Sound, Quality and Features

Manual and spec disclosure

I purchased my unit about a month and half ago. I traded up from the SR5000, which is a great sounding unit in its class and price range. Trading up to SR7000 was worth every extra dollar and more. I really love the unit. It's a dream machine in terms of sound quality and features. The five-channel stereo is great, although I do serious listening in the Analog stereo mode. The Dolby Digital sound is good.

The manual is not the best, but that is typical with Marantz these days. The specifications with respect to the unit's performance could be more detailed. I also wish the sub-woofer was operational in Direct mode Vs Auto, but I can live with it.

Speakers:
Fronts: Paradigm Mini Monitors
Rears: Energy Pro 2.5
Front: Minus 7 (X2)
Sub-Woofer: Monitor Audio AS110 inputs have kept me more
DVD: Panasonic A120

Overall the SR7000 is a great product from Marantz, and is highly recommended. The report in "Home Theater Buyer's Guide/Spring 2000" was correct. This unit shagged me as well!

Similar Products Used:

Marantz SR5000, Denon AVR33000

Plenty of inputs, remote, great overall unit

I got this unit a few months ago and have absolutely loved it. The plethora of inputs (5 digital and quite a few svideo/rca inputs) have kept me more than happy. Although the manaul isn't the best piece ever written, the diagram ont he front page was all I needed to get my system hooked up and running. The reciever runs my new paradigm monitor 7s like a dream. The remote that comes with it will hopefully be the last universal remote I'll need (can't beat the learning feature it has) but why they didn't throw a back lit feature on it is beyond me. Oh well. I looked at the Denon and Yamaha lines as well but the Yamaha models I looked at were a little bright and didn't have 5 channel stereo and the Marantz just barely eeked out the Denon models I was looking at (the 100 mark down off the Marantz 7k certainly helped sway me in that direction).

Great product, highly recommended (at least give it a test run).

Clean Crisp Audible Sound

Maybe a gripe with my AllForOne URC-8080 Universal Remote more than this piece of equipment, but it can't deal with this piece of equipment or the SR-5000. AllForOne blames Marantz for not being difficult about allowing other vendors to capture their IR signals

Simply put, this receiver rocks and I oughta know, cause my ears are DAMN picky about clarity-

I have a 70db midrange hearing loss (moderately severe, enough so, without hearing aids, I really have to sit next to you to converse, and talking on the phone is a pain). It's a relatively recent thing, so I have a very good idea of what I'm missing. I wear hearing aids, which are not nearly as good as my ears used to be.

Soooo, I've been building a home theatre because commercial movie theatres are a waste of time for me (the assisted listening devices are awful..even with my ears, I'm usually better off without them). Because my loss is midrange, I need clarity there, and good response everywhere else since I often have to use the high and low "edges" in the midrange to understand the dialogue.

With this receiver, I can watch TV WITHOUT CLOSE CAPTIONING (but still with hearing aids). I haven't been able to do that for a long time! With other equipment, cranking the volume enough to get the midrange loud enough (and an equalizer so the bass won't shake the house) usually causes distortion sufficient to negate any benefit.

With the SR-7000, I have to boost it's midrange +3db (it's definitely less midrangey than the SR-5000) to allow this, but it's absolutely crystal, and undistorted. I can watch TV like anyone else! (Captions completely ruin episodes of "Who's Line is it Anyway", let me tell you!).

Oh, Brian Hancock, I *do* believe you are mistaken about subwoofer output (although I may be wrong here too). You should take a CD with some tracks you know by heart to that store and see how it sounds after you plug it into the SR-7000, or bring a portable CD player with you to plug in to the Marantz for this test. "Source Direct" means that the Marantz does NOT do any processing on the input. If your stereo speakers have built in subs, they would STILL WORK. For us HT nuts, Line-Out for a powered SubWoofer is for the ".1" part of the "5.1" soundtracks...the LFE channel.

I can believe with source direct, the line-out for a subwoofer will be turned off, but This doesn't mean "no bass..sorry". This means that you won't get line-level output to a separate subwoofer...and since it's line level output, you either have to have an amplifier just for it, or it's a powered subwoofer with it's own AC plug. Generally speaking, this type of subwoofer is for us HT nuts. We want to FEEL the Asteroid went it smashes into the planet. We want to be washed up in the wake of the rumble of Enterprise's Impulse Engines as it goes by. The human ear can't localize the location of notes as low as I'm talking about. You don't hear it as much as you feel it. Powered subs are for <100hz stuff, and you don't usually find much of this in music. The reason these devices exist is that music speakers were never intended to do this type of bottom feeding.

If not getting this type of deep bass from your music tracks is "insurmountable", I gotta wonder what type of music youre listening to! Granted, this receiver is aimed more for HT nuts, but I've seen very good reviews with it's capacity to play music. You really have to listen to it before you judge it unacceptable.

