So may have no actual advantages audibly? Do any mass manufacturers really qualify? There's so little to go on for build quality, history, customer support, R&D, etc.
Well strictly one was and one was not. They were virtually identical. The 7705 was bought at the end of 2019, and went to the recycling center at the end of 2024. The 7706 was bought in December of 2024, but installed mid January 2025 and failed three months later. I returned it to my dealer for warranty repair three days ago.
I purchased a Marantz 8003, which I still have, in 2008, as it was the first AVP that had HDMI. It replaced my Rotel AVP which did not, bought in 2005. I sold that for good money on eBay.
I purchased two Marantz 7701s in 2012. One for our Eagan town home, so my wife had a good system as she was still working. The other replaced the 8003 in our lake home AV room, as the HDMI needed updating. The 8003 blew a voltage regulator almost immediately it went into service and was promptly fixed under warranty, and had no further issues. As far as I know it is still functional.
I really should not have bought that 7706, as it was so similar to the 7705. But the AV 10 had a huge price tag. Well it did not take long for me to realize my mistake. However my dealer was good to me. When the 7706 returns I will at least put it in the family room and make sure it is working correctly and then think about selling it.
For the record all these units have had house surge protection and been run from an APC. The surge protection for the 7706 was NEC 24 the whole time it was in use.
The 7701 while in our town home did not have surge protection at the panel and no APC. It is working fine in our great room system.
The trouble is that Sound United have been tossed around like a hot potato and also Onkyo. So it is small wonder that quality issues are showing up.
Gene gave a clean bill of health to the AV 10 say I thought that risk was reasonable.
