Build, power, remote, looks, etc.

set-up, manual

Well, let me tell you, this receivers rocks! It took quite sometime to get used to the OSD, but after a couple days it is really easy to use.
I've researched the Denon 3300, Onkyo 777, Sony ES as my choices and finally decided to go with the Marantz based on its' reputation, build, power and remote (in that order). Power is very clear and precise. Could have more DSP modes but I guess you can't have everything!

First test was with 2-ch CD's. Listened to classical, hard rock, etc. All good even with my analog CD player.

Second test was with DVD. Holly crap what a sound.
I played infamous scene 29 from Matrix. I initially had a Sony Pro-logic unit where the sound was good, but with this wonderful product, the voice and especially the bass was incredible. My floor has never shook like that before.
I did notice that you did have to turn the volume knob up pretty high (-20db) to get the unit to sing, but that's Marantzs' way of doing things...oh well!
The Marantz made my ex-Sony sound like the speakers were playing under water!

I also like the fact that there is an option for 6ch.
As far as the remote is concerned, the original remote that comes with the unit is the non-backlit. For an extra $50 the store upgraded me to the RC-1200. The extra money is well worth it. (and it looks pretty cool too!)

If you're in the market for a $1200+ CDN receiver, this is defintely the one!

Similar Products Used:

Sony DE-series

enough power,price,built-quality,name

none for the price range

This receiver is really awesome. I have a 20 ft x 20 ft room and the sr-7000 has enough juice to rock my whole house. It has enough inputs and outputs. I highly recommend this to anybody even to those who have a price range of $1000 to $2000.

System :
Marantz sr-7000
Paradigm Mini Monitor Fronts
Paradigm LRC-350 Center
Paradigm ADP-170 surrounds
Paradigm PS1000 sub
Toshiba SD6200 DVD
Mitsubishi WS-55807 Display device
AVLink Components and Toslink interconnects

Similar Products Used:

none

Awesome HT sound,solid build,plenty of inputs,nice remote,and many more.

Manual

This is by far the best sounding receiver I have heard from the $500 to $1200 range. The sound is crystal clear at high volumes with great detail in the surround area. The music performance is great also but I am more of a HT fan. I threw alot of DVD's at this thing and heard sounds I never knew were there before. The DD and DTS performance of this unit is awesome to say the least. I highly recommend this receiver to anyone looking in the $500 to $1000 range. I tested the Denon's (2801,3300) and they just didn't sound as good. The Sony ES(555) or Onkyo didn't even come close. It is pretty easy to set up and shouldn't take to long to master all of the variuos setups. My system:

Marantz SR 7000
Acoustic Research AR9's(fronts)
AR4C Center
AR15's(rears)
Custom Built 10" Kicker square solo-baric sub w/100w amp that hits as low as 12hz!!

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR 3300,2801
Sony ES Line,various Onkyo's

Very clean and powerfull! Great sound!

NONE

This receiver is unbelievable! I have heard receivers that cost twice as much as this one does and this one is just unbelieveable! I have a pair of Ar9's, for mains, Ar15's for rears and Ar4c centerchannel, and a mirage 8" sub for my speakers. I highly recommend this receiver for everyone!

Similar Products Used:

Sony ES series, and Harman Kardon

2 channel stereo, I/O's, price

backlit remote, manual

This is by far the best audio equipment purchase i have made in my life!! for the price on this beast, it is by far the best deal out there!! I was simply floored when i listened to music through this receiver... 5 channel stereo wasn't bad either! The remote is great, but like other reviewers, it would have been better if it were backlit. Overall... I love this monster!!

Similar Products Used:

technics sa-gx505, denon avr3300

Power, sound quality, price vs. performance, build quality.

Owners manual could be written better

I had planned to use separates but a knowledgable salesperson turned me on to Marantz. This is probably the best piece of equipment (for the money) I have purchased. This speaks volumes as I purchased a Toshiba SD6200 DVD player for only $350. The sound quality is impressive. I have spent probably close to $500 on interconnect cables for my home theater system this investment has also paid big dividends. Even my wife who is by no means big into audio commented on how she now hears details in music and dialogue she previously missed. As a side note, to those who
feel the need to post the same 2 star review multiple times,
burn your torch for whatever manufacturer you choose somewhere else. If you honestly think this receiver is THAT
bad, it is most likely too revealing of the flaws in your
system. This receiver is arguably the class of the $800 price range.

