Hi All --
My long awaited Axioms are shipping soon, and it's time to order a receiver.
The speaker arrangement will be 9.2, with m80 & vp180 for the LCR, 4 X qs8's for surround and rear surround, and a pair of m2's for front height. A pair of ep500's will handle the low bass. The walls of the theater slope up at 45 degree angles into the ceiling (over garage bonus room). The dimensions are 20' long, by 16' wide at the base (tapering to 8' wide at the ceiling) and 8'-9' in height (stadium tiers). The surrounds and front heights will all be ceiling suspended (with a ~ 1' drop down) from the 8'wide central flat portion of the ceiling.
I've come to the conclusion the best fit will be an older refurb model that is higher end rather than a newer model that is lower end. I can do without the vector surround formats (Atmos and DTS:X) and HDCP 2.2 for this cycle, although those features do seem to be appearing in even the entry models for next year. It feels like it might still take a couple of years for the new approach to object based surround information to really stabilize, and I have no hi-res video plans in the near term (4K projector pricing will be prohibitive for a while still). The 9.2 upmixers like Neo:X and PLIIZ seem sufficient for this cycle, and are all that will work with most existing soundtracks anyway.
The two contenders are the Denon AVR-4520ci and the Marantz SR7008. These are sister companies, as most know. The feature set is quite similar. Both will power 9 channels and have dual sub outs. Both have Audyssey XT32 + the subwoofer module (the merits of which are debated in another thread, but there is no doubt that many experienced theater builders find the benefits to be quite substantial). The Denon has 32 bit D/A converters (probably inaudible over the Marantz 24 bit), and the Marantz claims to have some upgrades to analog circuitry (who knows). The Denon is officially rated to power 4 Ohm speakers, and is supposed to have a larger power supply, while the Marantz is not officially cleared below 6 Ohms. JDSmoothie at AVS says that both will power 4 Ohm speakers, but that the Denon will be less likely to protest at reference levels. (The receiver is at the back of the room, with cabling run up the walls, across in the ceiling, and back down the walls for a total run of ~ 40', using 12 gauge in-wall wire from Monoprice -- this seems to be more or less compatible with professional recommendations for max lengths.) I like the look of the Marantz a bit better, although the Denon is also attractive and sleek. Ideally, when budgets allow, perhaps on the next upgrade cycle, I would like to do a Marantz pre/pro with outboard amps for the LCR (balanced cables to all speaker locations are already run, along with speaker cable, and also power for local monoblocks, e.g. the Outlaw 2200 modules). At that point the current receiver will be downgraded to a function as a 6 channel amplifier, and both have external analog inputs to facilitate this use case.
If I were going on features, it seems to be a wash. On looks, and future matching with a Marantz pre/pro, the SR7008 is the winner. If there is a concern about driving the 4Ohm LCR's for now, the Denon seems to be favored. If I were not at all worried about the amplifier section, I would go Marantz. Both receivers were top of the line models for the respective companies at the time that they were released. The Denon originally sold for $2500, and the Marantz $2000. Both can now be found as refurbs with a 1 year warranty at Accessories4Less.com for $750.
Ordering this evening, or as soon as I can make a final decision. I don't think that there is a bad decision, but I'm flip flopping. Any thoughts to tip this teeter totter over one way or the other??
Thanks! DSQ
