231 replies to this topic

[:)]

yamapro, on Jan 16 2008, 02:31 PM, said:

Mmmm I'm drooling now - i wasn't going to upgrade until end of the year but damn the Marantz is looking pretty irresistable

I'm planning initally as apre-pro for the front 3 and using the onboard for surrounds... then something like an Elektra or NAD Master series...One Day!!!

yeah driving the surrounds would hardly be a struggle. with something like the 8002 another option is partnering it up down the track with a 2ch integrated amp with ht bypass, with the 2ch integrated giving benfits 2ch wise and taking the load of the 8002 to drive the rest of the channels. or jsut using it as a pre-pro - options ! options ! options !

Lyle, on Jan 16 2008, 02:25 PM, said:

I think the street price will be quite a bit better than Len Wallis.
I've heard a rumour that the 7002 can be had for about $2K.

wouldnt be suprised, if the box movers like hn are selling these units theres probably some bargains out there to be had !

[50MXE20]

Felix., on Jan 16 2008, 12:52 PM, said:

What rumour?

  

[greengumby]

alebonau, on Jan 16 2008, 12:55 PM, said:

wouldnt be suprised, if the box movers like hn are selling these units theres probably some bargains out there to be had !

I think because the box movers are selling these units a GB would be out of the question.  Or maybe not

Maybe a 7002,8002 configuration/pricing thread should be created in the main HT forum?

[Felix.]

Felix., on Jan 16 2008, 12:52 PM, said:

I've been informed by a local retailer that the warranty is 2 years (although he wasn't 100% on this and was going to call me back). Does anyone know if that is correct? I don't remember reading anything on that in D.G.'s review but I may have missed it.

Actually I just got the answer. The warranty on the 7002/8002 is 3 years.

[cooksta]

Lyle, on Jan 16 2008, 01:20 PM, said:

The power supply and the copper chassis would be worth it.

Whats the advantage of the copper chassis? Heat sink abilities?

alebonau, on Jan 16 2008, 01:55 PM, said:

if going for it as an avr and not intending going the power amp route, I'd defintely spend the extra. its not a lot more in dollar terms I imagine for the better power amp for the 8002 especially if you factor in a bit of haggling.

1 reason I like the look of the Marantz is that they have total power consumption figures a lot closer to their rated power output than some  
I like to haggle  

Lyle, on Jan 16 2008, 01:55 PM, said:

I think the street price will be quite a bit better than Len Wallis.
I've heard a rumour that the 7002 can be had for about $2K.

I hazarded a guess that the Wallis figures would be rrp?

[:)]

cooksta, on Jan 16 2008, 04:04 PM, said:

Whats the advantage of the copper chassis? Heat sink abilities?
1 reason I like the look of the Marantz is that they have total power consumption figures a lot closer to their rated power output than some  
I like to haggle  
I hazarded a guess that the Wallis figures would be rrp?

copper chasis = sheilding (from elec interference RF/EM from the outside world) a common tweak with any of the special edition versions of the marantz avrs. how much benfit it brings very hard to answer as youd have to compare an amp with and without it ....and your never goign to be able to do that !

[ritzav]

Firstly, sorry if this Q comes across as a naive one... 7002 does not have any upscaling for video so if i want to improve my foxtel signal on the 1080p full hd plasma screen than what do i need to buy to complement the 7002 ? I am guessing that i will need to buy a dedicated upscaler via which i might have to feel foxtel to 7002, Is that correct ? are upscalers like that vey exy ?

Thanks
ritesh

[:)]

ritzav, on Jan 16 2008, 10:17 PM, said:

~t vey exy ?

Thanks
ritesh

yes thousands...

[yamapro]

ritzav, on Jan 16 2008, 08:47 PM, said:

Firstly, sorry if this Q comes across as a naive one... 7002 does not have any upscaling for video so if i want to improve my foxtel signal on the 1080p full hd plasma screen than what do i need to buy to complement the 7002 ? I am guessing that i will need to buy a dedicated upscaler via which i might have to feel foxtel to 7002, Is that correct ? are upscalers like that vey exy ?

