Excellent build quality. RC2000 is a good remote. Classy appearance.

Being that its now 2005, this unit is a bit dated.. but thats not to say its useless. One thing I hate about this system, is that when you turn off the main "display" on the pre-amp, there is a small (but VERY bright) light that illuminates and says DISP.. its an idiot light to remind people that the display is not broken. Either way, I would prefer it all unlit but hey, what can you do. I just stuck a sticker of me and my wife on it and called it a day.

Thumbs up on the Marantz AV600. Its 2005 and I picked this pre-amp up in EXCELLENT condition for under $250, what a steal! The unit works flawlessly, took about 1-2 days to get used to it and configure it -- but it works SO well. Being an old seperates fan, I got pulled away about 6 years ago due to "dolby digital 5.1" revolution.. and while 5.1 sure is nice, NOTHING can compete with the stability, cleanliness, and perfection of stereo and seperates. So, I ditched my Sony 5.1 reciever and picked up this Marantz AV-600. I connected it to my old vintage Kenwood L-07M monoblock amps and let me tell you, life is ALL good again! The pre-amp combined with the monoblock amps just breathed new life back into my Klipsch KG5.2 main speakers! My 15" JBL sub is rolling oh so smooth!

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Who cares? This unit is awesome.

Bargain at $200 to $300 used. Smooth and warm two channel performance. RC2000 Remote!

No Dolby Digital or DTS

This preamp is a steal! I got off eBay to use in my main TV room. I was quite suprised to find that an older unit produced such incredible stereo imaging. I don't know that I would have paid the $1300 it originally listed for, but it is a great performer for someone looking to get top end stereo performance for very little money. The ProLogic decoding is also very good, yet its two channel listening that was most impressive. It delivers smooth and warm sound with an excellent imaging. The RC 2000 remote is an added bonus. It will literally run everything in the cabinet. I would highly recommend!

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None in this price range. I graduated to a Sunfire Theater Grand

midrange at high volume. the name. reliable

muddy bass. dry lifeless treble

no where near the sound quality of the original marantz equipment of the 70''s. philips bought out marantz and they are making money off the name. their sound is very similar to pioneer sony and other mass market products. im using paradigm studio 20 and ma500 mono blocks.

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pioneer, sony

The crystal-clear, warm sound

The handling is a little difficult, it has too much features

Its best value for money, especially in my case, for only 302Euro instead of 1500Euro. Im highly impressed by the Quality of this bolide. It is really audioEnthusiastic. My older NAD Surround Amp broke up, and i bought the Marantz AV600 with the Monoblocks. Theres really a great difference. Im very happy, that i decided to buy this peace of Luck, peace.

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NAD T751

Price! Features, quality build, sound quality

Hard to find any

Current setup:

Marantz AV-600 Pre-amp
Adcom GDD-1 Dolby Digital processor
Adcom GFA-7300 Amp
Rotel RB-991 (for 2 channel stereo)
Harman Kardon 8550 CD Player
Pioneer 525 DVD Player
Wharfedale Modus 8 main speakers (heavily modified)
Paradigm Phantom rear speakers
Home made center channel using Vifa drivers (sweet!)
Excellent homemade Cat5 speaker wire, and homemade interconnects

First, I have to qualify that I got mine from Ebay for $202! At that price, this is an amazing product. I could have gone with any number of other pre-amps, but chose this unit because of it's sweet 2 channel sound. I auditioned many units before deciding on this one, then found it dirt cheap on Ebay!

Probably 70% of my listening is 2 channel stereo, and Marantz has always fit my style. Slightly bright with great imaging and stereo separation.

The Marantz also has excellent component and S-video switching capabilities. It has 6 channel direct inputs, and pre-outs for all channels. Also has full LFE effects, and dual subwoofer outs. Excellent feature set.

The build it also very well done. I had to take it apart, all the PCB is 6-layer and very high quality. Internal components also look very high quality with many discrete stages.

I have room for a big stack of equipment, so I didn't mind having all the separate components. My main concern was getting a pre-amp at a good price that has good 2 channel stereo. Seems most pre's now are aimed at Home Theater.

If I had paid more for it, I might rate it lower...but at $202! Actually, I think this unit is well worth up to $500 or $600.

Made in Japan, Remote Control, Input level control, Thx-certified, base management, vidio switching

no loudness control, no tone bypass,

Solid unit, I lifted the top to view the bild quality, I liked what I saw. I believe this unit offers almost everything you need in a pre-amp. Except the weakness stated. One other feature I like that the Harmon Kardon offers that the Marantz does not is Direct Preset FM tuning from the Base(not remote). But really ,you can't have everything! I espcially like the way the volume know control is not so sensitive. You can really get the exact volume you need ,espedially from the remote.The input control feature is nice to since I use a dolby processor along with the av600 to bring it up to digital format.I will give this unit fivee stars for quality, however, the price is not that competitive, I will rate a four for value.

