i have the SR19EX, Powerrrr, with a great sound field. Easy speaker setup, just enter the distance and sound pressure level settings. Stereo mode made me put a blanket on the big screen. Goodness. Great remote, you will dump all of the other remotes, i sent my pronto to the bedroom.

other than the manual none

my SR19ex is connected to monitor audio gold reference 20's in front and polk rt55's in back. the front center is a polk cs400i and the rear center is a tannoy saturn s6rcl with a marantz ma6100 monoblock amp driving. i use a velodyne ct-100 sub-woofer. tv is a mitsubhisi hd1080-55, with a toshiba high definition dst3000 tv receiver, toshiba sd5109 dvd player and a sony cd. i realize that audio folks like seperate componets but if you love home theater and music this receiver should be at the top of your list. it plays led zep or diana krall with musical emotion and accuracy and it can switch to movies with ease. switching between high definition, 1080i and progressive 480p was no problem. the system does need some break in time or was it just my ears adjusting, oh well, it sounds fantastic, and it has enough power to make everyone in the room jump during an action movie or hear whispers in those other movies. to me the difference between the old quadaphonic systems and today's av systems is need. you need this kind of system to feel and experience the movie, you didn't need quadaphonic, it was a fad and faded. av is not going away. i setup the speakers using kb's visual ears program, what a big help in dealing with room standing waves and relections.

the build quality is exceptional. i have played my sr19 over 10 hours a day all week long for months including weekends and it just keeps going. it is heavy, over 50 pounds, and will mass load your audio rack. but it looks cool, like it was wearing sunglasses with big black frames.

finally, this receiver put music back into my home theater.

Similar Products Used:

nad 760, yamaha, pioneer

Sound

none for intended purpose

I was happy with my Prologic RX as I am an audiophile first.
I was pleasantly suprised at how good this amp sounds for HT. I don't think you could get it any better. Of course my speakers may have a lot to do with it, as I use it with NHT 3.3's. This RX is warm sounding with excellent detail and clarity. I use Krell for my stereo listening, but I have tried the 19EX with music. It sounds very good and I could live with it, if I did not have the Krell. However the Krell has much more depth and better soundstage.

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Onkyo Prologic

Very good sound. Good power.

See below. Bad support from Marantz Customer service.

I was, so far, very pleased with my A/V receiver. Lately I have encountered a problem which is really unpleasant.
Every time I am turning off my receiver, it looses all the surround parameters settings, inputs settings, everything.... It just resets to the manufactuer parameters.
Thus there are two solutions, the first one is to let it on at all times. The second one is to enter all the above mentionned parameters everytimes I want to use it....IT IS A REAL PAIN.
I inform my dealer, but he never received an answer from Marantz. It seems that these guys are hard to reach....
If have got the same problem, just let me know our experience, there should be a battery for back up all these data, but where....If somebody from Marantz is reading this, he will probably help me......it will be my lucky day....

Thanks
-Bruno

This is to counter Bruno's review. There is nothing wrong with your receiver Bruno, it just doesn't have a battery backup. If you shut the power off completely you will lose all your settings as I and some others have found out the hard way.

Yes it would be nice if it had one. Just shut it off via your expensive and spectacular "do it all" remote and put it into standby instead of hitting your main power switch. Also pray for no power failures he he. Just because it doesn't have this one small feature shouldn't qualify it as an "average 3 star" receiver. Thats completely ridiculous. Your just pissed but will get over it after you set it back up. Listen to it in Direct Stereo mode again and let it give you a big hug.

The sound quality.

Complex remote.

Trust the Marantz name, the sales staff at Audio Centre did thier homework and passed on the information.

Similar Products Used:

None

REMOTE!
Everything!!

NONE

I have used this piece for over a year and have never looked back.
The only thing I wished I had was component inputs.

Sound quality, power, build quality

Pricey, remote took a while for my wife to master

In my younger days, my buddies and I used to marvel at the sound our Marantz equipment made. Why I ever sold that stuff, at the prices they command now on Ebay, I'll never know.

When I got my bonus earlier this year, my wife gave me the green light to upgrade the stereo system. I thought that separated was the way to go, and had set up a system that included an Acurus ACT 3, and Acurus amplification. Not a bad way to go: sound was clear as a bell. But then my wife announced she was pregnant, and my priorities changed.

I was able to recoup my investment in the Acurus system, and decided to simplify/economize. I didn't want to give up that much in sound quality, though. Turns out, I should have checked out Marantz first!

The SR-19EX, in terms of pure sound quality in stereo, is reminiscent of my old Marantz receivers. The joy of having CD quality sound, and the ability to listen to DTS/DVD Audio sound qulity opens up a whole new world on this system. The sound is warm and open, though it may not have the depth of sound stage that my separates had. That fact not withstanding, I don't really miss the Acurus (I also auditioned Parasound and B&K separates: don't miss those either!).

While the price is high on the 19EX for a receiver (the 14EX and 18EX are even higher!), there is value here for the serious home theater enthusiast. My current listening room will not accommodate a 6.1 or 7.1 set up, but in 5.1 this system competes nicely with my separates. Watching Armageddon was a hoot!