Thanks
ritesh

The plasma will already be upscaling your foxtel... one of the reasons i like the Marantz is it accepts that the display SHOULD be doing the scaling and so doesn't add extra circuitry (and noise etc) doing more than is necessary...

Now if you are unhappy with your foxtel PQ then you could check out the Onkyo 905 with it's reon video processing chip... no guarentees but may be better than whats on board your display.

Otherwise you need a standalone Video Processor... like a VP 50 etc and as Al said, it's an investment in the thousands not hundreds

[Pergami]

yamapro, on Jan 17 2008, 12:14 AM, said:

The plasma will already be upscaling your foxtel... one of the reasons i like the Marantz is it accepts that the display SHOULD be doing the scaling and so doesn't add extra circuitry (and noise etc) doing more than is necessary...

Now if you are unhappy with your foxtel PQ then you could check out the Onkyo 905 with it's reon video processing chip... no guarentees but may be better than whats on board your display.

Otherwise you need a standalone Video Processor... like a VP 50 etc and as Al said, it's an investment in the thousands not hundreds

Does that mean that you can connect fotel via component to the 7002 and HDMI through to say a pioneer lx50a?  The signal passed through will then be up converted by the plasma? Do I have it right?

Cheers Pete

[yamapro]

The Marantz will upconvert the component signal to HDMI then the Plasma will upscale it from there yes.

If it didn't you would only be seeing 540 lines or so (possibly less with some channels) and thus would be wasting half of that lovely displays area (and have very small looking foxtel!)

[greengumby]

DG,

I see on the back of the 7002 there is a toggle switch to set the surrounds to 6/8ohm. Is there any option to drive the front speakers at 4ohm?

Im wondering because the unit is a fair bit lighter than the other brands maybe the transformer has been skimped on.

[Pergami]

Thanx Yam

[yamapro]

No Wukka's Pete!

[Dissociative]

greengumby, on Jan 17 2008, 03:00 PM, said:

DG,

I see on the back of the 7002 there is a toggle switch to set the surrounds to 6/8ohm. Is there any option to drive the front speakers at 4ohm?

Im wondering because the unit is a fair bit lighter than the other brands maybe the transformer has been skimped on.

theres no such switch or mention of 4 ohms in the manual (that i can see), so i would assume thats a no?

[Dissociative]

Felix., on Jan 16 2008, 03:25 PM, said:

Actually I just got the answer. The warranty on the 7002/8002 is 3 years.

thanks Felix, I'll add that in to the review. i had a look around and strangely i could not find any mention of the warranty on any of the documentiation i received (nor the manual).

[Dissociative]

D.G., on Jan 18 2008, 08:22 AM, said:

thanks Felix, I'll add that in to the review. i had a look around and strangely i could not find any mention of the warranty on any of the documentiation i received (nor the manual).

hmm, seems i cant edit the original post anymore  

[50MXE20]

D.G., on Jan 18 2008, 06:24 AM, said:

hmm, seems i cant edit the original post anymore

24 hour limit on edits.  BUT you can ask the mods to give you edit capability.

[Dissociative]

Lyle, on Jan 18 2008, 11:01 AM, said:

24 hour limit on edits.  BUT you can ask the mods to give you edit capability.

thanks Lyle, I'll do that. I'd like to be able to keep the original post updated as more info comes to hand.

[cooksta]

D.G., on Jan 18 2008, 07:50 AM, said:

theres no such switch or mention of 4 ohms in the manual (that i can see), so i would assume thats a no?

Hi DG, had a look at the manual for the 7002 and it states on page 35, connecting audio equipment. (US version, wether that makes any difference.)

Quote

• Be sure to use speakers with the specifi ed impedance as
shown on the rear panel of this unit.

Looking at a photo of the back panel the only mention is 6-8 ohm speakers, could you confirm?

[Dissociative]

cooksta, on Jan 18 2008, 05:05 PM, said:

Hi DG, had a look at the manual for the 7002 and it states on page 35, connecting audio equipment. (US version, wether that makes any difference.)
Looking at a photo of the back panel the only mention is 6-8 ohm speakers, could you confirm?

hi cooksta, just had a look and the back and it definately says 6-8ohms only. in addition, power specs in the book are only given in 6 and 8ohms.