-Joe

Similar Products Used:

SR-5000

Clean Sound, tons of functionality

Instruction manual.....c'mon Marantz, are you kidding with this watered-down outline!

This reciever was my first home theater purchase in ten years. Along with this product, I brought home Paradigm Reference 40's, their CC and 15" sub.

I would not consider myself to be a true audiophile, but can tell great products from mediocre ones. My purchasing patterns are usually centered around one thing....research. I looked for three months for the best <$1,000 home theater reciever I could find. So for the past few months, I've been reading journals, reviews and visiting lots of home theater shops - none of which had the SR-7000 in stock. After asking the <$1,000 question, many of the places I visited said something like this: "...Yamaha...blah, blah, blah,....Marantz." Since none of the places I'd visited had the SR 7000 in stock, I was hesitant....but then a friend recommended that I visit this site. After reading the reviews posted here (ignoring the few bitter rantings) and reading the orgasmic review in Home Theater, I bought this reciever without listening to it first. Call me crazy....or not. After waiting six weeks for it to arrive, I hooked it all up this past weekend. (Bi-wired everything, CD-DVD changer, DSS, VCR, TV) The instruction manual stinks - I'm told that most people purchase equipment like this only once a decade - so you'd think that Marantz would consider that when writing their instructions. After little logic and some forehead scratching, things worked out. (the remote took me two hours to program the way I wanted it...but when I was done, all five of my other remotes went into a box in the basement) In order to let the speakers properly break in before I began my assessment, I let the system run all day with the CD player on shuffle. I put "The Matrix" in. With the surround mode set to "auto", it found the Dolby Digital signal and knocked my socks off. I went right to "the Lobby Scene", and found myself and my cat looking over our shoulders for flying concrete and shell casings. On the audi side of things, I put in a recent Sting CD on 5 channel. The sound was clean, and while I know that I'll get some criticism on using the 5 ch. mode for audio, it helps to fill the realitively large room that this system occupies. My technical knowledge is limited, so I'll sum it up with this: the reciever sounds incredibly clean and real, and I am absolutley thrilled with this purchase.

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned Yamaha 795a and 995

Exceptionol sound that is powerful, detailed, and smooth. Remote

No Component Inputs, Remote Not Backlit

I was gonna purchase the Denon because the price went down. I thought it had a unique sound, but after reading a review in HT mag about the Marantz, I decided to give it a tryout. I was not disappointed and my ears were absolutely amazed at the detail and depth presented through this receiver. I purchased it on the spot for full price about $850 including tax. The remote is a cool piece of gear that looks futuristic. The receiver is well built and is damn heavy. I almost drop the damn thing. I mainly purchased this for music and use them with my Def Techs and the sound is articulate, yet confident when producing the fine details of music. You can't go wrong with this fine piece of equipment.

My Gear:
Sony KP43T70
Sony DVP C650 5-disc
Def Tech Pro Cinema 80
Marantz SR-7000
Nintendo 64
Playstation
Playstation 2 (Japanese Version)
Sega Dreamcast

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR-3300

Sound quality, input/output options, ease of setup and use, appearance.

Remote not backlit. Manual is good, just assumes you're an audiophile and I'm not.

I'm no audiophile and I have only used the 7k for a little over a month. So I'm sure there are some features I'm not aware of and haven't used yet. So take this from someone who was a little short on hi-fi knowledge and a little intimidated by all the new technology...but who loves hi quality products and great sounding music/HT.
I read, listened, read and listened for months. In all the reading/research, I was leaning toward this unit before I even walked in the stores. There seemed to be great reviews and very very few instances of problems compared to the HK, Yamaha, Kenwood and Sony. So I listened and compared. I thought this baby sounded as good or better than anything in the range, and it seemed to do all I need. Marantz seems to have excellent quality control and they seem to have constructed a superior product.
People complain about the manual, but I looked at some others and they don't seem to be much better. I think the remote is great. Simple, relatively small for what it can do. Yes, a backlit display and better lit buttons would be nice.
I still have a lot to learn and some more hi-fi to buy, but I feel confident and satisfied with my decision to buy the 7k. I looked long and hard as you must be if you are looking here. If there's a better product for similar money ($679 - Cambridge Soundworks)I couldn't find it.
HT - The Matrix never sounded so good.
Music - Very pleasing even at very high volume. I thought my HK was pretty good. No comparison.

