Sound, sound, sound.

manual, remote...

I am quite happy with my new Marantz receiver. The sound is very clean, very accurate. The receiver is also quite easy to use.

The Marantz does not need to be turned up a lot before reaching decent loudness. 50-55% level is approx. normal TV listening level. Past the 50% level however, actual volume seems to increase faster and at 80% the receiver reaches ear-numbing levels on my system. I also noted that even at the highest volume setting I can hear absolutely no hiss or humming on unused inputs.

The receiver doesn't have a lot of geeky special effects and gadgets; to me, that's a plus since I prefer to pay for good, clean sound instead. The machine has just a few special effects (Hall, Theatre, Stadium, ...) but I don't use them anyway. The receiver does however support a lot of input formats : AC-3, DTS, DD, etc...

As everyone else pointed out, the remote & manual are very poor, but in my case I couldn't care less.

Overall, a great value; teh SR-5000 gives you the features that really matter. If you want a high-quality sound with support for all the current audio formats, and don't want a heap of useless special F/X, then the Marantz SR-5000 is your ticket.

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Yamaha receivers

Massive attack and clarity for only 70 watts RMS, huge soundstage, well placed surround modes, good detail at low and high volume levels.

Lack of outputs for seperate amps for sub, lack of sound adjustments (though I preffer the amp be run flat anyways).

I don't actually own this rig, but I am seriously considering purchasing it if I can't afford Marantz's monster SR 8000. For the price point of this machine, it has a lot more going for it in terms of sound quality than any other brand I have looked at. Sure, there are offerings from Yamaha, Denon, Onkyo, Technics and others with a lot more flexibility in the surround department, but where they all fall behind is the sound in 2ch stereo. Most people I know listen to 2ch music more often than watch movies anyways, so they want a receiver that really humps with music first, while providing pretty darn good surround sound too when desired. I listened to a whole variety of music and several DVD's too. The CD source was a Nakamichi Musicbank (another excellent piece of hardware), and a Marantz DVD player. This little rig really thumps at high output, while maintaining killer sound quality at lower volumes. I only wish they had some real speakers to listen to it through (they used some floor standing Paradigms, which I'm not a fan of) due to the sound being somewhat laid back to me (I'm used to Marantz hardware having a very up front sound to it). When listening to receivers, I like to try them with Music like the Brian Setzer Orchestra. The Gibson LesPaul guitar and screaming brass shows what the amp is really capable of, and the SR 5000 is very capable indeed. FOr the price point you won't find as gutsy a receiver from anyone else.

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Technics SA X60, Onkyo TS 575, Denon 1800

I waited for two months for this amplifier to arrive. It was worth the wait!!! I currently have it connection to a pair of B&W 602S2's and a Marantz DVD player. The Dolby Digital and DTS make this a great building block for a home theater system.

Music just sounds better, Clean power

No complaints

I was looking for a AVR that would make music sound better. This receiver does that. The added plus is HT also sounds full and clean threw the 5.1 channels.

Reviewers early on had trouble setting up a sub. It's easy the sub gets hooked to Sub pre-amp out, which has a set crossover of 80Hz when speakers are set to small. The bass output is strong and smooth. I even got to lower down my subs level from 1pm to 9am. Which means there's a strong signal coming out of the pre amp out. Sub never cuts off for lack of signal. :)

Overall you get a smooth warm sound stage. In HT and Music.

The price was low because it's a refurbished unit from a Marantz warehouse dealer.

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Yamaha 595a

Warm sound in stereo mode,DD/DTS are fine,looks,easy to use.

Manual can be better, Useless DSP modes

Prior this purchase,I compared this unit with Yam-596,Denon-1601 and HK-300.The SR-5000 sounds much better than others in all features. Only in DTS mode,the HK sounds a litlle bit better. I'm very satisfied, It has warm clean sound,better than much more expensive recievers.Easly driving my Wharfy valdus-400.Using Sub adds more to sound spectrum. The manual is short and partial but initializing this unit even without reading instructions is quiet easy for "normal" people.DSP modes are echoed and artificial.Looks good,quality built.
The best buy om medium range AV recievers.

The manual stinks, I have read it over and over again and am not sure that I have the system set up properly. The remote has too many buttons that don't seem to have anything to do with the reciever, thus making them too small for night time use, wish that it was back lit for this purpose.

I purchased the SR5000 to replace my Denon AVR900 pro-logic receiver, which I loved for the time that I owned it. Although, I am tempted to take the Marantz back and re-install the Denon. My souce component for music is a Rega Planet CD player that blew my mind with the Denon. The Marantz doesn't come close to the musical warmness and soundstaging that I heard with the Denon. I find the sound processors on the Marantz to be too synthetic through my B&W 602's, with the voices too distant and far away. Fortunately, my dealer has an upgrade policy which will allow me to replace this system with-in a year. I intend to do just that. So far, I am very disappointed with the Marantz SR5000 and don't suspect that this will reside in my home for very long. I am not even inclind to rate this receiver yet for my disappointment has overwhelmed me.

