Balanced sound reproduction, Excellent DD and DTS playback, Extremely virsatile, Great remote, multiroom/multisource, 5-channel stereo, 5 digital inputs (all assignable), two digital outputs

Compared to others in the same price range, None.

I've owned this unit for about two months and am very pleased with its performance. I upgraded from a Yamaha 795a because its lack of digital inputs and s-video switching. The Marantz has the features I need to accomodate all of my digital sources and then some.

The sound quality is hard to beat, better than Yamaha and Denon. I was lucky enough to do an in home A/B comparison with the Denon 3300 and the Marantz. They sounded similar although the Marantz was just a bit fuller and more pleasing to my ears during music playback. DD and DTS sounded nearly the same but it did seem as if the Marantz more cleanly delineated the sounds from each of the five main channels. Both units were comparably quit and only exhibited the slightest hiss when analog sources were selected and the volumes turned up to near maximum. However, neither unit showed any hiss when digital sources were selected. (The Yamaha I originally owned displayed quit a bit more hiss when tested in the same fashion as the Denon and Marantz.)

I paid $720.00 for the SR-7000 from my local audio store. If you're looking for an inexpensive yet high-quality piece of gear, the Marantz SR-7000 is hard to beat. Give it an audition.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha 795a, Denon 2800 & 3300

Features, quality, performance, remote

Manual is poor

In shopping for a new receiver to upgrade to DD, I decided to move up a notch or three from my old JVC receiver and get something that was high quality without breaking the bank. High quality for ME, that is. Marantz quickly came to the front after reading lots of reviews here and also listening to/seeing/playing with other receivers in the same price range such as Onkyo, Denon, H/K, the usual suspects. I chose the Marantz because of the ease of use and the great sound. I chose the SR-7000 over the SR-8000 or S-19 because of budget concerns, my only reservation being not getting the RC2000MKII remote control that comes with the others. More on that later.

I brought it home and hooked it up to:
Panasonic A-100 DVD player (DD out, no DTS out)
JVC VCR
JVC CD changer
Panasonic TV
5 speakers, no sub. (All to be updated next round!)

Fairly quickly, I was able to get CD sound. But my main goal was to get the DVD playing so that I could watch Run, Lola, Run with my fiancee. The picture was feeding through the receiver to the TV, but no sound through the TOSLINK cable. It took me a while to figure out that DVD was not assosciated with the digital input that I thought it would be. I had errantly assumed that 1 would be on top and 5 would be on bottom on the back of the receiver. It's not. So, I finally got that working, and then sat down and watched the movie. All of this with NO help from the manual, which as others have stated, is the strangest English you've ever read. The only thing useful I got out of it was how to program the remote.

The movie. I'd never seen the movie before, but I was amazed at the sound coming out of my speakers. DD is so superior to Dolby, it isn't even funny. I don't have a DTS DVD player, so I can't comment on that. I later watched a bit of Goldeneye, which I HAD seen in regular Dolby Surround, and for sure, the sound quality was spectacularly better than before. This with no tweaking other than setting the proper sizes for the speakers and no sub, i.e. I didn't mess with the speaker distances/volume until later.

The remote...I programmed all of my remotes into the Marantz remote with no difficulty. I love the remote, it does what I need to do, and although the backlight is not lit, it does glow for some time after the lights go out, and the glow doesn't drain the batteries. It's well laid out and easy to use. It's wonderful having one remote instead of 5! It's light, well balanced, and not the beast that the RC2000 is. So I'm not disappointed.

Other than DD ... I've used the 5-channel stereo, and I'm not a fan, yet. Not with this particular one, just the concept in general. Maybe after some more use I'll like it. Jury's still out on that one. Tuner was a snap to have it program the presets by itself, and you can label up to 8 characters of text for each station. It has AM/FM/LW, although I haven't seen LW do anything yet (long wave? ham radio? beats me, the manual doesn't tell me diddly-squat)

For me, I am extremely pleased with this receiver, especially in the price range. I think that the looks, layout, controls, sound, etc. were better than all others in it's class. It has enough inputs/outputs on the back to suit my needs. My single only gripe is with the manual. There are a few things I'm still trying to figure out (getting TV volume to control the receiver volume, for example), and a well written manual would be a nice thing. Fortunately, the receiver isn't too difficult to figure out. One more desire would be to have a button on the remote to turn the display on the receiver off. You can do that from the receiver, and from the remote would be nice. Maybe it's there, but I haven't found it yet. The on screen display is a MUST to get everything set up properly, too.

