I hear they are a different a sound. I am curious to hear for myself. I am open to Marantz 7705 or 8012
There are so many myths surrounding audio. Well, I guess that is true about almost any hobby.
If you want the extremely short version of the Audio Critic “truth”, Amps, Analog Preamps, CD players, DAC, and cables/wires don’t have a sound signature of their own.
AVR and Pre-pro (AVP, processors) will sound the sound the same in Direct modes, but they will sound different if you use any kind of DSP or EQ.
Some people may prefer one Room Correction EQ software over other software. Some prefer no room EQ at all. Some prefer their own manual EQ.
If you fancy a certain brand, it’s your money, so go for it.
But if you want to know if one AVR or AVP truly sound better in Direct Mode, the answer is absolutely ”No”.