EDIT: see HERE for info on the LFE/Audyssey bug and the DTS HD-MA "bomb" issue. Both can be fixed via a firmware update.

Introduction:

As some of you may know, I’ve been using a Pioneer VSX-AX4ASi AVR, which I’ve only had for around 12 months. I hadn’t anticipated upgrading so soon, but a combination of a desire to decode DTS-HD MA, as well as to find a more satisfactory sound overall and a general itchiness to get something new, lead me to move it on and commence the hunt for a replacement.

My key requirements were as follows:
• Audio quality (2ch as well as HT)
• Audio quality
• Audio quality
• HDMI v1.3a and decoding for all the new audio formats
• 2 HDMI outputs (for a future projector purchase)
• Bug-free operation! Meaning I don’t want something with known issues
• DC Trigger outputs and of course 7.1 pre-outs

All of which I needed to achieve within a relatively modest budget (under $2.5k). The RRP of the Marantz SR7002 is $2599 and it comes with a 3 year warranty. Its available in silver or black.

After spending probably too much time reading up on specs and other peoples opinions, I decided to do some auditioning, and so after approaching my local HiFi specialist to unfortunately find they had no plans to get the Marantz in, I ended up at Harvey Norman of all places! I’ve never been to HN Chadstone before, but they actually have some great gear set-up in their demo room, including a Sony TADA9000ES and Marantz SR9600. More importantly for me though they had the main 3 I was looking into:
• Yamaha (1800)
• Onkyo (805)
• Marantz (7002)

The Marantz had only just arrived, but the guys there were only too happy to quickly set it all up for me. I listened to all 3, mostly on 2ch music fed by a Pioneer DV989 – a very capable universal player and one I’m personally quite familiar with.

I should at this point clarify that I’m no audiophile! I do however know what I like and have found my tastes have developed and become more discerning in the last few years, particularly as I’ve been exposed to some sensational set-ups (alebonau’s and Spearmint’s being the most notable) and started paying more attention to mine in an effort to better understand sound quality in general. So I feel like I know enough to get me by, although possibly I know just enough to be dangerous!

Back to business, first to be culled was the Onkyo, which I felt was a bit all over the place with its imaging and lacking midrange clarity. The Yamaha and the Marantz I found much harder to pick between, as both were excellent with midrange and bass, however the Marantz I felt had the edge, particularly on the vocals, with a much sweeter soundstage. This was all down to preference though of course, and I think I could have also been happy with the Yamaha. With the decision made, I handed over the plastic and eagerly headed for home.

Note: I did consider briefly the SR8002, but felt the additional features were not going to be worth if for me. I will be using a power amp, so don’t think I would get the benefit of the improved torodial transformer, I’m not fussed about zone 2 video, IR input/output and don’t think I’d be able to hear $1000 worth of difference with the copper chassis.


Unpacking and set-up:

As one would expect, the Marantz comes securely packaged, double-boxed, wrapped in soft covering and nestled in polystyrene. All accessories are neatly bagged and taped to the soft protective covering of the AVR itself.

Whats in the box?
- Marantz SR7002
- RC8001SR (main remote control)
- RC101 (second zone remote)
- 5 x AAA batteries (3 for the RC8001 and 2 for the RC101)
- AM loop antenna
- FM antenna
- Audyssey microphone
- Front auxillary input cover
- Power cable (both Aus and US type)
- User guide (a full inch thick!)

Unpacking 1 Unpacking 2

One of the first things that struck me when I lifted it out was its size, or rather, lack of. With the SR7002/8002, Marantz boast a “new compact chassis”, which for me is around a 9cm (depth) saving over my previous AVR. It also weighs in 1.4kg less.

Full dimensions are:
- W: 440mm
- H: 184mm
- D: 376mm (incl. binding posts)
- Weight: 15kg

Power consumption is a healthy 770w. Full specs can be found at marantz.com

Looking inside through the vents, I noticed the circuit boards are stacked almost to the top of the chassis, which is very different to the layout of AVR’s I’ve had in the past, which seemed to have bucket loads of space inside. Despite this, the unit doesn’t get particularly hot at all, and after a solid workout, isn’t too hot to leave your hand on. There are also vents on both sides, so (like all amps really) you will still want to ensure there is plenty of space all round for ventilation. Top vents

The second thing that struck me was how good it looks! Highly subjective and a matter of personal taste I know, but the simple, uncluttered design, along with the gold text over black, looks a treat in my opinion, and had me wondering why I ever strayed from black HT equipment in the first place…In place

With the 7002 in place and AV rack pulled out, I went about the task of connecting it all up. I used the following connections:

- Toshiba HD-XE1 via HDMI
- Beyonwiz DP-S1 via HDMI
- Sony PS3 via HDMI
- Sonly SLV-X822AS (VHS player) via Composite
- Sony SCD-XA3000ES (SACD player) via stereo analogue RCA
- Hitachi Plasma via HDMI (using HDMI monitor output 1)
- And of course the 5 speakers and sub

Like most AVR’s these days, the speaker posts are quite close together, making feeding bare wire in a bit of a pain (mental note, buy banana plugs). The section around the binding posts is covered by a plastic shield to prevent contact with the chassis and one thing I really liked was that there is a separate set of binding posts that can be used for powered second zone speakers or bi-amping. There is a small switch on the back to change between multi-zone and bi-amp. I’m not using this at the moment, but probably will in future.