Definitely put the SR-7000 on your list of receivers to play with and listen to. I'll be surprised if you're disappointed for the money. I'm tickled, and I've had it for two days. Marantz just needs to not use the babelfish to translate the manual to English, for crying out loud!

Stong clean sound. Price from Uncles Stereo well under 700 dollars. 5 Channel Stereo.

Yes the manual is on slim side. Not a big weakness but this puppy is big.

This is a sweet puppy. Sound is crisp and no hum or buzz at all. Dvd definitely comes to life now. I bought this strictly on the reviews here and I am definitely happy I did. Uncles Stereo was cheap, delivered double boxed and was very fast. I have only had it a short while,so i am sure some tweaks need to be made, regardless, this thing rocks.

Power, sound quality, looks, remote

Poorly written manual

This is a great receiver. I was initially interested in a Harman Kardon 85, but read about quality problems with it on this site. I then decided on a Yamaha RXV995 or a Denon AVR3300, but a friend purchased a Marantz SR5000 and really liked it so I did some checking on Marantz and read reviews. I decided to get either the 7000, 8000, or the SR 880II. I went down to the dealer, the 8000 is sold out. The price on the 880II is still $100 higher than the 7000, and the 880 does not have 5-channel music surround, equal power to rear channels, or 96/24 DACs.

I listened to the 7000 and was sold! I took one home and hooked it up. I find this is a huge upgrade from my Technics SA-GX770 (Pro-logic only).

I don't see how anybody who cares about quality and who has a budget of $800 to $1200 could find a better receiver. I must say the manual is very lame, I'm sure there are features that aren't even mentioned in this poor excuse for a manual. At least the Technics manuals are good.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha 995, Denon 3300, Technics GA-AX7

Looks nice, very fair price.

Hiss in store was very pronounced... :(

I'm trying to find a new DD HT receiver, and I've been reading everything on this site for a month. I finally took some CDs and my awesome Sony MDR-V6 headphones down to a reputable stereo store to compare the Onkyo 777 with the Marantz SR-7000 (I specifically listened for hiss, Onkyo has had some bad units). With the Onkyo, there was no hiss whatsoever. I mean, compared with every single other receiver in the whole store (yes, I listened to all briefly with no input and on high volume) it was THE ONLY ONE that had NO HISS whatsoever. That was impressive. The sound was really nice, too, but the treble controls jump in increments that are too large. I either got "slightly too much", or "not quite enough" treble. The bass sounded really nice, totally smooth and realistic, not boomy, and not lacking at all. However, the overall sound seemed to be noticably lacking mid-range. Has anyone else felt this way about it? I'm used to my old receiver which has a mid-range EQ control that I use a lot... :( But, this amp really was awesome, perfectly transparent amplification, no hiss or distortion of any type. Then I checked out the Marantz SR-7000, and there was so damn much hiss, I couldn't even hear the music! I asked the salespeople if something was wrong, I let them listen, too, and they said, "Wow, that sounds terrible"! The Marantz also had no mid-range EQ control, but was worse than the Onkyo because it had waay too much mid range, and totally changed the original sound of all my CDs. And you can't turn down the mid, it's just totally annoying. It also took a great deal more power to deliver the same volume as the Onkyo (even though it is rated about the same wattage), and therefore added even more hiss. The Marantz also has no phono input, which seems crazy... Why take that away? Real audiophiles, people who really love music, have LPs as well...? So, Marantz was out after that. Does anyone have feedback re the Marantz? What was that all about? I was expecting an awesome sound from that unit, and it was horrible! I have an old Marantz now, and I love it. :( I'll give 4.5 stars so I don't throw off the average...

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo TX-DS777

Looks, Sound quality, and remotes

Instructions a little hard to read.

