as many channels have both in use. There are 18 power amp channels to be driven, and the amps for the front three require both RCA and XLR on the same channels, to drive the pro crossovers. The rear backs require XLRs, to drive the crossovers as they are active speakers.

So your crossovers and amps can't deal with rca?

 

[TLS Guy]

So your crossovers and amps can't deal with rca?

Exactly, and if you did try to split the RCA outputs there would be inadequate voltage. This system is totally unlike any other members system on multiple levels. Power output is 3.2K watts total for a start, it has variable BSC which I came up with and JBL copied for a while. That is actually a major game changer and should be widely used, not just by me.

In addition the main speakers are dual TLs, as far as I know that was only done by the team that designed the legendary BBC Maida Vale BBC studio monitors and a very costly speaker that was designed by John Wright of TDL, right before his untimely death. I have not been able to find that any of those speakers survive.

The BBC monitors were designed by some of the most famous individuals in the history of audio. Four of the amp boards came my way and I have them put away as keepsakes. The designers were Peter Walker, Jim Rogers, Raymond Cooke and John Wright. These speakers are long dismantled as the BBC had to sell those studios to raise cash.