Wow I hooked up My Polk speakers a Velodyne sub and sat back put on Pink Floyd Pulse and I got lost very good sound strong Amp this was designed for Home theater but for music it still delivers with the Audessy Mic setup it makes the setup so easy I really love this unit I plan on many years of listening pleasure with this unit

Remote is bulky and the backlight doesn't stay on long enough

Audiophile on a budget here. What I really wanted was an Arcam AVR350. But I don't have that kind of scratch lying around, so when my OLD Marantz SR-780 began to finally crap out after all these years, I went with the most Marantz I could get for under $700.

Which turns out to be this unit, factory refurbished and resold through accessories4less.com, a Marantz authorized seller with warranty service.

Turns out this was a very good deal.

Sound through my KEF RDMs (all 5 channels) is really good--much better than the old Marantz. Now I can finally use blu-ray and switch it through my receiver via HDMI. This really reduces the rat's nest of cables behind the receiver. Component video and one digital output from the xbox360, HDMI from the Panasonic blu-ray player, HDMI from the Dish Network receiver. Plus analog interconnects from my tubed Ah! CD player.

Speaker outputs and an HDMI cable run to the Samsung 56" display are the only other connections back there. It's really clean compared to the multiple a/v cables from video devices to the old unit it replaces.

I especially liked the ability to use the remaining two channels to biamplify my main speakers. Wow, what a difference! If you are using this receiver and only have a 5.1 setup like me, DON'T LET THOSE OTHER TWO CHANNELS GO TO WASTE. Buy yourself a nice pair of biamp cables and take your sound up a couple notches. It's really great and all you have to do is flip the switch to biamp and follow the wiring directions.

I also have zone 2 set up for my living room. It's an analog line out with a cable going to a wallmount cabinet housing a little Niles 80wpc amp (heavy sucker) running power to a pair of wall plate speaker terminals on either side of my fireplace upstairs. I did this with the old Marantz too and it works even better with this new one. The only thing I don't have upstairs is volume control, unless I add an eye and a repeater system. I don't think I need that--I'll just keep it at the fixed 'background' level and be happy with the way that Niles amp drives my Magnepan MG1.6qr's. When we have guests I usually tune the DirecTV to the satellite music channels. It's between the '80s and '90s music. Since the DVR box is controlled via RF, I can power up/down, pause or change channels from the living room even though the box is downstairs.

Here's a cool thing: you can listen to a cd or the radio upstairs while the kids watch TV downstairs. Love independent multizone control.

Bass is really strong from this unit. I didn't know how good my sub was until I put this receiver in the chain. As for the rest of the sound...I can't hear a weak element considering the cost of this unit. Buy from Arcam or Mac or Rotel and you may get a lot better sound. But you will most definitely pay for it. If you can still get this unit for $699 then you may be assured you've gotten the best $699 receiver you could have found with a warranty and customer service included in the deal. I know--I began by commenting on the sound and ended with the sound-per-dollar equation, indicating it is a compromise.

But you can't afford a no-compromise system. Your compromises will be different than mine. But I NEED amplification that will be worthy of a tubed CD player that has beautiful sound on its own, going into really beautiful-sounding KEF RDM Two loudspeakers and a wonderful Alon sub. If you're a knowledgeable audio consumer, you're telling yourself I can't seriously be running a $699 receiver into $2400 worth of speakers. And using a CD player that cost more than the receiver too.

Well, boys, that's what I'm doing, and it isn't a weak link. I've run this CD player into a pair of those KEFs with an old Arcam Alpha integrated. It had the smoothest, most 3-dimensional sound I've ever heard in my own house. I'd love to go with Arcam for surround as well. I don't have the dough for that! But for stereo music listening, the biamped KEFs through this Marantz played music from my tubed front end almost as well as from the stereo Arcam. THAT IS HIGH PRAISE. If you want better sound, better sound is out there. But not without spending large sums of your cash. You might find sound at this price level that satisfies you. You might even like another comparably-priced unit better.

As for Marantz' sister company Denon as well as Onkyo, Yamaha and to a lesser degree Harman, each of these companies produce some nice receivers for small bucks. Even Sony is rising up and finally producing some receivers worthy of your consideration. A couple of these companies make a truly great receiver or two. But when you see the price tag of the really good stuff from Onkyo and Denon, I would urge you to immediately check out the Arcam AVR600 if you're considering spending that kind of cash. It's really expensive, but it will flat out destroy anything made by the mere mortals at Denon and Onkyo.

For plebes like me, this Marantz provides very fine sound and real muscle at a budget price--as 'better' HT receivers go. Put it, or its successor the 8002, on your list to consider.

SOUND, SOUND, SOUND

None

This unit replaced my SR7500 as part of my complete system upgrade.
I only care about 2 channel stereo but due to kids and my main listening area being the lounge room i have to have a reciever.
This apparantly is one of the best recievers when it comes to visual signals. I wouldnt know. I still have a tube tv and couldnt care less about flat screens.
What i can comment on is music.
OMG. Amazing. This will out perform at least half of the pre/power combos out there.
I wasnt expecting too much from this upgrade as the unit it replaced is almost identical, from an amplifier point of view.
All i have gained is and extra 20wpc (actually that is quite substantial) and a copper plated chassis.
The control this amp has over the speakers is amazing. Drums have more impact than i have ever heard. Hard and fast. The way they should be.
Everything seems to be clearer. More detail. Due to the copper plating i assume.
This is THE reciever for people in the same position as mine.
The sound is just amazing. Oh did i already say that. Amazing!

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Yamaha