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Hk PT2500

THX Certified, DSPs, Inputs/Outputs, Sweet Stereo Sound, Superior built, Classic Model

No Dolby Digital, but Marantz made this unit early 90's. So, there were no Dolby Digital at that time.

I bought this unit way way back. I believe it was 1993.
I still remember the salesman at the stereo shop told me that Marantz just released its brand new THX certified Pre-Amp. Well, I bought it the next day. There were no sale or discount for the unit at that time. I had to pay $1,150 Dollars for it. To complete the set up, I have also purchased 5 pieces of Marantz MA-500 Mono Amps.

I have listened to a different preamp/processor before purchasing the AV-600. I compared this unit with a Rotel pre-amp (I forgot the series number). I have to agree that the Rotel was absouletly nice, but I did not like the way it looks. I thought it was kind of old looking/style buttons. For listening to a song, Rotel sounded a little more soft on the treble than the Marantz. On the other hand, The Marantz sounded more open and transparent. As for the Dolby Prologic/THX, very smooth. Two thumbs up for the Marantz.

To this day, I have no regrets of purchasing the AV600 at $1,150. It trully is a very sweet pre-amp. Even as we speak, I'm still using it for both movies and audio listening. It's been almost 8 years since I bought it and still going strong. I strongly believe that this extraordinary product will remains good for years to come.

Here's my complete set-up for your reference:

Marantz AV-600
Marantz DP-870 Dolby Digital
Marantz THX MA 500 Mono Amps (5)
B&W FCM THX Speakers (Left, Center, Right)
B&W SCM THX Surround Speakers
B&W ASW 1000 Active Subwoofer
Sony DVD S-3000
Mitsubishi LD Player
Tara Labs Spk cables, Audioquest RCA's

This is a great preamp/processor if you can find one. I got a B-stock machine for 499 over a year ago and haven't regretted it for a minute. Very musical, very flexible, lacks DD but I picked up a used Marantz DP-870 to take care of that. Compared it to the AV-550, and I agree with other reviewers that the 600 just sounds better. I use it for stereo and home theater, and recommend it highly.

Build Quality, controls, THX Certified, lots of inputs/outputs, tuner, DSPs, warm sound quality.

Not many except for...No Dolby Digital or DTS BUT you can add one. DSPs are weak. No fiber optic on the back but that doesn't matter to me.

This is a terrific preamp and is in the hall of fame here on Audioreview.com!

I got mine for $242.67 on Ebay and that is shipping included. Considering the retail is $1300 this is an excellent price. Shop around and you'll find one for this price.

This thing is built very nicely. I have always admired Marantz over the other Japanese brands like Denon. I think Denon has a lot of features but Marantz has better sound quality. Marantz is known for its warm and transparent sound. This preamp is great for stereo, dolby prologic, and just as a solid entry level preamp. Once is a while, an audio company will make an extoardinary product that remains good for years to come. This is one of them. I'd recommend this to anyone whos overall budget is in the $2000 to $3000 range. Possibly $4000.

My system:

Rotel RB-985 five channel amp
Klipsch RF-3 Speakers
Genesis Audio RCA cables
Wireworld Solstice 1 Cables
Toshiba CD/DVD Player

Captain Lionheart
lionheart0999@aol.com
http://hawkenslair.tripod.com

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Rotel, Denon, Yamaha, etc...

Flexibility, Quality

No Dolby Digital

The AV-600 is an awesome pre-amp. I've used this for the last 3 years in my home theatre / music setup with my only complaint being that it doesn't have Dolby Digital decoding (which is why I'm currently selling this item to get the AV-9000 instead -- email if interested: tbass@virginia.edu). This pre-amp DOES have full bass management, always cutting the bass from the L & R speakers (if you have the subwoofer enabled) at a 12db/octave slope. The center channel is crossed over similarly while the sub is crossed over at 24db/octave. The surrounds are not crossed over as there is no need to do so with ProLogic (no bass present). Adding the DP870 to the AV-600 would be the perfect combo for those looking for great sound at (esp. now) a great price.
The flexibility of this pre-amp is amazing, not to mention the sound quality. My listening setup consists of Definitive Technologies speakers and Marantz amps (MA-500's). I give it 5 stars for performance/price ratio, flexibility, and LOOKS!

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Nothing comes close (except AV-9000)