[Dissociative]

well, ive had the Sr7002 for a month now, so thought i'd post a bit of an update, my last before i "retire" the 7002's amps in favour of those in the Elektra Theatron.

Features & Functionality:

i did realistically expect maybe one or two "bugs" to pop up, especially given all the new features the 7002 has (HDMI 1.3, new codecs etc) and the issues i had with my last AVR. this was also one of the reasons i decided to go with a local model as opposed to an import. to my, well, suprise i guess, i dont as yet have anything to report - that is to say everything is working perfectly! hooray.

do i miss all the bells and whistles of my last AVR? nope, i honestly cant think of one right now that i wish it had.

Sound (music)

Post run-in, I think i can say it has warmed up a bit more and the soudstage has opened up a tad further, but nothing markedly different (that i have noticed anyway). I liked the sound of this thing when i first heard it and im as fond of it now as i was back then.

ive been so impressed with the improvement in sound from the 7002, that ive actually started listening to my multi-channel SACD's/DVD-A's. previously, i had decided the multi-channel tracks werent for me, as i found the sound was flat and limp. i instead focussed on the stereo track, which i routed directly to my Musical Fidelity A3.5 stereo amp to great satisfaction. With the 7002 however, new life has been breathed into the multi-channel tracks and i am now enjoying them for the first time. the sound is full and crisp, with the nice wide soundstage that i really enjoy about the multi-channel tracks (the good ones of course). i should add that this is with my SACD's being fed by my PS3, which converts DSD to PCM for transport over HDMI.     call me a savage if you will, but it really does sound good. for SACD's such as Brothers in Arms and Dark Side of the Moon, i actually prefer it to the stereo track played via my SACD player  

for CD's and also HT duties, no change - still impressed with it. decoding the audio tracks (from my XE1) in the AVR has been working perfectly and the sound is great. i was unsure initially about the impact of EQ functions (Audyssey) being disabled when bitstreaming HD codecs, but the sound quality has long since made me forget about that.

for quite some time ive heard marantz AVR's desribed as "more musical" and i can now say i really do see why and completely agree. its a solid notch up from my old Pioneer AVR and in fact any that i have had before.

next steps from here:
- addition of an Elektra power amp
- addition of a dedicated 2ch pre-amp

As happy as i am with the 7002 right now, im really looking forward to these upgrades and taking performance up to the next level! im sure you all know how it goes, once you find a satisfactory improvement, it only makes you want for more    

oh when will it end?

[:)]

D.G., on Feb 12 2008, 11:57 AM, said:

well, ive had the Sr7002 for a month now, so thought i'd post a bit of an update, my last before i "retire" the 7002's amps in favour of those in the Elektra Theatron.

Features & Functionality:

i did realistically expect maybe one or two "bugs" to pop up, especially given all the new features the 7002 has (HDMI 1.3, new codecs etc) and the issues i had with my last AVR. this was also one of the reasons i decided to go with a local model as opposed to an import. to my, well, suprise i guess, i dont as yet have anything to report - that is to say everything is working perfectly! hooray.

do i miss all the bells and whistles of my last AVR? nope, i honestly cant think of one right now that i wish it had.

Sound (music)

Post run-in, I think i can say it has warmed up a bit more and the soudstage has opened up a tad further, but nothing markedly different (that i have noticed anyway). I liked the sound of this thing when i first heard it and im as fond of it now as i was back then.