I purchased this unit mainly because my
Father had an old Marantz reciever, probably
from the 60's. He never had a problem with his
so I figured I would give this 7000 a try. WOW!!!
Totally impressed. Sounded ten times better
than my old 870 Yamaha. Dvd movies explode
in front of you. The optical hookups are really
trick also. The reciever leaves you lots of room
to expand. I also bought Marantzs big learner
remote that lights up, also a nice unit really like
the Macro buttons. This unit brought my surround
speakers alive also. Great Bang for the Buck!!!
Im running:
Marantz 7000
Panasonic DVD
pioneer LD Player
Sonny DSS
36 Toshiba
Infinity fronts
Yamaha center
Yamaha surround
Phoenix Gold opctical cords
Monster cables
Yamaha powered sub (8 inch)
Marantz RC2000MkII Learning remote control

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RX-V870, looked at Dennon and NAD

Sound more comparable to high end equipment, Plenty of digital inputs and outputs, multiroom/multisource

Binding Posts could be bulked up, No backlit remote

I posted on this recever below after extensive auditioning. Now I own it so I had to post again to hopefully add some information to others researching this item.

From the techtalk forum:

I thought that I should post a follow up for all those who replied to my post concerning the Marantz SR7000. I had no idea that my original questions would result in a small debate of Martha Stewart’s babe status. Oh well, it was fun. I bought the Sr7000 and I can tell that it is a great piece of gear. I auditioned and researched many other units up to $1000 and the Marantz offered the best sound I could find with all the necessary features. Here’s what I found. Yamaha products are really good but have a sound quality that is too active. The highs are too pronounced for my liking. Onkyo was close but too had a sound that didn’t sound as natural as the Marantz. Denon was the closest in terms of quality but I still found the Marantz a slight bit fuller in the bass region. Additionally, the Denon (AVR3300) didn’t have enough coaxial digital inputs and no digital outs; if it weren’t for that I could have been happy with it. The remote on the Sr7000 is superior to the others but is tremendously flawed due to no back-lighting. I had to go for the upgrade, RC2000Mk2.
I am into good budget gear and found that the SR7000 works well with my speakers (Paradigm minis for all 5 channels) and my budget subwoofer (Klipsch KSW-12). Some day I plan to buy a really nice (budget in terms of audiophile standards) system with some Paradigm active 40s as the primary L/R channels and possibly a Servo 15. I am glad that the Marantz can serve as the pre amp until I can invest in a dedicated pre/pro. One step at a time.

Let me tell you about the music I first threw at the Sr7000 and my impressions. First listening were jazz recordings, classical ensembles/symphonic works including the LA Guitar Quartet, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Debussy’s La Mer, Mahler’s Symphonies 2 and 6, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Holst’s The Panets, and some modern movie soundtracks such as Dark City (Stravinsky quoted), Gladiator (Wagner quotations throughout). Next I moved to some multichannel stuff, mainly DTS demo goodies and some DD demos. I also tried some metal, techno, and pop genres. The 2-channel performance was excellent and sounded more like separates I’ve auditioned in the past (sub woofer hooked up through main pre-outs and unit set to "small" for all speakers, except fronts on "Large", and sub to "no". With this hook up I can still add some low end when listening in Direct Mode). On to multi-channel movie excerpts, great full sound with plenty of oomph. My wife smiled like crazy while we listened, by the way. I wish we had all night to listen but we had already spent many hours by the time we ended our listening session.

I really believe that the receiver and speaker combo is a great match. The Paradigm speakers have a dynamic quality that can sound overbearing with Yamaha and Onkyo products, especially if you have live room acoustics. With the Marantz, the sound was extremely even and transparent. I don’t believe I could achieve a better sound with the total price I paid for the receiver and speaker combo: $790 for SR7000 and RC2000Mk2 remote, $1,000 for all six speakers - $540 for four minimonitors, $150 for one video-shielded minimonitor, and $280 for the KSW-12, Radio Shack Gold Series interconnects, and Home Depot speaker wire-I don’t prescribe to the high-end wire ideology. Good stuff for just around $2000. Thanks for the information and the legitimate reviews.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RXV995, 1000, Denon 3300, 2800, Onkyo 777, 676, Sony 333es

Build quality, made in Japan appearently.

Weak sound, actually found that the rated 100w goes to around 85 in full 5 channel play (although goes to 110 in 2 channel). No component input, no equalizer settings, backlit remote.

I tried this receiver out based on the reviews found here. Since I was a bit dissappointed, I decided to write my own take on what I found. I'll list the good parts of what I found first. Home theater was ok, the bass came through as I expected. Now on to the bad parts.

Five channel stereo is weak, I though that it would sound nice, but after I listened to it - I would never listen to that stuff again.

No dsp settings, no nothing on equalizer stuff. I thought the bass and trebel settings might make up for it, but it only made the music sound ohhh so awful!

800 bucks and no component connections? What gives?

