Price, decent sound, very clean look.

Made in China!!!!!!! Not a big fan of that, but it seems everything is now a days. Speaker connections feel a bit on the cheap plasticky side.

I also have to agree with another reviewer here. The PM 7000 is a very fine amp for a very good price. Is it a McIntosh, Creek, or VTL? No,of course not but those amps cost more than 3 times the price or better. While I was researching, I never thought of giving Marantz a listen. In fact I was looking at Parasound. What actually changed my mind was that Parasound was discontinuing some pieces from the classic line. The Halo line was readily available, but also more money. I was trying to build a mid to high end 2 channel stereo for my living room inexpensively. The dealer I am dealing with (Woodbridge) is without a doubt one of the most responsive dealers I have come across. Very helpful and easy going, not pushy or stuffy. Anyway back to the amp. It is a bit lifeless out of the box, but with proper break in, it really is a nice sounding amp. When I bought it and some new Kef Q7's, all I did overnight was play pink noise through it and them. What a great sound! I can only imagine with some more break in time how the amp and speakers will sound. I play a little of everything and so far the amp and speakers sound pretty nice. I have to give this amp a good review. It does everything well for the MONEY. It is fairly musical (with proper break in), is free of a thousand useless and confusing buttons and looks pretty nice in my home.

Similar Products Used:

NAD, Yamaha.

Warm, clear, very detailed sound. I have to turn the volume device only 1/10 of the dial and my room is filled with music. The amp is very heavy that points to a big transformer and power reserve.

The temperature! I don't know why but I put a thermomether on top and it read 46 degree Celsius after three hours. Maybe that's why the PM7200 has a Class A button :-) to switch off the heat. Maybe the PM7000 works for a big part in Class A.

Ok I have to tell you something about my hifi background. I listened 24 years at a Luxman L4 amplifier (60Watt). The last few years the volume device is cracking and its getting worse and worse. So I started looking and asking around about a good amp. I listened to NAD, Denon, Accuphase, Yamaha, Marantz and other high tech stuff I can't pay. I like an amp with a quit, clean and smooth sound character. All salesman said I had to look for a Marantz. I was very lucky because a dealer in neigbourhood had a demo amp for sale, € 298,- a PM7000. Certainly I read all the reviews before I bought this amp and I must say I do not agree with a lot of the negative reviews here. First of all the PM7000 is for me a Technology shock! It has a total clearity I didn't had with the Luxman L4. I think there is a great difference between 1980 electronics and 2000. The sound I hear is warm and clear, the highs are nice and add a good definition to the music. Vocals sound fabulous, and imaging is very good. Overall the amp has a very neutral character. I think thats the reason so many people are not amused about this amp, it's merciless. If the combination doesn't fit you hear it. If you have a bad CD you hear it. I listened to the following music: Helen Schneider - "Back on track" - (vocal rock). Helen has a difficult voice. I hear her singing as she is, raw and hard but beautiful without the sssss-sound I heared from the L4. Fourplay - - (jazz) Track 1, "Let's make love" The voice of Baby Face is nice and soft and clear, a very high definition of the sound of Fourplay. A very dry fundamental bass is present an the background. Track 6, "Heartfelt" The piano and gitar is as it must be. Smooth and gentle, and the gitar with its fast attacks. I heard Bob James live playing at the North Sea Jazz a few years ago. Lisa Franco - "Bigger than Blue" - Lisa Plays on this CD the Romatic harp, the aeolian harp, the folk-rock harp, the groove harp and the rock harp. During the fast attacks you can hear the resonans of her finger/nails on the strings. She can play very soft and gentle but also agressive and hard. This amp is fast! Johan Sebastian Bach - "Famous Organ Works" - Toccata & Fugue in D minor BWV 565. In this part you hear an real fundamental bass from the organ. I put the volume higher in this part and you can really feel the big pipes. I must say it was a very good buy. The combination of my Philips DV622 cd player, the PM7000 and the ASW-Genius 300 speakers is clearly a match. I hear details I never heard before. I've a complete new CD- collection, new loudspeakers as well with this amp.

Similar Products Used:

Luxman L4 (test listening Denon, NAD)

The Marntz PM7200 is a consistant and musical amp which will never tire you. The driving bass of the Arcam is due to the Kef speakers opposed to the Marantz's Tannoy's. But the Marantz is a 5* best buy in What Hifi and nobody would be dissappointed with it. It's very refined especially in Class A mode. It's the least tiring amp I have ever heard and with really good speakers I think would top my Arcam 8R.

Lacks the exitement and assertiveness of some top end amps.