Similar Products Used:

Replaced HK AVR20. Compared to Dennon, HK, Sony, Pioneer Elite.

all

Hard to find some times

This receiver offers Dolbydigital and DTS decoding. After a week of use I could clearly tell that it is he best it has alot of optical in and outs, s-video in and outs and will occomadate all ov your audio video desires.

all in all if you are looking for a new reciver you should put this on the top of your list

Similar Products Used:

Denon

sound and fetures

none

I'm very happy with this receiver so far. To me, the weakness mentioned by Ed (lower review), anologue input indicator, is actually nothing bad. It is just a too sensitive indicator and does not mean neccessarily input signal saturation. The Denon or other receivers do not have this problem is simply because they do not have this feature!!! Forget about it. Actually I can't hear any sign of distortion. Think about this, there is no way that the pre-amp is design to be saturated to all input signals from evry CD player. It's simple, just the indicator is too sensitive.

Similar Products Used:

H/K avr85 and denon 3300

Display is easily read, Good digital inputs and outputs, on screen display, remote is well organized, front auxilary inputs, sleep mode, and the price is very good in contrast to it's competitors

Remote is not back-lit, must turn the volume up high to play loud, peak indicator lights frequently when playing mp3s'.

I would like to begin by saying that this review is written from my perspective and should only be used to gather other people's input.

System:

Receiver: Marantz SR-7000
DVD Player: Toshiba Sd-3109
CD player: old sony 5 disc
TV: Jvc 27"
VCR: Mitsubishi 560
Speakers: Fronts Psb 3lr
Rears Psb 3lr
Center Psb 8c
Speaker cable: Front run Tara labs RSc 1000 Bi-wire
Center and Surround 12gauge silver
interconnects: monster cable 100

I received the Marantz SR-7000 2 days ago and have enjoyed it after the setting up. It was a bit difficult to adapt to the remote and the setup but once I am used to it, I feel it will be enjoyable. This receiver was my final choice after eleminating the two Denons' 2800, 3300. I auditioned both and brought home the 2800 to see how it would handle, Well, the 2800 was to bright with my speakers and gave the highs a "tingy" sound. I then took the 2800 to compare against the Marantz SR-7000. I felt like the marantz had more bass and a larger sound stage. It actually did feel warm and while not providing the sense that "Hey, I'm listening to a great system here" , it did provide the "Hey, I'm listening to something good and it doesn't jump out at me". I then compared the 2 5ch stereo against each other. I would have to say that the Denon grabbed me a bit more but hey, they invented it right?

The digital sound is great, the DTS is fantastic if you have a DVD title, and the whole setup is very pleasing while watching movies.

I beleive I'll keep this reveiver for some time. It provides an excellent soundstage with good depth. Also, my Pops was pleased that I bought a Marantz. The company's been around and everbody knows a good brand. My recommendation would be to find someone on the internet to buy from and snag it for under $700. I bought mine for under $600, so look around and you'll find one.

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR-2800
Pioneer VSX - 24tx
Onkyo 676

Learning remote, power, 5-channel stereo, multi-room/source, need I say more!

The remote is a little strange and the manual is not too helpful.

Like most people I am never completely satisfied with anything, especially with my home theater equipment. I have been through 7 receivers, 3 sets of speakers, and 4 DVD players within a years time (my fiance say I have OCD). The problem is I struggle to find the right system that performs to my standard (whatever that it). I finally settled on a speaker combination that's sufficient (Paradigm Mini-monitors for fronts, CC-350 for the center channel, Titans for rears, and a Klipsch KSW-12 subwoofer), but struggled to find the right amp. I retired my recently purchased Pioneer VSX-498 (on sale for $220 w/4 year warranty - see classifieds) because it is not a high-end receiver, I returned the Onkyo 575 because of that damn hiss. I traded the AVR-1800 for a more powerful 2800 (that burned out on me) and sold the Pioneer VSX-26TX (was also listed in the Classified/Marketplace section) because the THX Ultra certification was overkill for my small apartment. I auditioned the Denon AVR-3300, but could not purchase it because it was out of stock. Read the reviews on this site as well as in Home Theater Buyer's Guide magazine and decided to give it a listen.

Well dear your prayers have been answered, I love this receiver and am completely satisfied. I has everything. It has a learning remote (unlike the Denon AVR-1800). Like the Denon models it has 5 channel stereo (which makes a huge difference when playing music (Pioneer VSX-26TX does not have this feature and for a $1000.00 it should) and watching regular television broadcasts (can finally put all of your speakers to good use). For DSP groupies, it has a nice assortment of those as well. This receiver is a powerhouse (also heavy as hell). The sound is clear as a bell and the bass is outstanding. For the money it is hard to turn your back on. It has everything the highly praised Denon AVR-3300 has (with the exception of music surround capability and 7 channel input)for $250-300 less. I don't have the words to describe, just take a listen and it will brag on itself.

Similar Products Used:

Denon AVR-1800, Denon AVR-2800, Onkyo TS575, Pioneer Elite VSX-26TX