I was really dissappointed with the reciever. Taking it back for either a discontinued sony 777 or maybe the 7.1 Onkyo (although that's a bit more expensive.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo, Yamaha, Sony, Pioneer Elite.

Ergonomics, Price, Cool running, Home Theater modes

Digital Stereo, Remote

I bought this unit entirely by reputation, I did not listen to it nor any other receivers beforehand. I just wanted something not too expensive to replace the Yamaha integrated amp which I'd used for many years. I've never considered the Yamaha to be anything above mid-fi so didn't think I needed to spend a lot of money to get similar sound. My speakers consist of PSB Alphas and 200C (have had for a few years) and a recently bought PSB Subsonic 5. Part of the intent was to use the bass management features of the receiver to divide the spectrum between these speakers, setting them all to Small and using the Sub out.

I spent a few days adjusting for ProLogic use (I have no 5.1 sources yet), didn't have everything quite balanced right but felt I'd be able to get there. Performance seemed good, I thought that center channel dialog was a bit more articulate with the Marantz than it had been with the Yamaha (one of my, and my wife's, common complaints).

The first opportunity (wife out of the house) to really evaluate two-channel stereo music CDs left me quite dissappointed, however. The sound lacked depth, separation, and dynamics, it simply was not enjoyable to listen to. It sounded cheap, making me wonder if this was why many people don't like receivers, period. I seriously considered taking it back, and getting something like the SR-19 or (gulp) the SR-18, as they are touted to have more separates-quality sound. After doing some more internet research I found a few mentioned that they only listened to music in the "Source Direct" mode. I had not done much with this mode because there is no Sub Out signal with 2-channel sources, no high-pass to the L/R speakers and no tone control (I prefer to knock down the treble on the Alphas a bit, as they are kind of bright for my room and/or taste).

Anyway, I tried it that night and could tell right away it was the only way to go for music, it sounded "right" to me again. The manual does mention using this mode for "purest audio reproduction" and I guess they really mean it. Further, it sounded best with the input coming from the analog outputs of the CD player. But, this means doing the bass management myself, using the homebuilt outboard active crossover I'd been using in the older setup. Unfortunately the Marantz has no power-amp inputs, so I have to feed the L/R pre-out into the x-over and from there into a separate Hafler stereo power amp I just happened to have laying around doing nothing for several years (I considered opening up the receiver to see how easy it would be to get access to the power amps but thought that would be rather foolish with a 3-week old unit, and presumably the Hafler would be better anyway). I now have the L/R speakers set to Large and the Sub Out to OFF, leaving Center and Surrounds as small. I also added a few more components to the x-over to roll off the treble a gentle amount.

This all works quite well, so I'm keeping it after all. I've gathered most competing receivers have the same type of direct mode for the same reason, so didn't see any point in trying another. I'd caution those that consider stereo music a priority to either make sure they like their L/R speakers driven full-range with no tone control or be prepared to do something like I did. I can't imagine anyone being happy with the digital Stereo mode, unless they just don't know better.

Contrary to many here I didn't think much of the remote, though perhaps this is because I've been using a Home TheaterMaster SL-9000 for many months. There's no comparison in usability, in my opinion.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha DSP-A1000

home theater performing

stereo

My dealer told me wait until the new Marantz 7000 comes.
Well I own a Marantz PM 80 mkII SE amplifier and I wish to get into the rea of home theater without loosing quality on the stereo reproduction.
My expectetions where high. I am very pleased with my Marantz amplifier PM 80 and news from Marantz is often good news for music lovers. But boy what am I disappointed. The 7000 is good with dts en digital reproduction but in Stereo the artist sounds like he's singing from behind a curtain. I listened to Hell freeses over from the Eagles, to spciall;y recorded Chesky records and it was a nightmare. My own equipment at home sounds a lot better. To compare receivers I tried at the same time the Denon 3300 and I could not belkieve my ears. The Denon kicks the Marantz ass in every way.
I am still not certain if the Denon sounds the same as my old PM 80 but certainly far better than the 7000.
If the Marantz 7000 which I listened is a good example of performance of this model than Marntz is in serious trouble. It can not compete in any way with the Denon 3300.

So if you are a music lover and Marantz fanatic as I am give the 7000 a chance but listen and compare with the Denon 3300
Your ears will tell.

Similar Products Used:

denon avr 3300, marantz PM 80 mkII SE