This review is for the PM7200. Wanted to upgrade my Arcam 8R. Took a chance and bought the PM7200 after astonishing review in What Hifi magazine. 95 watts per channelin AB mode, but there is a magic button that switches the amp to class A at 25 watts a channel. Beautiful sweet sound in both A & AB mode but much more liquidly dynamic in A mode. Plenty of real power in both modes. Driving a small pair of Tannoy MX2-M speakers using a NAD 540CD player the sound is full, agile, never harsh. The tannoys can be slightly bland at times but the Marantz stays completely in control with all music. A very good amp indeed. But I run two systems. The other is the Arcam 8R with Kef Q35.2 speakers. The Arcam has that famous British sound. Full, rich and authoritative. The Kefs are fast for a small floorstander. I compare the two systems by playing through both amps using a dual output YAMAHA DVD530. With the Fleetwood Mac "The Dance" DVD set to stereo, the sound through the Arcam is stunning, emotional and full.. The Marantz is a little dull (probably the Tannoy speakers. CD's though through the NAD 540 are both exellent but the Arcam shades it. The Arcam's British sound still tops the Marantz, but the Arcam loses control over certain types of music at times, which the Marantz never does.

Similar Products Used:

NAD 350, ARCAM 8R. Various Musical Fidelity amps

Cheap; clean sound and imaging is fairly good.

Everything else.

It's a waste of my money buying this junk. It broke down 2 times within 10 months. I just feel like being ripped off by Marantz. It has poor Mid-range and muisc is rather unexciting and lifeless. Why it was awarded by EISA is beyond me. Avoid this amp and spend a bit more on other brands and you will feel better rewarded.

Similar Products Used:

NAD c370, Exposure 2010, Rotel 1060.

When I baught it it was because of its clear sound and good bass performance. And the price/ performance combination

Not a verry well built product. Not reliable. It broke down two times within half a year. I cannot have any confidence in this product

Because of the good and detailed sound . the excellent bass performance and not at least the good reputation of Marantz I bought this amplifier in august 2002. Soon it would be clear that it was not what expected from a brand like Marantz After only two month it broke down completely and needed an reparation at a several points.This lasted more then five weeks. When it came back the sound had changed. It has become less claer. But the story wasn't over yet. Only 3 month later it broke down again at the same point it did at the first time. Replacemant was impossibble and so it went to the national importer again. My confidence in this product has raeched the level of zero

Similar Products Used:

none

The warm sound tradition of Marantz continues, but I find that the mids and highs are nice and clear. Vocal ensembles sound fabulous, and imaging is very good. Not a wimpy amp by any stretch. Tone control by-pass. A lot of bang for your buck.

CD-R input is not one that you can use to listen to CDs, for some reason. Remote is wimpy, but who cares? It allows you to change volume and sources. Speaker connects on back are NOT 5-way binding posts, and I wish they were. They are a little cheap feeling, but they do work.

I have been a big fan of Marantz since I was first introduced to it about 10 years ago, at which time Marantz had apparently been staging a comeback from its slump in the 80s. As a result, I was predisposed to try a Marantz amp with my speakers, a pair of NHT VT1.4s. I had found that the 1.4s, 89 db sensitivity and 6 omh impedance, were way too much for my crappy old Sony. I shopped around and found that, for a 2 channel amp/receiver (I agree with Patrick Wilson's comments on 5.1 vs 2) I was limited to Yamaha, Onkyo, Denon, Harmon-Kardon, Marantz, and Rotel. Of these, I really was only interested in Marantz and Rotel. Unfortunately, Overture was uncooperative in allowing me to test drive any Rotel products. (They claimed that they normally only do AV installations, and that they'd have to special order any Rotel and that I'd have to buy it for them to do that.) So, I took the Marantz home and... it was beautiful. No problems driving the NHTs to obscene levels. The highs are crisp and clear, but not painfully bright - which can be a problem with NHTs. And, for the first time, the lows really rang out. I was impressed anew by Bach's Passacaglia and Fuge in D. It was if I had plugged in a completely new pair of speakers. System is NHTs, Marantz PM7000, Philips CD player, cheap interconnects, and 12 gauge speaker cable.

Similar Products Used:

None, really. But, I tried it and liked it; what is more important than that?

Crisp, clear and smooth sound. Not too warm but just warm enough to keep that Marantz sound. Price was fantastic. Power to spare!

Its damm big. Not really a weakness but I liked the size and look of the Rotel unit better. But all Marantz stuff is big.

