Straub

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.63 of 5, 8.00 votes

Price Paid:  $340.00 from Barrett's in Napervi

Summary:
This is actually a review for the SR 4400, but since they didn’t have a place to put a review for it I thought I would slide it in here. I was looking for a decent receiver for my bedroom since my old JVC RX 888 broke down on me. I am now happy that it did. This receiver is a fantastic deal. I have it hooked up to a single pair of Paradigm Mini-monitors and I have to say that the difference between this and the JVC are like night and day. I have a Rotel RSX 1055 in my main listening room and this Marantz is not a far cry from that (at about 1/4th the price). I haven’t listened to it in the surround modes so I don’t have much to say about that, but the music sounds detailed and accurate. In this price range you can’t expect all of the bells and whistles that come at an expense to sound or your pocket. As such, the SR 4400 does not have Component Video inputs. This is not a big deal for me and shouldn’t be for most people since most don’t have more than one or two devices that outputs the component (so they just hook it up directly to the TV). Also, there is no bass management. The crossover is permanently set at (from what I have read) 100 MHZ. This may cause problems for those with super small speakers and a sub (as they would probably want to have it set to 120). The 100 makes me scratch my head a bit since the most common setting is 80, but none of this a problem for me since I don’t use a subwoofer. There is no on screen set up, but the set-up is really pretty straightforward on the receiver so this again is not a problem. The one thing that I wish it did have was a lit remote since I use it in the bedroom. Maybe once I get used to it I won’t need the lights but I do for now. The remote is otherwise pretty good and runs the satellite receiver, the TV, VCR and CD player with no problems. When compared to a lot of other receivers out there this one does not have a lot of options that are becoming standard, but what this does have it has in spades – good sound. I would recommend it to anyone that can live with its limitations.

Strengths:
It simply sounds GREAT

Weaknesses:
Wish it had a lit remote, No bass management

Similar Products Used:
JVC RX 888, Rotel RSX 1055

Price Paid:  $342.00 from marantz dealer

Summary:
At the price? (in USD) Fantastic.. not just a bargain, but a performer as well. I was choosing between the marantz and a harman kardon, forgot the model, but it was slightly pricier. The marantz wins hands down. great with movies, as well as music. Transparent, and smooth. Should listen to it on Dolby ES6.1, amazing stuff, stereo separation is unlike anything i've ever heard before for movies. for those of you who mention about the lack of bass.. you should hook up a subwoofer.. ;) i only run bookshelf speakers, 4 of them, and 1 centre.. and a rather small mordaunt short subwoofer, which cost me USD 170. Thats the best way to get the max out of DTS, and dolby movies. the way its designed to be ;) IMHO

Strengths:
more power than you need for most average room sizes. transparency. not fussy when matching other components.

Weaknesses:
lack auto setup, which might hinder some people. no real weaknesses at this price.

Price Paid:  $498.00 from A&B Sound

Summary:
The first thing I noticed when I set this amp up is the lack of bass. I am used to using older 70's amps and the sound that they have so keep that in mind. My 15watt per channel Sansui amp had a very rich sound with huge amounts of bass and was great for music. This amp does have a lot going for it though. The sound is very clear and concise, it is amazing for home theater and is good for music. I don't have a subwoofer yet and I'm a little disappointed with the lack of punch out of my Dahlquist speakers which are capable of 35hz on the bottom end. The bass and treble settings are only -6db to 6db so adjustment isn't much of an option. The features on this receiver are good and are more than enough for my needs, it lacks in features compared to other brands but definetely makes up in quality. The menu's are simple to navigate and the remote is decent but isn't completly intuitive. The top reason's I bought this receiver were: -The looks (It looks great, I love the big knobs and the symetrical layout, it's also built like a tank) -The Brand (I prefer non mainstream brands since non audio people have never heard of them and they are usually a higher quality product) -The Price (It was on sale $150 off and I couldn't pass it up especially since it was 6.1 and nicer than anything else in the price range)

Strengths:
Excellent Home Theater Sound Excellent Price Low noise crystal clear sound Looks great (I only wish I had the gold model)

Weaknesses:
Not up to par for hard hitting music Speaker Connects can be a pain if your not using banana plugs

Similar Products Used:
This is my first A/V Receiver. Sansui AU101 Amp Teac Receiver (forget the model)

Price Paid:  $399.00 from Audio Etc

Summary:
I was DEFINATLY the first guy in town that bought this receiver. That’s good and bad. I bought it sight unseen, but have been happy with the performance. It has all the standard features and a few that usually don’t come in the 400 price. It of course has limited in/out puts. It is 80w x6 channel, which is ok, but you may want more then 80w. (I do) The set-up menu is primitive and doesn’t have anything that can display on my TV, only on the receiver face. It has good detail in the sound level controls. It was consistent from level to level on my Sound level meter. I had a Harman Kardon before and like this allot more. Besides you would need to go 2x the price to get the same level of performance.

Strengths:
Value!, Quality build, Marantz quality and warranty.

Weaknesses:
'Old School' menu, No options to program tv / dvd audio in's to anything but what they are factory assigned (tv- composit / dvd - componant)

Similar Products Used:
Harman Kardon 125, 3xx, 5xx, Top of the line Sony

Price Paid:  $300.00 from smits arnhem

Summary:
Adter some research I found that this one was the best bang for the buck (or for the euro in my case) for only 300 euro I couldnt think of a better receiver. Can't say much about the sound except that I'm satisfied. The receiver has a lot of feautures; 6.1, 6.1input, 6.1 pre-outs so its ready for the future. Menu is very easy to setup, and you can swith between sources very easily. DD5.1 over the headphone is really awesome done.

Strengths:
6.1inputs and preouts good looks nice sound cheap

Weaknesses:
-treble and bass settings are very limited -no connections on the frontside