I'm a bit late coming to this thread, but having just bought myself a Marantz SR4500 for Christmas, I have to say that after the 1060 amp I had back in the 70's, I'm still impressed with the sound that Marantz produces. I got it for a discount since it was "last year's model" and with 70 watts X 7 it's got plenty of power for my tract house. At first, I think you'll find it mellow or warm compared to a lot of stuff out there, but after a while, you'll have to conclude that it is just plain truly neutral in sound. And it has all the different surround sound modes (Dolby, DTS, etc).
Here's a smile for all those dudes out there with their fancy equipment: I got an older Marantz TA100 receiver (100 W X 2) from eBay, but found I wanted more, so I got the new reciever. However, I use the TA100 as a power amp for a couple of bigger speakers I use for LFE! I still lack really GOOD main speakers, which is how I came to discover this company and their forum (while reading speaker reviews).
I"d stick with the Marantz. It's good ole (north) American made technology!
