I was looking at the Marantz SR5000 and the SR7000. The only difference I see is that the SR7000 has more power (100 vs. 70 W), a better remote and more digital input. Do you know if there is any difference in sound quality or other relevant features? Since anyway I'm planning to get a universal remote (Philips Pronto) and I don't need much power I was thinking that the SR5000 would probably be a better fit and I could save ~ $ 200. Also what's your opinion on the SR5000 for listening to CD's (mostly classical music)? I read in several reviews that Marantz receivers have a superior sound quality for music as compared to other HT receivers in the same price range. I would appreciate your comments. Thanks.

not that it's any help, but i recently posted here asking about a good brand reciever that has good balance for both ht and audio and the response was overwhelmingly the marantz sr7000. now i just have to decide wether to go with the 7000 or 8000. where did you find the price listings for those? i havent had any luck finding online price guides for marantz yet.

Ogre332-

I would definitely go with the 8000 if you can stand to spend the money. I've been looking at it for at least 6 months and know it's the one to get. If you decide to get it I can give you a place to check for a good price.

what i'd like is to find somwhere where i can view the different features of the two with a price comparison. as it will probably be a gift from several family members, price is definitely an issue. but other than the marantz website (which offers a breakdown in features), i cant find a price listing for them anywhere. i'd really like to get a look at the back and chek out the available inputs and outputs. any help would be greatly appreciated.

I highly recommend going to a dealer to take a look. There are a few online authorized dealers, but they're few and far between.

yeah, i'm starting to get that impression. an68, i know this got a little off topic, but if your interested, i did find a site with information on the sr5000, 7000, and 8000. wouldn't exactly trust the prices though ($600, $800, and $1250, respectively).

go here if you're interested.

I belive those are the list prices. I went through this. The main difference between the 7000 and the 8000 I believe is the copper shielding, upgraded power supply and the awesome remote (which I believe costs almost 300 by itself).

I have the 8000 (had it since April) and love it. For those who cannot afford the extra cash, I still believe the 7000 is one of the best bangs for the bucks out there. Both receivers are terrific for BOTH HT and Music. Building a cabin in the mountains and am planning to put a 7000 in there...

This is the online dealer with the lowest prices I could find (they are not much lower than MSRP but you also get free shipping):
http://www.wildwestelectronics.net
SR5000 $ 570
SR7000 $ 760
SR8000 $ 1180
If somebody knows of lower prices please let me know.

You have been comparing SR7000 and SR8000, does anyone know about the 5000 vs. 7000? I'm building my first HT and I just got a Toshiba 40H80 TV + SD5109 prog. scan DVD player. I don't think my wife will be very happy if I spend another $ 800-1000+ on a receiver right now (plus I want to get a Philips Pronto and a decent set of speakers in the near future).
Thanks for your inputs.

Let me give you one more thing to think about. Marantz does not provide warranty service when you buy from an online dealer such as wildwestelectronics (at least the last time I checked). The dealer saves some money by buying the unit from Marantz with no factory warranty and the dealer provides their own warranty to you.

That is not acceptable to me as I have been burned by dealers going out of business. Ask the dealer about this and weigh that factor into the price.

[Edited by X on 03-18-01 at 10:14 AM]

yeah, in reading the marantz web site, about the only way to get a marantz warranty is to buy from an authorized marantz dealer.... few and far between here in maryland

Here are my 2 cents:
SR8000 is better than 7000 or 5000 - got it last year @$1100 in Kansas City. The *only* reason being - better 5ch surround for regular CDs.

The 5000 is selling for $550 at brandsmart.
The 7000 is close to $750.

For CDs especially classical music go with 7000. I compared 7000 and 8000 (not 5000) but as I quote my dealer:
"5000" is not for 5ch sound and multiroom ...."

Hope this helps...
listen classical on 5ch surround .... and it will help u make ur decision. ... at least it did for me........

P.S. I also auditioned Denon, Pioneer, SONY...

Just another P.S.

... why inisit on the Pronto ... look at Marantz remotes too ... since Philips owns Marantz ... and are pioneers in remote programming ... u might ask the dealer to upgrade ur remote in 7000 or 5000 for ur $200 ...... just a thought....

HTH!

I went out one day trying to buy a door crasher special on a Dolby Digital/DTS receiver at a "big box" electronics store, but the line up was too huge. The point here is that I wasn't planning on spending too much money.

I ended up checking out some other big box places, and then some specialty audio stores. At one of the specialty stores they carried the Marantz line. The SR5000 was above my budget, but within reason. I listened to it and liked it quite a bit. For fun I asked to hear the SR7000. I think I just about cried when I heard it knowing that I was now going to be spending way more than I had planned. I was actually afraid to listen to the SR8000.

If you can't scrape up the cash, the SR5000 is still a very good receiver in my opinion. However, it seemed to me that the quality jump from the SR5000 to the SR7000 was huge and the the price difference was marginal compared to what you were getting.

However, I am not usually an impulse shopper. I went home and researched it for several days. The SR7000 had some seriously good word of mouth behind it, and good press reviews. From what I recall, the build quality of the SR7000 is also quite a bit better than the SR5000.

I went in a few days later with some of my own DVDs and CDs and listened to some different styles of music that I enjoy. The SR7000 once again blew me away. I went with a friend and he too had the same goofy grin on his face.

The SR7000 sounded so good I convinced myself to buy two pair of Paradigm atoms and a center speaker. So much for a budget, and goodbye to my annual bonus check.

I have owned the SR7000 for a little over a year now and I have been very pleased. I find it great for both Home Theater and music. Overall I would recommend it over the SR5000 for a number of reasons: the sound to me and my friend was far superior, the build quality was noted by independent sources to be better, and more inputs/outputs. The price, compared to similar competing models was also much better.

I have not once regretted exceeding my budget.

Hope that helps.

Thank you very much for all your comments. rkive, I think you definetly convinced me that it's worth spending the extra money to get the SR7000.
X, thanks for letting me know about the warranty issue with not authorized dealers. I will definetly not give up the Marantz 3 year warranty to save an extra 50 bucks.

One more thing... You mention that the only difference are ' the SR7000 has more power (100 vs. 70 W), a better remote and more digital inputs.'.More power CAN mean better quality, especially in HT and with matching speakers.

PS. I've been a Marantz lover since their AV-600 THX pre-amp!

Not true, THere is one authorized dealer.. HiFi.com I believe. Not only that, but I believe there are 50 off coupons out there that would make the 7000 @ 749.99. I got one in the mail but wasn;t buying this month.

Not true, THere is ONE authorized online dealer.. HiFi.com I believe. Not only that, but I believe there are 50 off coupons out there that would make the 7000 @ 749.99. I got one in the mail but wasn;t buying this month.

I bought mine from a local dealer, but you should check the authorized online dealer even if only to use for bargaining leverage locally.

Thanks for the grammatical (or at least comprehension) correction. I thought "an online dealer such as wildwestelectronics" would have been clear. I did not say "all online dealers". I was specifically warning about that dealer.

HiFi.com is well known as authorized, and there are others that you can buy from that are authorized dealers, but not for internet commerce. However mail-order works with them.