I've had the SR-18 in my home now for about 4 days and feel it's probably the bet available reciever for the money. Having gone through the audiophile, tweak eveything, phase I'm now content to sit back tap the remote and just have it work. When I auditioned this I traded in my Chiro system and purchased the Marantz. The other advantage is it has a much higher wife acceptance factor as I no longer have cables snaking everywhere and everything can fit comfortably in her oak entertainment console. Associated equipment is PSB Silvers, C5, Energy surr, AMC CD player w/tube DAC, Sony 550DVD, homemade SUB. I rate it 5 speakers for what it is!

As far as any receiver is concerned, the SR-18 reveals tremendous detail, but much depends upon the quality of speakers being used. If better speakers are used, the SR-18 will reveal more details, upto a certain extent. It is best used with main speakers in the $5000/pair range.
Although I wasn't able to do an A/B comparison with the Denon AVR-5700, I found that the SR-18 sounded better than the Denon in 2 channel stereo. In addition, the SR-18 is built like a brick house and uses no fans to stay quite cool, it also comes standard with a universal remote (Marantz RC2000 MarkII remote control). I'd also like to mention the really neat gyro tuning wheel that is silky smooth.

I experienced no problems in setting up the distances of the speakers for THX purposes and I appreciated its seperate bass level adjustment for stereo listening.

In conclusion, this is the best receiver in the market followed by the Denon AVR-5700, the B&K AVR-202 and the Yamaha DSP-A1. I give it 5 stars or speakers.

The biggest drawback is the users manual, it lacks any real information.

The sr-18 is one heck of a reciever!!!! I'm running it on my def tech bp2004 and the sound is incredible. I just got it a week ago and I'm still learning how to use it to the max. I'm sure once I get it up and running, it will not be a disappointment.

After many hours of auditioning HT receivers (Yamaha, B&K, Denon and Marantz), I chose the Marantz SR-18. Seems to be a very powerful piece with all the features and sound that I prefer. Had separates from Crown in the past and was a bit hesitant to go to a receiver but have found the SR-18 to be excellent in every way. Only the B&K 202 rivaled the sound quality but I was able to hear a slight hum with the 202. Couldn't be happier!!!

I have started using the SR-18 receiver a week back with CSW MovieWorks speakersand it sounds great. I also listened with the CSW towers for Stereo and that was
awesome. That is the best $2500 I spend so far in my HT setup.

I have not heard the SR18 yet but after reading the posts from the morons below that gave it such low scores I wanted to give it a 5 so as to give it a fair rating. I came here to see what people had to say. Sounds like the people who know, own one, really like it. Will wait for the price to drop and get one then if it turns out better than Pioneer's new THX reciever.JD

I got my SR-18 about a month and half ago for $2300. Setting it up was a piece of cake and the remote is quite versatile. I've listened to countless classical audio cds and watched about 35 DVDs and I must say that the sound quality is excellent. I personally haven't listened to the Denon yet but for comparison, I've listened to the Onkyo 939 with Millenium DTS decoder, the Yamaha 2095, and the component Marantz system with Millenium DTS decoder. I don't know how the people below could give this receiver a 1 or 2 star...maybe they hooked it up to some little bose speakers instead of something decent? I'd highly recommend this receiver. It's a great buy!

Got this baby 3 weeks ago and let me tell ya, this receiver sounds terrific!Traded in my old SR-96/DP-870 and for a couple o' well spent dollars took this puppy home.Was thinking of getting the Denon 5700 but after i heard this receiver i quickly forgot about it.Sure it doesn't have all those bells and whistles most people never really uses,but listening to Movies and straight
Stereo this one just sounds better.Plus the remote is a Godsent! 1 press of a button and you're all set! All you moviefans are gonna LOVE this one!!!!!!!

I've had this receiver for about two months now. It is interesting to see the reviews that bash this product. It doesn't sound at all bright as one reviewer described (probably leans more towards warm like other Marantz products I've heard) and it has everthing you need for great sounding movies and music. I sold my Denon AVR-3600DTS to buy this unit and I couldn't be happier. Well, I suppose that is not entirely true... I did really like the 5 channel stereo mode on the Denon. All things considered however, this is an incredible unit. Although I would like to upgrade my speakers, this receiver is matched very well with my Polks (I know a lot of people don't think of Polk as being reference quality, but considering they're 11 years old and still sound great, why mess with a good thing?).
So, because of the build quality (have you tried to lift this thing?!), the awesome power reserves, the great post-processing, the cool remote (even though I use a Philips Pronto), the stylish looks, the great sound and the 3 yr. parts and labor warranty, this product gets a 5 speaker rating. Like the Sound and Vision reviewer said, "There's nothing like a Marantz."

I've had the Marantz SR-18 for three months now and it has been fantastic. The imaging that it allows my speakers to have makes movies and music very enjoyable. The ergonomics and ease of use is nearly intuitive, but I'm sure thats true of almost every receiver that has an on-screen-display setup; nevertheless, its better than most. The new Pioneer Elites are good, so is the Denon AVR-5700 (if you like to listen to a wall of sound), and so is the Yamaha DSP-A1 and B&K AVR-202. I think Marantz has said it best "because the music matters." Bravo Marantz, keep up the good work. By the way its fun to read the reviews of the Denon AVR-5700 and the Yamaha DSP-A1 and see the folks who own those units fight it out, it seems Marantz owners are sophisticated and mature, and are not tone deaf. :)