Similar Products Used:

none, just "stepped down" from separates

Power!!!! Looks, buld quality, input options, video switching

The manual is all I can think of, other than it can lose it's settings if you do not shut it off via the remote.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the room or the wife that would allow me to have a dedicated 2 channel and a home theater set up, so I looked for the best of both worlds, and I found it. The SR 19 is powerful enough to dirve NHT speakers (excellent but not very efficent) without any weakness at all. The 2 channel is nice and the home theater is phenominal. The only set up I found that sounded better was my friend's that was built with a Lexicon MC-1, Adcom power amps, and Mirage speakers. Of course, my system was $20,000 less than his. Sorry, but the level of difference does not warrant all the extra dough. If you want a system that will do it all well, this could be the center piece for you. I use the highly acclaimed Marantz DV 18 as a DVD and a CD player and it's very warm and musical. Buy it, you will like it.....TR

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This is my first home theater receiver. Always had 2 channel.

Power, surround seperation and steering, remote, flexability, ease of use, sound for the $$$

Big, heavy.

This review is for the 19ex. Having recently downgraded from seperates, I was prepared for the worst. I bought this unit expecting bad 2 channel music and less than stunning home theater performance because I had beeb used to high quality seperates. What I got was a pleasant suprise! while the 2 channel music was not as good as seperates it is still detailed and has decent bottom end. What is lacking is soundstage and depth but what do you expect for this kind of money? Most people who have never had seperates will be thrilled with warmth and detail of the sound. Home theter performance was the biggest shock, it is as good or better than seperates. Detail, seperation and steering are all top notch! I really can't find any faults with home theter surround ,and when you throw in ex, a great remote and top quality dac's you can't beat it. I did switch from the stock power cable to a very high quality detachable and noticed a big improvement. Overall I have to say this ones is probably the best bang for the buck, a big improvement over the sr19 and all you need for mediyum to large home theaters. If you love 2 channel music you might be disapointed if you compare to a high end sustem but this unit is not trying to be something it is not.

Similar Products Used:

Sr18, sr19, B&K, Classe etc

Truly beautiful in both sound and looks. Build quality to die for and oooooohhhhh the sound. And the remote! don't get me started.

Manual is shameful.Anyone know where there is a better one? website? email? Makes poor recordings, well....sound poor.

I was under the impression that Yamaha was about as good as you could get without spending mega-bucks and that if you did, then the difference would be minimal at best. Oh how wrong I was. After nearly putting my back out trying to get it out of the box, I got help. Everyone ooood and ahhhhhhd and had to touch it. The thing is built like a steel brick. Naturally you feel the urge to spin the wheel which is rewarded by a perfectly engineered weighted mechanically solid feel not unlike the rest of the switching. Ya, it looks and feels good but what does it sound like?

I'm nearly 40 and I have been into car audio since 8 tracks and always had state of the art stuff. I also over the years have heard many many car and home stereos. I regret never having had the opportunity to hear a truly audiophile quality Hi-Fi until the moment I hooked up my SR-19. It so far surpasses my old Yamaha 1070 that I honestly don't think it fair to Yamaha to compare them together. They are worlds apart in all ways. I was going to use the receiver only for HT but when I heard how good and powerful it was I got the Hi-Fi bug. I'm not going to batter you with a wealth of audiophile adjectives (soundstage, warmth, air, sibilance etc etc etc) suffice to say that after hearing it I went on an equipment buying rampage that still isn't quite at an end $18k cdn later. Maybe this thing is a curse?

Friends and family have all beaten a path to my door to hear it and no one leaves disappointed except with their own systems (tingles, shivers, etc.). Its a shame that true Hi-Fi is so rare because its a very magical and beautiful thing.

During the purchasing process I was concerned that I should go the seperate route preamp/amp. The Marantz rep told me (whether rightly or wrongly) "that the preamp section of the SR-19 is actually better than their stand alone model and that its extremely well sheilded from the amp section". I said "that doesn't make sense, why is the SR-19 less expensive?" He said "Marantz wanted to rebuild its reputation (they went through some years of very bad management), reach a larger customer base and were selling the SR-19 very undervalued." He continued to say that "the stand alone pre-amp was more because the customer profile its targeted at (audiophile's) already knows how good it is therefore it can demand a higher retail." So was it all BS? I don't know but it makes sense to me and the SR-19 is one sweet piece of gear.

My system:

Marantz SR-19
Bryston 4B ST (only needed it to really REALLY rock the house)
Arcam DiVA CD72
Marantz CC3000 (for parties)
Sony DVD S-360 (junk, i know)
B&W CDM 9NT (fronts)
B&W CDM 7NT (rears)
B&W CDM 1NT (ctr)
PSB 17" 1k sub
Tara Labs Omni Prizm/Monster cable bi-wired
$100 plus inter-connects (embarressed to say I forgot brand but out of sight, out of mind)

The Bryson amp powers the fronts through a Niles speaker switch. The only reason I did this was my that wife likes her disco very friggin LOUD and at a measured 310wpc it rocks to say the least. Otherwise the Marantz was more than adequate.

Cheers 8^)

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Yamaha