Dolby digital processing, surprisingly good two channel

Crappy remote, useless dsp fields

First - the dsp modes are horrible, and in the event marantz'a attention is brought to this, they should just get rid of them. Not sure what their own customer marketing has brought, but other than dolby dig, pro-logic, dts, and 2-channel, the other modes are useless.
Other than that - the receiver itself is very well made. I have been a fan of marantz for quite some time. It is a very good receiver for the price range it is in. My primary use is for movies.
This gets a high reccomendation from me as a general audio enthusiast and huge movie lover. I have the NHT 2.5's and at there are definitely points where the marantz doesn't have the power to really push them through their paces.
Wekanesses - the remote. The remote is definitely a weak point. The older marantz remote i have is much better on its layout and ergonomics. It is a learning remote and is easily programmable, but then hard to remember what you made what since there isn't neccesarily a correlation on the marantz remote to the button on your other remote (TV remote - "last channel" button for e.g., has no correlary on the marantz, and i have to keep on reprgramming it in). But bottom line is, if yo uare looking in this price range (475 from Bargaingiant.com, really good service, quick delivery, they're a good site). definitely put this receiver on the top of your short list. Marantz makes some quality receivers, (unfortunately they make really crappy remotes).

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None, upgrade from older Marantz receiver

Wonderful SOUND - music and movies - for the money.
Tuner is surprisingly good.

Stuff most everybody knows:
1. Lousy manual.
2. Lousy remote.
3. DSP surround fields are worthless (as are all mfr's).
4. Speaker output terminals crowded and flimsy.
5. Lousy information access from Marantz in general.
Stuff that may not be so evident:
1. No 5-channel stereo.
2. Shabby video routing; picture oversaturated, no detail.

Despite a longer list of weaknesses than strengths, this receiver gets high marks. After having installed a Marantz system (which included the SR-7000) for my friend, I thought enough of the quality to get this refurbished SR-5000 for myself to replace the antique Carver processor. Wanted a cheap temporary fix for my system before I move up to a more serious rig (Rotel, Marantz Reference or Bryston).

The sound - whether 2-ch stereo, DTS, DD or pro-logic - is amazing. Smooth, detailed, sweet and plenty powerful. There are certainly better-sounding receivers and separates... if you're willing to throw an extra $1000+ at them.

The lack of 5-channel stereo is a disappointment. Despite my best effort at researching, I wound up mistakenly expecting 5-ch on the 5000 (it's included on the 7000 and sounds great). However, since this setup is temporary, listening to music in pro-logic with the center ch off sounds quite good.

The poor-quality video routing should be especially noted! I was fortunate to have a separate routing system for A/B comparison. I saw one other mention of this problem on this review, which suggests there are at least some faulty units out there. The vendor, AC4L, after having been notified of this, has been very responsive and will 'make it right'. They even went so far as to inspect the video section of both the 5000 and 7000, and reported that the 7000's video section was obviously better-built, better-shielded. Again, I'm opting to run video thru my original router, and keep this 5000, as everything else works fine.

Marantz obviously makes good-quality audio gear at right prices. But their marketing and information leave everything to be desired (ever been to their website?). They make too many receivers, with too little said about the differences. You must do your homework AND confer with a knowledgable Marantz person.

That said, if you want a Marantz receiver that's got it all, spend $2-300 more and go for the 7000. If you want a very modest system whose main focus is home theatre and/or 2-ch stereo, then the SR-5000 is worth considering. Just be willing to scrutinize the video quality!

Similar Products Used:

Marantz SR-7000
Sony TA-E77ESD preamp
Carver DPL33 pro-logic decoder/amp

smooth and harmonic sound on home theatre and stereo

the remote...what were they thinking?

this simply is an excellent amplifier. sure its only 75 watts per channel,but it still performs well at high volume.
its an amplifier you can listen to and does not make you tired.

smooth sound with good depth and no harsh high frequencies. My stereo amplifier is valve/tube and therfore i am used to listening to smooth well rounded sound which the marantz SR5000 definetly provided.

I have it hooked up with

B&W 603
B&W asw 1000
B&W cc6 centre
marantz dvd
qed interconnects

if you love marantz cd players you will love this amplifier

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yamaha 1092
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nakamichi
rotel
sony

Who knows.

Manual, Remote, subwoofer hookup

This may seem silly but the manual for this product is so bad it takes down the whole product. The english section must be only 4 pages long. It looks like it was cut and paste from another product and then badly translated from Japanese. One whole page is devoted to Dolby Pro-logic which isn't even the primary surround mode. Almost no mention of DTS and Dolby Digital.
The is no mention of how to hook up the subwoofer. I used the sub channel from the 6 channel preouts but this seems to be bypassed when not in dolby digital mode. I see no way to have the sub work for both dolby digital and non-dolby digital (any thoughts on this would be appreciated).
The are different modes for each set of speakers (Front, center, rear) that say "Large" or "Small". Unfortunately, the manual is so bad I have no way to know what this means exactly. And this is the problem with the product, it may be a great receiver but it's impossible to know if it is setup correctly. Marantz's web site is also no help. You would think they could at least put up a support e-mail address. The product manager for this receiver should look for a new line of work.
The remote is a complete joke. The must be 40 tiny little buttons that you might use once in a lifetime. The ones used often are just as small and hard to hit.
You may read this review and think "who cares about this stuff, what about the sound?" We'll, it sounds fine.
(Cost $525)

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Yamaha 595A