Video Asylum

Posted by Rob A. (i) on November 21, 2000 at 23:53:07:

In Reply to: Re: Need advice upgrading A/V Receiver & DVD posted by Rich H on November 21, 2000 at 11:15:44:

Rich,

The Marantz RS-7000 is on its way to becoming reciever of the year. With that said I will give my opinion. To me the $800 (no deals) price range is a waste of money. For $400 to $600 you get the same features except on screen display of the remote and some additional power in competitor models. Or if you are just in "love" with the sound.
At $1000 you definetly get more usable features to move into the future with. The Dennon AVR-3801 has 7.1 inputs and outputs (105W each) DTS 6.1 decoding, ES and DDEX as well as compatible with 1080i, 2 componant video inputs etc. it is loaded with features the Marantz RS-7000 can't touch. I can talk my wife into paying more money for these if it is in the budget.
But saying it has better "warm" sound and plays louder for $200 to $400 is a losing battle against a new bathroom. If you can't afford something in the $1000 range I would go with one of the $400 to $600 models I mentioned and have a new toy for 12 or 18 months or so and let your wife know you are making a sacrifice for the bathroom. Then in 12 or 18 months when the technology has settled in on a very unstable AV market you can shop a better toy with more features for less money. If you are stuck with your decision for a long time and can't go $1000 go with the Marantz RS-7000.

The Marantz RS-5000 isn't a bad trade off for $600 but I think the Outlaw 1050 is a much better receiver for that money. That is unless you are in "love" with the Marantz sound. Listen to some of these and judge for yourself if you don't care about features. Bring your speakers in to the dealer if they won't let you take the receivers home with a very liberal return policy.

In my opinion you buy a DVD for compatiblity with your TV not your receiver. The Marantz RS-7000 has no componant inputs so you are only going to run the audio through it. Any receiver will take audio input and put it to your speakers. The video is where you can have problems. Sony TV's and rear screen projections like Sony DVD's. Many other brands are less particular. Do a search on your TV here and see what the DVD challenges other owners are having with your model.
Just my 2 cents.