The Official Marantz Receivers Thread

[Big Daddy]

Please discuss your Marantz receiver in this thread. You can include pictures, reviews, or any other comments regarding your receiver.

Manufacturer’s Website:
http://us.marantz.com/Products/172.asp

[SeanMF]

Marantz Sr5003 here....no problems/issues in couple months I've had it. Easy setup and works/looks great!!!

[mvs9963]

sr4003 for about 10 months now. no problems and absolutely love the sound for 2ch and HT

[ZIPPO]

SR6003 since February 2009. No problems. Easy on the ears & eyes
" What do you want in a surround sound receiver? Power? Connectivity? Sophistication? Easy operation? Superb cosmetic design? "

[^Lestat^]

SR4003 here got it last weekend and I have been impressed so far. Will be posting reviews when i get to play with it more.

[-DLS-]

Just recently replaced my Yamaha HTR6190 with an SR8002 and I'm lovin it!!
Very happy with it's 2ch. & Multich. music sound quality as well as HT performance. I have it paired up with an XPA-3 for my front 3 speakers and have the internal amps driving my surrounds.

Not really a complaint but it does get pretty warm after awhile compared to my Yamaha which stayed cool after hours of use. It actually looks nice and matches well with my other gear. A pretty solid unit!



SR8002 guts

[KASR]

Features:

• 7 ch Discrete Analog Amplifier (50 watts x 7) in Slim Design Chassis
• HDMI 1.3 x4 Inputs / x1 Output
• Decoding of Dolby TrueHD, dts-HD Master Audio
• Video Converter for All Analog Sources to HDMI
• Independent Audio Board for Improved Sound
• Simple Set-up with MRAC Auto Calibration
• Component Video x3 Inputs / x1 Output
• Analog Audio Inputs x5, Digital Audio Inputs x3
• Marantz Remote D-Bus In/Out Jacks
• Detachable Power Cord
• On Screen Display for Setup through HDMI out
• Glow Key, Precode Remote Control

I just bought this alittle over a month ago and I am still learning the intricacy of getting it "just right" - I'll be able to give a better review once I've had time to real dig into it's nuances.

However, at first glance: I do like the look and full of the receiver - I was surprised by how short this receiver truly was. The Harman Kardon AVR154 that I previously owned was easily double the height.

The OSD is easy to configure - I did have to allow for alittle acclimation as it was slightly different than the H/K OSD - with that said, the Marantz OSD seemed dumbed down and remedial...perhaps it simply doesn't need as much configuring head-room...I'm not sure yet. I'll continue to tinker. With that said, it's easily configured on the surface - the crossover can be adjusted in increments of 5 and you have the ability to turn off the back surrounds and run 5.1 only or have all 7 channels powered.

The audio codecs shine here - full suite of Dolby and DTS, including the TrueHD and Master Audio lossless codecs. I have set up my two other surrounds for full 7.1 and perhaps that is why Dolby Digital ES sounded much more dramatic than when I switch to TrueHD (Bourne Ultimatum) ... again, some tinkering is in store. (EDIT: I ran the auto EQ that comes with the receiver and it straightened out all the sound problems - Lossless audio sounds great now! I usually don't use the Auto EQ for any receiver and choose to hand-tune, but for some reason while searching for a fix, I decided to run it on a whim...man, I'm glad I did!)

Let's talk about what I don't like: no pre-amp outs mean no headroom for expansion in the amplification area (which I may not need since the room I currently have setup doesn't need that much power pumped through the soundstage....unless I'm trying to peel paint off the walls!)
Secondly, no 5.1 analog inputs...however, since I am going full HDMI, this isn't really a huge issue.
Third: no zone two or zone three. Again, since I'm planning on doing 7.1, this isn't a show stopper - however, I was kinda looking forward to setting up a second area, perhaps the back patio, with some speakers.

I believe this receiver will pull bedroom duty - I will most likely get the Marantz SR5004 or 6004 and couple it with an Adcom GFA-7607 for the home theater room.

Buying the Marantz over the H/K AVR1600 or even the more feature-rich AVR254 was truly a leap of faith. I've heard of the brand name, I like what I've heard about them, yet there were some sacrifices when I picked it out. If worse comes to worse, I still have a highly desirable brand name that will serve me well in the 2nd-hand sell-off area. Let's hope it shines, so I don't have re-wire!

UPDATE: With four weeks in the books, the Marantz is really growing on me - I am surprised on the warmth of the sound - I've heard people comment on this before with Marantz and H/K's - but the Marantz has a different flavor to the sound altogether, which I prefer over the H/K (which had a more tinny sound...more mechanical/digital - still great though!) I've run games through the receiver on optical and the sound was astounding - the one gripe here, is that you can not preset volume for each input signal - so if your DVD's need to be bumped up to 40 for a good sound field and output strength, switching to the game audio will blow your eardrums up at that level. The H/K had this ability, whereas the Maratnz does not...it'll take some getting used to.

The remote is easy-peasy, although I'm still figuring out how to cycle through the surround sound presets with some easy - the receiver display is alittle wonky in that concern that you have to be right up on it to see what codec is being read and most of the time "AUTO" is what will show up for movies and very small logos for Dolby/DTS signals....that's great and all, but the techno-dork in me likes to see the signal logo all big and glaring! I mean, who doesn't?

I ran CD's through it, but what was even more impressive was when I ran NIN: Beside You In Time in DTS -WOW!

Overall, I'm happy with the purchase - but as my home theater continues to grow, I will inevitably outgrow this receiver...but not in heart - as it has won me over.