Similar Products Used:

Adcom

DTS, OSD, 5ch Stereo, Direct Source, Plenty of I/O, Remote, Power, Sound, Preouts

Remote could have been backlit (not a big deal)

I was not satisfied with the 2ch reproduction of my Kenwood VR-309 DTS receiver. So I start looking for a A/V receiver that would perform equaly on both music and movies. I did a lot of research to find the best value receiver I could afford. This site helps me a lot in those research. (Thanks to Audioreview.com)

The Nakamichi AV10, Rotel RSX-965, NAD T760 and the Marantz SR-7000 were on my final choice list. After testing those receivers, I found out that they were all very good in some ways. For the price, the Marantz was the one with the most useful features for my needs. So I bought it.

The Marantz SR-7000 performs very well, both in movies and music reproduction. The sound is crystal clear and the soundstage is pretty good. The 5ch stereo mode is quite interesting but I don't use the other DSP. In 2ch reproduction, I like the fact that you can choose either the Stereo mode which use the subwoofer (useful for small front speakers) or Direct Source mode for a pure sound which disable any processing and the sub. The NAD and the Rotel miss that important (to me) feature.

Let me tell you that the remote is the best I ever used. In fact this remote was able to learn the codes from my CD, DVD, TV, VHS and my digital cable box. The remote is very easy to use and to set up and the On Screen Display is a plus. Some people complains about the manual. Personaly I found it not better or worse then the other manufacturer's manuals.

I have to crank up the volume knob a lot to get loud sound and I was not used to that, but this receiver is still very powerful. There's more power then I need.

This unit offers a lot of connections, which is what I want from a A/V receiver. (SVHS, Digital i/o, Preouts for all channels, 6ch input for futur upgrade...)

All in all, this receiver offers a lot of nice useful features, not only bells and whistles. All the things the SR-7000 can do, it do it good. For the price I paid (1380$ CDN including taxes), you have to look very hard to find a weakness to this receiver.

Here's my system setup and I'm very satisfied with it. Feel free to contact me if you want comments on a similar setup.

Marantz SR-7000 Receiver
Nakamichi MB8 CD Player
Polk Audio R40 (front)
Polk Audio CS245i (center)
Polk Audio RT35 (surround)
Quest QS-10 (sub)
Monster cable and interconnect

Hitachi 50" Projection TV
Hitachi DVP-250 Ultravision DVD Player
Hitachi Ultravision HiFi VHS

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood VR-309, Technics SAGX-530

Excellent receiver (audio and video)

None, except the manual! ("timer mode"!!!!read my review)

Firstly, excuse me for my english, but...i'm french.

Yesterday i was listening a live record from Peter Gabriel, and i did not saw that my kid was "playing" with the remote control. It s hard to explain how i felt when my marantz stopped as i was listening the live "kiss that frogg" tittle.

All the buttons were useless, no more screening on my receiver, and i tried many times the "on-off" button on the receiver, but...nothing happened!!

I decided to read one more time the manual to learn more about this kind of problems...nothing! I was really desapointed, and finaly i just pressed the "on off" button of the remote, and my marantz worked again! But i was still thinking than my marantz was down (why did it shut down like this??).

Yesterday my kid had discovered for me the "timer" mode...
You won't find any explainations in the manual about the way to restart your marantz after a timer mode. Its useless to press the "on off" button from the receiver, you will have to restart with the remote. Easy to do, but when you do not know what is happening it s horrible.

And yesterday i discovered the timer mode bug from my marantz ;-))) After a timer mode, all the buttons are useless, but not the "multi" button : press this one, and you will see a minimum level from -80 (instead of -81) and a max level of 0 (instead of +15), and after a few seconds the marantz shut down again (timer mode is on, use the remote lol). Of course, i did discover the bug BEFORE i did discover the way to restart my marantz with the remote...arghhhhh!!!!

For those who wants to buy the sr7000, use the bug to ask a better price ("hey, your receiver is not working! ok i take it but not a this price" :-)))...).

Without this, absolutely nothing wrong about the sr7000, wonderfull music machine! The manual should be clearer, i would not have spent 30 minutes running around my marantz, pushing all the buttons and saying "hoo noooo it s doooownn! noooooo". But i discovered the bug lol

bye,
SG

Amazing audio reproduction on all types of music. Exceptional performance at high volume levels.

Haven't found any significant ones yet, although I am not crazy about the remote control unit.

I could not recommend this unit more enthusiastically. I have to strongly agree with the previous reviewer (Chris from Norman, OK) - I would essentially agree with everything he said in his review. I too question some of the conclusions of previous reviewers. I have experienced no significant weaknesses with this unit and am extremely happy with my purchase. Before purchasing, I considered several Harman Kardon and several Onkyo models. I would conclude that the Marantz SR-7000 provides the best bang for your buck - I could not find another receiver that delivered better reproduction for less than several thousand dollars.

