Hi, I have finally finished with my latest bat with upgraditis! I purchased a new Marantz SR-7500 to upgrade from my Yamaha RX-V995, and Axiom QS8s for the side surrounds (replacing Wharfedale Saphires)and a QS4 for the rear surround. This goes with my Paradigms Studio 40s v2, Studio CC-570, Parasound HCA-1205A, Samson S700, SVS 20-39CSi, and DIY Dayton 12 Sub. The TV is a Toshiba 57HX81 and has been professionally calibrated. All I can say is, it was well worth it!
I love the sound of the Axiom surrounds, they blend well with the Paradigms.
Here are some pics of my room.
I had previously posted here about what route I was going to take with the new surround speakers, so some may have seen that post, well heree is the outcome.

Thanks for your help.
Steve

I'm sure there's at least one or two more Marantz geeks here, but I've been very interested in the SR7500. I'd love to hear your feedback on it when you have time.

very nice steve..

BTW- there is a tree in the way in your living room.

bigjohn

Great looking set-up Steve! My only criticism woud be the placement of the right front speaker; other than that, I really like the set-up and layout of the room.

MiniRock, i'm curious what you don't like about the RF speaker placement?

Thanks
Steve

Well, it's more of a concern since in the pic it looks like it is slightly behind the TV and being that way you wouldn't get the full benefit of the speakers sound. Like I said though, other than that I really like the room.

I guess the picture is a little deceiving, but the speaker is flush with the front of the tv, and the audio stand.

It's probably more like my crappy Webtv.

Hey SteveY, congrats on the nice setup.

Your choice to go with QS8 and QS4 surrounds is intriguing to me, as I am close to settling on the same speaker setup you have for mains and center. I am, however, a little loathe to shell out the MAJOR cash for ADP470's especially as I'm going with a 7.1 setup. If the QS8's really do match sound that well with the Paradigm's, I may have just found my economical answer!

Need to resurrect an older post....

Like dmn23, I would also like to hear your impressions of the SR7500. I presently have the RX-V995 and am considering upgrading to the SR5500. The RX-V1500 is similarly priced to the 5500 and the feature set is a bit better. However, based upon my brief experience w/ an SR8400, I suspect that the sound quality of the Marantz versus the Yammie is worth the downgrade in features (no auto-setup, less digital inputs, lower wattage, etc).

Any opinions would be appreciated. Hopefully you did some comparisons before you packed up the 995.

Also, anyone w/ any comparible experience is welcome to chime into the Marantz versus Yamaha discussion.

Thanks in advance.