try to find some of the '70s vintage gear. I had a 2275 when i was in high school, my brother still has it. sounds good and has tons of output to satisfy the need for HT explosions and the tuners are great as an added benifit |
I auditioned both before buying a marantz 8200 with upgrades from accessoies 4 less.com and paid 999.The marantz is a better amp for music and HT is so forgiving that almost any mid to high end will sound good.You will appreciate your music a lot more when playing on a sweet amp Go with the Marantz and you will be a happy camper! |
i'm not going to get into a shouting match over build quality between lexicon and levinson cause i honestly don't care for either of them. just used them as an example...harmon kardon owns both companies plus revel just like D&M holdings owns denon, marantz, and mcintosh... |
Just because someone has the latest gizwitchy doesn't make them a quality built product. Lexicon has built some really questionably priced pieces. Have you ever looked inside of a Lexicon and then compared the parts and build quality to Levinson? That's where I'm coming from. And yes, I have seen a lot cheaper units with equal or better internal quality than Lexicon. Marketing is a wonderful thing! Why don't you take a peak and see where some of those pieces parts in that Lexicon come from. Might just be surprised. Lot closer to Harmon Kardon and others than you might think! |
harmon kardon over lexicon processors? what planet do you live on? agreed that the amplifiers aren't in the same class as levinson but the lexicon processors are far above harmon kardon. especially w/ the logic 7 processing that was developed by lexicon. that's why you see many new movies using L7 in the production of the movie (both lord of the rings movies used L7).....anyway, the denon and marantz are very close at that level...the denon will give you a few more bells and whistles. |
I agree with Cdelplato.
The marantz do do music better. i think Denon has the edge on the HT department. Thats why i got it. This will be powering my Mid-level HT. once i get into my new house and get the basement finished (2 years down the road) im going to build a REAL home theater, in which i will go with seperates and projection, sconce lighting, the whole 9 yards.
For a livingroom setup this denon fits my need perfectly.
then i also gotta build a 2ch up in the loft.
I have so much to buy its so exciting! |
I have a SR7200 and have been quite pleased. More music-friendly than the equivalent Denons.
CD |
I like my denon 3803.
I also liked the marantz 7300, but in the end i decided the 3803 was a better choice for me.
Peace, Love, and Applesauce |
When you are dealing with higher end stuff, I agree. But we're talking receivers here. If you did a survey, I think you find as many pro Denon as pro Marantz. Sorry I have to disagree but they will have a tendency to share at this level. Also, I would not really want to put Lexicon in the same class as Levinson myself. I might choose certain Harmon Kardon over some of the Lexicon stuff! |
The two companies are OWENED by Denon&Marantz holdings. They also own Mcintosh now. However, they still do independent r&d and such. The Marantz pieces sound better musically. The midrange opens up and is a bit smoother. The Denons tend to be heavy on the bass and cold sounding on the mids. You also get a 3yr warrenty w/ the Marantz vs a 2yr w/ the Denon....on a side note..just because two companies are owned by the same people doesn't mean they're equal in performance...that's like saying harmon kardon is just as good as levinson or lexicon...NOT |
Didn't Marantz and Denon merge at some point a while back? Seems I read that somewhere. Seems the parent companies joined up. If this is truly the case, I would think the newer products would probably be about equal.
I have liked the performance of the older Marantz like the SR19 and SR18 receivers. I thought you got a little more for your money. |
I have the Marantz SR 7200, and have been very happy with it. I use it for mostly home theater though, driving B&W 602's, LCR60 & LM1's. |
check out a denon 3803. they sound a bit better with music than the 2802 2803 or 3802 did...
i havent used marantz personally, but i have also heard they are a little better with music. theck out the 7300, it has good specs.
here is the marantz 7300, im sure it is comparable to the marantz 7200. If you have acrobat you can download the owners manuals
ENGLISH
FM TUNER SECTION
Frequency Range .................................... 87.5 - 108.0 MHz
Usable Sensitivity ................................ IHF 1.8 µV/16.4 dBf
Signal to Noise Ratio ....................... Mono/Stereo 76/72 dB
Distortion ........................................ Mono/Stereo 0.2/0.3 %
Stereo Separation ........................................... 1 kHz 45 dB
Alternate Channel Selectivity ................... ± 300 kHz 60 dB
Image Rejection ........................................... 98 MHz 70 dB
Tuner Output Level ................ 1 kHz, ± 75 kHz Dev 800 mV
AM TUNER SECTION
Frequency Range ....................................... 520 - 1710 kHz
Signal to Noise Ratio ................................................. 50 dB
Usable Sensitivity ............................................ Loop 400V
Distortion ...................................... 1 kHz, 30 % Mod. 0.5 %
Selectivity ................................................... ± 20 kHz 70 dB
AUDIO SECTION
Power Output (20 Hz - 20 kHz/THD=0.08%)
Front L&R ............................................. 8 ohms 105 W / Ch
Center ................................................... 8 ohms 105 W / Ch
Surround L&R ....................................... 8 ohms 105 W / Ch
Surround Back ...................................... 8 ohms 105 W / Ch
Front L&R ............................................. 6 ohms 130 W / Ch
Center ................................................... 6 ohms 130 W / Ch
Surround L&R ....................................... 6 ohms 130 W / Ch
Surround Back ...................................... 6 ohms 130 W / Ch
Input Sensitivity/Impedance .................. 168mV/ 47 Kohms
Signal to Noise Ratio(Analog Input / Source Direct) ..... 105 dB
Frequency Response (Analog Input / Source Direct)
................................................... 8 Hz - 70 kHz ( 3 dB)
VIDEO
Television Format ...................................................... NTSC
Input Level/Impedance .............................. 1 Vp-p/75 ohms
Output Level/Impedance ........................... 1 Vp-p/75 ohms
Video Frequency Response ........... 5 Hz to 8 MHz (- 1 dB)
S/N ........................................................................... 60 dB
GENERAL
Power Requirement ................................... AC 120 V 60 Hz
Power Consumption480 W
Weight .................................................... 26.9 lbs (12.2 Kg)
ACCESSORIES
Remote Control Unit RC7300SR ....................................... 1
AA-size batteries .............................................................. 2
FM Antenna ....................................................................... 1
AM Loop Antenna .............................................................. 1
Specifications subject to change without prior notice. |
We use the Marantz SR-19EX to drive Magnepans up front for music and HT. We also have it driving a Magnepan center and M&K rears. I just cannot say enough good things about the Marantz. I have tried a number of seperate amps thinking I would improve the Magnepan performance and found the difference was either EXTREMELY small, offered nothing at all, or even sounded worse. The Marantz is a very well balanced product offering veru high end sound in a single package for serving 2-channel music, multi-channel music, and HT. |
I have the 18EX THX and am using it with Thiel 1.5s, as well as for the occasional DVD and am very happy with it and the power it gives. Am using a Denon 3802 also mainly for HT with M&K THX speakers, and although it sounds great for DVD's, there just isn't the same depth of soundstage as the Marantz. Course, can't compare the M&K with the Thiels. |