ive been so impressed with the improvement in sound from the 7002, that ive actually started listening to my multi-channel SACD's/DVD-A's. previously, i had decided the multi-channel tracks werent for me, as i found the sound was flat and limp. i instead focussed on the stereo track, which i routed directly to my Musical Fidelity A3.5 stereo amp to great satisfaction. With the 7002 however, new life has been breathed into the multi-channel tracks and i am now enjoying them for the first time. the sound is full and crisp, with the nice wide soundstage that i really enjoy about the multi-channel tracks (the good ones of course). i should add that this is with my SACD's being fed by my PS3, which converts DSD to PCM for transport over HDMI.     call me a savage if you will, but it really does sound good. for SACD's such as Brothers in Arms and Dark Side of the Moon, i actually prefer it to the stereo track played via my SACD player  

for CD's and also HT duties, no change - still impressed with it. decoding the audio tracks (from my XE1) in the AVR has been working perfectly and the sound is great. i was unsure initially about the impact of EQ functions (Audyssey) being disabled when bitstreaming HD codecs, but the sound quality has long since made me forget about that.

for quite some time ive heard marantz AVR's desribed as "more musical" and i can now say i really do see why and completely agree. its a solid notch up from my old Pioneer AVR and in fact any that i have had before.

next steps from here:
- addition of an Elektra power amp
- addition of a dedicated 2ch pre-amp

As happy as i am with the 7002 right now, im really looking forward to these upgrades and taking performance up to the next level! im sure you all know how it goes, once you find a satisfactory improvement, it only makes you want for more    

oh when will it end?

good to hear your enjoying it DG.

interesting your comments re sacd multichannel vs cd. I found something similar when got my denon sacd that prefered the multichannel sacd from it vs 2ch, but all that changed when I got my sony and hooked it up my 2ch gear finding better, detail, drive, dynamics sound stage etc. On the whole I prefer mostly the 2ch mixes of most discs, finding the surround mixes a little artificial..eg the ones that put you in the middle of the band vs the ones that you in front of it wiht the 2ch mix. that said do agree there are some discs eg BIA where prefer the multichannel mix and perhaps theres discs out there made to be listened in multichannel. Anyways look forward to how you find things with the elektra upgrade, which should take things further multichannel wise youd think and when you get the 2ch pre which will hopefulyl advance things again with 2ch. Very much agree with you in regards which ever sounds better - nothing savage about that ! hehe

good luck with the performance upgrades.... there is no end  !  so enjoy the journey as they say

[Felix.]

I picked up my 7002 last week but only got around to starting to set it up last night. I have over 10 different components to connect to it. It definitely seems to be a slightly better match for my Monitor Audio speakers than my Yammy 2600. I watched a Blu-ray copy of Assassination of Jesse James and the soundtrack (piano and strings) sounded exquisite. And I think that was just a regular DD track too.

I'm going to use the 7002's main remote as my universal so will post back if there are any issues there.

Edited by Felix., 12 February 2008 - 02:46 PM.

[cooksta]

D.G., on Feb 12 2008, 11:27 AM, said:

well, ive had the Sr7002 for a month now, so thought i'd post a bit of an update, my last before i "retire" the 7002's amps in favour of those in the Elektra Theatron.


ive been so impressed with the improvement in sound from the 7002, that ive actually started listening to my multi-channel SACD's/DVD-A's. previously, i had decided the multi-channel tracks werent for me, as i found the sound was flat and limp. i instead focussed on the stereo track, which i routed directly to my Musical Fidelity A3.5 stereo amp to great satisfaction. With the 7002 however, new life has been breathed into the multi-channel tracks and i am now enjoying them for the first time. the sound is full and crisp, with the nice wide soundstage that i really enjoy about the multi-channel tracks (the good ones of course). i should add that this is with my SACD's being fed by my PS3, which converts DSD to PCM for transport over HDMI.     call me a savage if you will, but it really does sound good. for SACD's such as Brothers in Arms and Dark Side of the Moon, i actually prefer it to the stereo track played via my SACD player  

for quite some time ive heard marantz AVR's desribed as "more musical" and i can now say i really do see why and completely agree. its a solid notch up from my old Pioneer AVR and in fact any that i have had before.


As happy as i am with the 7002 right now, im really looking forward to these upgrades and taking performance up to the next level! im sure you all know how it goes, once you find a satisfactory improvement, it only makes you want for more    

oh when will it end?

very interesting reading DG, about to cross the upgrade bridge myself in the next few months.
I will be deciding between the Marantz or 1 of the new NADs..decisions, decisions...