Customer Ratings & Reviews

This unit is ideally suited for pairing with an external amp to drive your front speakers, while using the built-in amplifiers to power surround. What channels have powered amplifiers and what are pre-out only is user configurable. Sounds great for both music and cinema. I use the 12v trigger output to drive a relay that turns on and off my front channel amp and subwoofer. The room configuration system includes a microphone with a long cord, and did a good job but-for overemphasizing subwoofer bass (easy to adjust). The unit has a fair amount of built-in intelligence, making use intuitive. The remote has a button actuated backlight. Due to all the configuration options, the backpanel can get a little cluttered, so consider adding banana lugs to rear channel speaker cables to make your life easier. The unit comes with adhesive labels for tagging your cables, which helps. Before dumping an excessive amount of cash on a dedicated preprocessor and buying additional amplification for your rear channels, take a hard look at this unit, as it offers a unique alternative while still affording audiophile quality.

Marantz has come a long way with the slim line series. This is no exception for this full featured receiver. If you were going to run this in a 2.1 or 3.1 set up, it will be perfect for your small towers or your bookshelves. However if you are looking for a full 5.1 surround sound or larger, you will need a something with a bigger amplifier. This does have a lot of of pre-outs on it so you can use with a separate amplifier, however, if you were looking for everything new all in one component for a larger system, you will need to consider the of the Cinema line of receivers to power your system.

Solid AV. Need to either have very efficient speakers or use the pre outs to a separate amp if you want to get the most out of it though.