Marantz Review

[Madcap37]

Looking for a Marantz SR7001/8001 review

I am looking for some sort of review on the Marantz SR7001/8001 (which i can't really seem to find), and peoples opinions of these receivers. Since these receivers have the ver. 1.2 HDMI (and you can only assume they will be upgraded some time in 2007 for the ver. 1.3 in a later model). Plus the fact that Marantz is owned by Denon (or the same holding company) how does the SR7001 compare to the AVR-3806/4306?

What are peoples opinions on waiting for ver. 1.3 of HDMI?
Personally I don't see myself buying a dedicated HD-DVD/Blue-ray player for the extra benifits of loss less audio since the dvd's will still be around $30 a pop for at least another year, and hopefully then i will be upgrading again

Peoples opinions seem to be Yamaha/Denon/Pioneer and I am curious how the Marantz stacks up for a receiver in the $1000-$2000 price range.
From specs. the marantz seem to be slightly less powerfull compared to the denon, but is it underrated?

Also, it would be power 6 ohm speakers, which i dont see as being too large of a problem.

 

[outsider]

I would guess you won't see a 7001/8001 review for a while since the units were just recently released (fall 2006).
Yamaha/Denon/Pioneer are the easiest to find, but not necessarily the best. I actually prefer the sound of the Marantz to each of these. It's warmer, more musical, but really only a noticable difference for music. I didn't hear much difference when comparing them with a movie soundtrack.
Also, Marantz receivers tend to be less feature-packed than the other three.

 

[patnshan]

I love the Marantz I have, the SR-8400. I think it's a nice piece of equipment. It is built like a tank and has handled anything I've thrown at it. I am looking at another one for my basement HT and would also like to see a review of their new series.

Pat

 

[j_garcia]

At $1K I would choose Marantz over the others you mentioned without hesitation.

 

[alan monro]

I have a humble Marantz sr 5500 and as Pat says Marantz are build like a tank.The only way i can describe them is to say they have a rock solid crystal clear sound. My receiver is so good i will be keeping it for many years .Sure , it hasn,t the bells and whistles of the latest and more expensive Marantz. the 7001/8001 are the same quality , you can not go wrong. kind regards alan.

 

[Madcap37]

Thanks

Thanks for the comments. Think I will try and wait another month before I decide on a receiver, after the holiday spending is determined, and hopefully I can get to see a review in the next month or so. I appreciate your input, and if anyone hears anything in the next month please let me know.

 

[groov']

I am looking for some sort of review on the Marantz SR7001/8001 (which i can't really seem to find), and peoples opinions of these receivers.

Hey madcap,

there was a very extensive and very positive test of the SR8001 on the independent german site AREADVD, already in november. It's in german of course, so babelfish it if necessary.

http://www.areadvd.de/hardware/2006/marantz_sr8001_1.shtml

A couple of weeks earlier they also looked at the SR7001 (as part of a Receiver group shoot out - with Yamaha RX-V1700 as the winner) and they were rather negative about that one:

http://www.areadvd.de/hardware/2006/2_avrm_1.shtml

 

[StanVlna]

Madcap37, did you ever consider a Rotel receiver? RSX-1057 has HDMI switching as the other brands and costs about the same.

 

[outsider]

Madcap37, did you ever consider a Rotel receiver? RSX-1057 has HDMI switching as the other brands and costs about the same.

I also like the fact that they rate the power output as all channels driven.

 

[Madcap37]

Frown

groov, thanks for that link. Though I didn't necessarily appreciate what they were saying about the Marantz , I appreciated your help. Just mean I will wait a little longer and look a lot more. It was a little hard to read the review some times with babel fish and it was hard to judge just how they were rating each receiver in each group (seemed like user friendly/features) were a driving point in how they rated each, and fidelity was third. I was having trouble reading the SR8001 review though and didn't get much out of it.

Does the power conversion from US 110 V 60Hz / Europes 210? 50Hz effect sound quality or receiver performance?

 

[wagonorsuv]

Marantz Power not really that powerful

I purchased a Marantz back in 99 and was so excited about my upgrade from a Yamaha 2 channel expecting power and surrround all in one. I know it's been years later but many think Yamaha and Denon still outperform Marantz.

Marantz is just a nicer looking NAD in my opinion which is not bad. It is musical but not powerful. This is from someone with 4 ohm speakers (Linn).

Enjoy whichever ones make you happy is the best thing.

 

[dentman67]

The simple truth is they will all sound about the same . I never use to believe this until I started doing blind tests with levels being matched within .5db . This only holds true to up to the point of clipping , if one receiver begins to clip before the others then you will hear a diffrence.

Some receivers will have slightly better specs in one area or another but most times these diffrences will be beyond audability . I like to use the Denon 3805 for an example . If you were to go over to sound and vision mag online and check the test bench results of the Denon 3805 , and then check the test bench results for the new Outlaw Audio's (970)pre-pro /5 multi ch amp you will see that the Denon receiver beets the Outlaw combo in every aspect tested .

Does this mean that the Denon receiver will sound better ? Most likely not .The reason for this is becuase the neumbers are so good on both units that the limitations of the Outlaw Audio seperates are below what our ears can pick on . I use this example to show just how well mid to upper priced receivers are made / sound . Make your choice in receivers based on features and price , not hype that will fall apart in real honest tests . Receivers of near quality and price points will sound just about the same .