Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater receiver recomendation Onkyo 989 or Marantz 9200

Who's using Marantz, and how good are they?

Thanks,


Rick

Anyone have thoughts about the Pioneer Elite VSX-47TX A/V Receiver.

Thanks,

Rick

Marantz specializes in spectacular music for the price. Definitely one to audition. Elite's on the other hand usually run VERY hot and I'm always skeptical of big name electronics houses.

Find the ones with the features you want and then listen to them all in your home.

I agree with Semi On. Stay away from Pioneer Elite. They are extremely overpriced for what you get. You can use those thousands of dollars on far better electronics from Denon, Marantz, Arcam, Adcom, and so forth.

I'm using a Marantz 5200 (admittedly MUCH farther down the line) and, for the most part, I've been extraordinarily pleased. The thing looks great, and it's built like a tank. I've also had a 7200 for about 3 weeks now (more on that later), and I can't tell a difference. My living room is relatively small, so power isn't too much of an issue. I'm using M22s, QS4s, VP150 & EP175.

Now for the nastiness...I recently purchased a Pioneer Elite DV45a for the purpose of seeing what the whole DVD-Audio-nonsense is all about. It took all of about 20 minutes before the receiver went up in smoke. Never had a spot of trouble with movies, and I don't know if the power requirements are similar. Coincidence, bad timing, stupidity, 6 ohm load on the VP150, or all of the above? Don't know, but it seems awfully suspicious to me. Mind you, we're talking about moderate volume levels (don't want to annoy the neighbors more than necessary). Ultimately, I'd like to add a separate amp and use the Marantz as a pre. I'm looking pretty closely at Outlaw Audio and I haven't heard anything bad about them yet.

The combination of the Marantz and M22s is...revealing. If you've read some of the other posts here, you'll find a mixture of complaints and celebration towards the M22's hyper-accurate nature. Plain and simple, bad recordings sound like dirt while well-recorded albums are a revelation. It can be frustrating at times. But even with my unfortunate experience, I'm still considering upgrading to a 7300. Asinine, I know, considering I just admitted I couldn't hear a lick of difference. But the current Marantz line has some minor changes to their amp design and have included a few options that aren't available on my current receiver. The only question in the back of my mind is whether I'd do better with a Denon 3803.

Ralderman:
I had Marantz separates Amplifier/Pre-amp in the 70's and one fine day the AMP went up in smoke, my fault, I shorted the load. It was never the same after I replaced the HV transistors. Now, I am considering the 5300 vs the 7300 from hifi.com. All the reviews that I have read places the Marantz receivers in very good light for stereo and surround and a very reasonable price. There are some issues about the Denon 3803 that others on this board and others on other boards have mentioned. I really like the 7300 but I do not know whether I would use on the bells on this model??

Headphone

As fate would have it, my repaired 5200 is back and I returned the 7200 today. Inconvenience and frustration aside, it was an interesting experiment. After switching back, I've discovered there was actually a difference after all. The extra 15 watts per channel seemed to drive the VP150 with much less effort. In terms of specs & overall power, the difference is marginal but my ears can tell a difference. Does this merit another $350 or so? I don't know. You say you wouldn't necessarily use all of the bells and whistles, so you've got to make that call. In terms of sound quality, the difference is almost nonexistent. The 7200/7300 offer DC triggers, so if you're thinking about adding a separate amp somewhere down the road this might be something to consider. Also, after some searching I found a few other complaints about the power drain when running DVD-A/SACD on the Pioneer DV45a. With that in mind, my initial skepticism/frustration towards the receiver has shifted to the Elite. So I don't think I'd have any misgivings about buying another Marantz.

I was just looking at the 7300. It has multi-room/multi-source capabilities, a Macro learning remote control. These options I would use. The two 12-volt triggers can be used to lower a motorized TV screen and shut your motorized drapes. I guess, eventually I may use this option. I am going to buy the 7300 from hifi.com,it comes a with 3year warranty, free shipping, and one year free interest financing. All for $900.00 from an authorized dealer. Pretty good deal.

Go to avsforum.com and do a search of Pioneer Elite, I don't think you will see many negative posts there about it, other than how heavy they are. Most people rate their sound quality as superior to most receivers. But, like many have said, let your ears be the judge.

I was just doing the same search 2 days ago from hifi and the Marantz 7300.
If you do order from hifi.com, go check out the internet coupon codes they offer. One that I found by typing in hifi.com in the search of Yahoo, discounted the price of the 7300 to $799. It was a $100 off if you order $700 or more, unfortunetly that expired yesterday, but I saw 10% off discount codes as well that are still active.

The $799 with free shipping and the warranty is a great deal. Marantz has a great warm/neutral sound and match well with accurate speakers.