I was building a small 2 channel stereo system in my computer room and wanted to keep the price within $800 total but keep it high quality. Being a fan of Marantz products I immediately considered the PM7000 integrated amp. I looked around at others first and auditioned a Rotel Inegrated, can't remember the name but it was $500 and very nice. I listened to an Arcam unit as well which was nice. But price was my goal here so I picked the Marantz without auditioning. I already own an SR7000, an SR5200 and a stack of Marantz monoblocks so I know what they generally sound like and I like. I picked up some Canton Nestor 403 speakers from AC4L as well and picked up an NAD 520 CD player from Audiogon. I then splurged on good wiring and got Audioquest Slate speaker cable on sale from Audioadvisor and Audioquest Diamondback RCA's off ebay. After breaking the speakers and wires in for a few months I can say I'm very happy with the overall setup and the amplifier is clearly the core of it. The sound is much less "warm" than my other Marantz gear. My 5200 is running Paradigm Titans and my SR7000 preamps the Marantz monoblocks and Paradigm Monitor 11 speaker based home theater. I find the PM7000 far more crisp and clear and less warm, but not boring or too revealing either. It still keeps that smooth, warm sound with heavy rock and classic rock. A lot of that is no doubt attributed to the speakers. I havn't made up my mind on the Cantons yet. They are very different to Paradigm speakers which I typically listen to. However the Marantz unit drives them with authority and the clarity is just stunning. There is so much more detail in the music now that I have ever heard. I can listen to the setup for hours at end. I usually listen to heavy rock like White Zombie, Tool, Helmet, Crystal Method and whatnot. Eventually I'll compare them with some Paradigm Studio-20's but for now I am enjoying them. Who knows, maybe I'd like them better anyway (although I doubt it. personally I don't care for bookshelves at all but that's what I need for this room) When auditioning products I played a lot of these heavier tracks and feel that the Marantz played them the best. I brought a Ned's Atomic Dustbin CD and a Dvorak classical CD to my auditions, and clearly super high end equipment made Dvorak sound amazing. But Ned's sounded like crap - it sounds great on the Marantz though, just great. You may not be a Ned's fan and that's understandable, but most heavy rock isn't recorded well and I think the Marantz just smooths out the rough edges and makes it sound damn good. My conclusion was that Marantz, although not super duper high end, plays rock better - or at least dollar cost better than scrazy high end gear. For $300 I'm thrilled and am listening to Audioslave on it as I type this. I do agree with other reviews that it doesn't play well really soft. Louder is better. System Marantz PM7000 integrated NAD 520 CD player Audioquest Slate Speaker Cable Audioquest Diamondback RCAs Canton Nestor 403 bookshevles

Similar Products Used:

Marantz SR7000, SR5200, MA700 & MA6100. Tested a Rotel and Arcam integrated. Lots of other receivers.

Power, power, and of yeah, power! Clarity and consistency even at high volume. Price goes to amplification, not trite extra features.

Won't win over any low-volume bed-wetters. No offence to bed-wetters. Boring, not flashy (see above)

A while ago I went searching for a stereo amplifier. I had a surround receiver. Why go from 5.1 channels to 2? Simple. 5.1 channels of crap < 2 channels of music. My system I bought this for is not a dedicated dvd system anyhow, only music, so I wanted all my money to be spent of two channels. I don't need many features, just basic source switching and remote volume control. The Marantz PM7000 gives me plenty of juice in a very managable, simple setup. What first struck me when listening to this system was its absolutely EFFORTLESS power compared to my old receiver which is rated at 10 watts per channel higher. I must agree that in exchange for its prodigeous power, this amp may not sound extraordinary at low volumes. I don't really find this to be a problem, however, because if I need to listen at a low volume I just plug my Sennheisers in =) Critically speaking, here's what I think of the amplifier. It has plenty of reserve power for rock and electronic music, but it especially shines when playing bombastic orchestral pieces. Its mids are uncluttered even at high volumes but are not extraordinary. The highs are there and sing beautifully, but are not overemphacised. They sparkle but do not sting, which is an considerable feat considering my bright source. The bass on this amplifier, is, to say the VERY least, phenominal. Its depth and clarity are shown when playing classical music, and its visceral strength is show when playing techno. Smack My B*tch Up by The Prodigy gives you a taste of chest-punch as I like to call it =) Aesthetically speaking, this amp is simple, elegant, uncluttered, and somewhat boring. I'm glad they spent their money on the amplification section rather than a 32bit LCD screen! In order to get a since of whether or not this amplifier is for your system by comparison, my current system consists of: Speakers: B&W DM602S2 Subwoofer: Definitive Tech ProSub 100TL Cables: Monster Cable Int. Amp: Marantz PM7000 Source: SoundBlaster Live! 5.1

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Adcom, Denon, Sony, Integra, Technics integrated amps and receivers.

Lots of power, good clean sound, Its heavy, so you know its built solid.

I agree with the need for it to be turned up louder, it kind of taunts you when the volume is at an above average level, and the volume knob is only up 3/8ths of the way. Also, the binding posts are plastic, but thats not too big of a weakness, the just feel like theyre breakable. There are no pre outs, but if you want a record signal, you can send it out through either a tape or cdr output, and if you want a preout with volume control, to run a sub or something likewise, the headphone jack can be used, although not techincally pre-outs, these are signal outs, and get the job done.

Lots of power. Although I actually clipped it the first day when listening to the 1812 overture, when the cannons come in. I was using cheap speaker cable at the time, and went and got a decent set of monster interconnects (400 mkII) and some legacy 12 gauge speaker cables. It was immediately twice as loud, and twice as sweet, and the cables havent even been worn in yet. Over all, For the money, I think this amp is an excellent deal. I shopped for a long time, and this was the best amp I found to fit a <$300 budget. There were others, but the reviews on this page convinced me.

Similar Products Used:

none

Sound

can't play at very low level

I think it's one more nice product from MARANTZ... ...Sweet, warm sound, deep soundstage, involving...so on. Strange but I like it more than PM-17 (even KI signature).

Similar Products Used:

pm-6010, pm-8000, some products from other brands.