In reply to:
so it actually outputted higher than claimed
Cool! And that reminds me, heat hasn't been an issue at all. I was a little concerned about driving the 6ohm VP150, but it doesn't skip a beat. When I talked about the lack of a competitive feature set, I didn't mean silly stuff like the umpteen zillion surround presets you'll find on Yamaha receivers, or even the auto-setup (which Marantz apparently
does offer now). My observation since I've been on this board is that Denon and H/K just seem to offer enormous flexibility in terms of personalizing and fine-tuning setup options. I don't know that they're really all that great (or even usable), but it's enough to make me a little envious.
mreed, if you're seriously considering a Marantz receiver I don't think you'll be disappointed at all. It's handsome gear that's made well and sounds great. Plus, it's a little different -- I think I can probably count the number of Marantz owners on this board with one hand and have fingers left over.