[ZIPPO]

I've heard that Harmon Kardon receivers sound Marantz like. With the prices of the HK x600 series falling fast, I'm tempted to give one a try.

[KASR]

Originally Posted by ZIPPO

I've heard that Harmon Kardon receivers sound Marantz like. With the prices of the HK x600 series falling fast, I'm tempted to give one a try.

I would caution against the 1600/2600/3600 - been hearing about alot of audio dropout issues with them - hopefully a firmware update will fix that, but who knows.

[lucv13]

Love my Marantz

[Intamin]

SR-5002 here. I've enjoyed it for the year+ I've had it.

[MrJingles]

Yesterday I ordered the SR5004 because of all your great suggestions and opinions. I'm coming from an Onkyo TX-DS787, which was good, but the remote sensor has gone bad and I really wanted a new receiver anyways.

Thanks again to everyone.

[Wileyman]

Hey fellas!

My sr6004 just got delivered the other day. I hooked it up and have been messing around with audyssey and it's kinda frustrating me so I was wondering if you guys could me help out.

First off it set all my speaker levels as follows:

FL: -12 db
FR: -11.5 db
C: -12 db
RS: -12 db
LS: -12 db
SW: -13.5

Or basically something to that effect.
It just doesn't seem normal to me because now to listen to anything with any decent amount of volume I have to crank the main volume to +5 db or +10 db. Is it supposed to be like that?

And second it set my lpf/hpf at 180 hz which seems way too high to me so I cranked it down to 80 hz. My front towers are measured down to like 40 hz I believe. Just seems kinda strange...

Third it measured my subwoofer as being thirteen feet away when it's only about five!

I wasn't entirely sure which thread to post this in so I thought I'd start here. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
wileyman

[Graphite]

Yeah, my Audyssey feature is a bit strange as well.

I ended up grabbing a measuring tape and a SPL meter to measure things for manual settings. Ended up going through the EQ settings as well and changing it for my own tastes.

I guess i haven't checked, but i'd love if i could see what the audyssey did with the EQ settings. Just seems like my manual EQ settings are much more dynamic for movies.

[Wileyman]

Thanks graphite! Yeah I think I might just go pick up a SPL meter and set everything up manually if I can't get this audyssey thing figured out.

A couple more questions if somebody has the time...

Am I supposed to specify whether or not I'm using 6 ohm or 8 ohm speakers? And if so how do I do that on this receiver? I can't really find anything in the manual on it so I'm guessing I don't, but I had to on my old Yammy receiver.

And second is there any way to adjust individual speaker crossover settings or is it just set at a fixed frequency?

The manual for this thing sucks.

[Army Of Dorkness]

Originally Posted by Wileyman

Thanks graphite! Yeah I think I might just go pick up a SPL meter and set everything up manually if I can't get this audyssey thing figured out.

A couple more questions if somebody has the time...

Am I supposed to specify whether or not I'm using 6 ohm or 8 ohm speakers? And if so how do I do that on this receiver? I can't really find anything in the manual on it so I'm guessing I don't, but I had to on my old Yammy receiver.

And second is there any way to adjust individual speaker crossover settings or is it just set at a fixed frequency?

The manual for this thing sucks.

I don't think you have to change any settings between 6 ohm and 8 ohm, and its a fixed crossover setting.

[serenity]

Originally Posted by Wileyman

Hey fellas!

My sr6004 just got delivered the other day. I hooked it up and have been messing around with audyssey and it's kinda frustrating me so I was wondering if you guys could me help out.

First off it set all my speaker levels as follows:

FL: -12 db
FR: -11.5 db
C: -12 db
RS: -12 db
LS: -12 db
SW: -13.5

Or basically something to that effect.
It just doesn't seem normal to me because now to listen to anything with any decent amount of volume I have to crank the main volume to +5 db or +10 db. Is it supposed to be like that?

And second it set my lpf/hpf at 180 hz which seems way too high to me so I cranked it down to 80 hz. My front towers are measured down to like 40 hz I believe. Just seems kinda strange...

Third it measured my subwoofer as being thirteen feet away when it's only about five!

I wasn't entirely sure which thread to post this in so I thought I'd start here. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
wileyman

The distance setting for the sub is probably correct as Audyssey is correcting for for signal delay. My sub is 10 feet away and Audyssey sets it for 14ft.

Read the FAQ section at Audyssey. Most of the issues people talk about are not Audyssey's fault. But that of the receiver manufacture and how they implemented Audyssey.

Audyssey also has Q/A section where you can ask your questions and get timely answers.

http://www.audyssey.com/technology/faq.html

[bigdolf]

I'm looking at either the sr7002, or the sr6004, from accessories4less, not quite sure what one to get

[Happycamper]

Originally Posted by bigdolf

I'm looking at either the sr7002, or the sr6004, from accessories4less, not quite sure what one to get

Personally I would go with the SR6004 since it is the most current of the two. I would think the SR6003 VS SR7002 would be more like one another but like always it comes down to what your needs and wants are.

I went with a SR6003 over the SR5004 since I just couldn't justify the need for some of the newer stuff and have all the funky buttons staring at me every time I looked at the receiver. I use it as a prepro with an Emotiva UPA-7 and it sounds really, really good compared to how my old Yamaha RX-V1300 sounded with the same set up.

I also bought it from Accessories4Less.com and it arrived flawless. some buy from the Ebay store but I think you get a better deal directly from them. Free shipping also.

[Denoku]

Does anyone have this receiver?

Marantz Sr5003

I'm looking to get this one.