Strengths

Exceptionally well constructed unit - sturdy controls, posts, input jacks, etc. An unquestionably well-made piece of equipment.

Intuitive controls and inputs - I found the receiver more intuitive and easier to use than the HK's I looked at. I love the giant volume knob, and the various surround/stereo mode controls are easy to find.

Tons of digital and optical inputs, S-Video, the works.

Amazing clarity of musical reproduction, particularly at high volume levels. If you are an audiophile who occassionally likes to crank it up a few levels, you will be astounded at the lack of distortion. I couldn't believe the tonal balance and clarity of music listened to at high volume levels. Absolutely remarkable. The treble was sharp and clear, not overpowering the mid-range frequencies, and the bass was full and clear, but not overpowering. Amazing tonal balance.

Power - astounding. Drives my Cambridge Sound Works Towers with great power. High-current transistors deliver great amplification. For those not familiar, 100w/channel of high-current amplification is much more powerful than similar watts with lower-current electronics. Make sure you understand the difference - this receiver pumps out 100 watts of high-current amplification across all five channels.

The unit looks really cool! (small point, but a strength nonetheless). I thought this unit looked a lot cooler than other similar units.

Weaknesses

I really haven't found any. One caveat is that I have used my receiver primarily for music so far. But I have not had any issues with DVD or TV sound reproduction.

I am not crazy about the remote.

In sum, a great, great unit. A great value for the $$$!

Similar Products Used:

Harman Kardon AVR 300, AVR 500

High quality product that is associated with the Marantz name

Manual and lack of S-video switching

I've only had the receiver for three weeks now and I love it! I would like to thank all the reviewers who have taken the time to evaluate the receiver and write a legitimate review. You turned me on to the Marantz SR7000 and helped me stay clear of the Onkyo line and the hissing problems associated with the Onkyo 676. BTW, what's up with people posting multiple, negative reviews? I guess they have issues with which to deal (not enough attention as kids). Anyway, I am in the process of building my home theater system and this is my most recent addition.

Where do I start?

- Connection and Hookup: Once I figured out that the sourcing has to be the same throughout, it wasn't a problem. Considering the manual does not provide a lot of information, set up was relatively easy thanks to the OSD. It was a matter of assigning the correct digital input to the associated path on the receiver. The connections and hookup are relatively intuitive. The speaker connections are a little cramped, but nothing major. This is where 5 way binding posts would come in handy. Banana plugs would fit perfectly. I tried playing with the caps on the posts to see if they would come off, but they didn't.

- Remote: This is a sweet remote once you dedicate a day(couple hours) to manually program it. I love the macro function on this thing. It helps save a lot of time and hassle messing with other remotes and lets me get down to business....being entertained. As other reviewers have mentioned, the remote would be that much better if it was back lit, but what are you going to do? It's not that big of a deal, to me at least. It would also be nice if it contained universal programming codes for other products to help eliminate the tedious programming process. Besides these two set backs, the remote is solid and fits very nicely in my hand.

- Inputs/Outputs: The only thing I can say is that this beast has enough source (9) and digital (2 optical, 3 coaxial) inputs to survive any future component additions I might throw it's way. Plus, it has 6 channel direct inputs to handle future processing formats. I especially like the front panel panel A/V inputs. It's nice to be able to put away the N64 after I'm finished. It also has preamp outs.

- Love watching movies on this thing. I was elated after I received Gladiator in the mail and was able to watch it in DTS. Gotta like. I find myself discovering new sounds in my DVD collection, especially the Matrix. The Matrix is a completely different movie on the SR7000. This receiver makes watching movies a delight and throws me right in the middle of the action.

- Music: CDs sound great and music shines. The 5 channel stereo mode is useful when i moving around the room doing stuff. I also like the option of using my rear speakers for things other than surround sound.

- Tuner: Has more than enough presets to last a lifetime and then some. Can you name more than 50 stations you care to listen to? I struggled to find 20.

All things considered, this receiver is a great value and I highly recommend it to anyone who not only wants to hear music, but also wants to experience it.....because music matters.

My system:

Marantz SR7000 A/V receiver
Toshiba SD-3108 DVD player
CD player to come
Polk RT1000i (fronts)
Polk CS400i (center)
Polk f/x 500i (surround)

My next purchase will either be a sub or a CD player (the DVD is doing the job for now).

Similar Products Used:

none