With connections in place, it was time to hit the GO button…


Configuration and settings:

Firstly let me comment about the Marantz menu system… The good thing is it works over HDMI, the bad is that its, well, basic. Actually, it reminds me a little of a Commodore 64 I once had…. But importantly it does the job, although I do think they could have tried a little harder in this area, I mean, my 6 year old Samsung mobile had a nice colour GUI, so how hard could it be? Oh dear...

Anyway, the menu system has six options at the top level, covering all the usual business. I didn’t find the menu/set-up particularly intuitive and did have to refer to the manual on a number of occasions. Fortunately the manual is fairly easy to follow and provides the info you need.

A few points on set-up:
• There are 8 available inputs in total (TV, DVD, VCR1, DSS, AUX1, TAPE, CD/R, AUX2). They are all fully configurable to any combination of HDMI, Digital (coax/optical), Component and Composite/S-Video you want – with the exception of AUX1, which for some reason you cant assign Composite/S-Video to. This means of course you could use all 8 for video inputs if you wanted. If 8 isnt enough, you can also share an input, by say assigning it HDMI and Component (for example) and switching it to “AUTO”. The input will then auto detect which input is receiving a signal and use that. In the instance where both were sending a signal, it uses HDMI first, then Component, then S-Video/Composite.
• The inputs can be renamed to anything you want, up to 10 characters. So if you are using say, TAPE for a HD-DVD player on HDMI, you could rename it "HD-DVD". One small “bug” I noticed was that it reverts to the original name on the AVR’s front display, when you press mute. For example I renamed the “DSS” input “PS3” and while it displays “PS3” during normal operation, when I press mute it says “DSS: MUTE”.
• The Audyssey auto-set-up and calibration was easy to use and only took around 10 minutes to set-up 3 listening positions (you can set up to 6 in total). I don’t personally have a great deal of confidence in auto set-up systems, so got out the trusty old tape measure and SPL meter to make a number of adjustments to the Audyssey settings.
• Whilst the 7002 boasts an OSD, it only works with composite based sources, either when output as composite or up-converted to HDMI etc. I did connect a composite monitor out cable to have a quick look at it and its about as easy on the eye as the menu system itself, so no big loss in my opinion. Here is what it looks like. Presumably this would normally be overlaid on the video source.
• There is a lip-sync setting, that can be manually set at 10ms increments from 0ms – 200ms. As far as I can tell, this applies the delay to all inputs, however there is a lip-sync button on the remote, so presumably it can be turned off/on via that and could be set in a macro. There is also an auto lip-sync feature, but be aware this is a feature of HDMI 1.3a, so requires a compatible HDMI 1.3a, auto lip-sync enabled display to work. I havent had any sync issues, so havent used this feature.


Video features:

I really like how Marantz have kept the video processing side of this AVR to the absolute minimum. Personally, I don’t put much stock in the video (scaling etc) capabilities of most AVR’s today and would rather add a dedicated video processor if I want to go down that path.

Note: THERE IS NO SCALER IN THIS RECEIVER, that is to say, it cannot up-scale anything to a higher resolution. Basically what comes in goes out. What it can do is the following:
• De-interlace a 576i or 480i signal. (needed as not all displays can accept 576i/480i)
• Up-convert composite/S-Video to Component or HDMI, or Component to HDMI.
That’s it! Also, both these options, along with the OSD, can be switched off, if you want no video processing whatsoever.

The front display of the AVR itself, has a number of indicators etc as to inputs, what signal its receiving etc etc, all the usual stuff. There is however only 1 main line of text on the display, but you can cycle through a number of options via the remote. The only real difference for me with my last AVR was that input and surround mode are no longer displayed at the same time, meaning you have to cycle the display. This has turned out to be no issue at all as I don’t really need constant reminding of what input I’m using and find leaving it on the surround mode works for me. The display can also be turned completely off, which conveniently also turns off the blue lights above the source and volume dials. Pic with display off
One other point of note, while there are 2 HDMI outputs, only 1 can be used at a time, meaning you cant output simultaneously to both. You can however flick between the 2 on the remote.

Audio features:

As per the specs, the 7002 decodes all the main surround formats, including DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD. ProLogicIIx, DTS Neo:6 & 26/24, CSII, Dolby Virtual Speaker, Dolby Headphone, THX and Neural Surround are also present, so plenty of options. Probably the only one it does have that I would like is Logic7, but then you need a Harman Kardon or Lexicon for that. DSD and HDCD are listed in the manual, so presumably these are both accommodated.
I watched a few HD-DVD’s and Blu-Ray’s, utilising both bitstream output as well as PCM. All worked perfectly and sounded great (including DTS-HD MA).

There is a SOURCE DIRECT mode, that bypasses the tone control circuit, acoustic EQ and bass management. There is also a PURE DIRECT mode that in addition, switches off the video outputs and turns off the display, including all front lights, with the exception of the PURE DIRECT blue light.

**Note: all acoustic EQ modes (incl. Audyssey) are disabled when you bitstream Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus or DTS-HD (MA).

edit: it also may be worth noting that Marantz use Audyssey MultiEQ in the 7002/8002, which is basically the version below the MultiEQ XT used in most comparable offerings from Denon, Onkyo, Integra and Nad. According to the Audyssey website, it seems the key difference is that it uses lower filter resolution and can only store up to 6 positions, vs up to 32 for MultiEQ XT. a list of what receiver has what Audyssey version can be found here.


The remote:

As mentioned, there are 2 remotes included. I haven’t used the second zone remote, but have been using the main one. The main one (RC8001) looks pretty much exactly like the RC1400 on the Marantz website. The RC101 is also on there if you want to see what it looks like. There are 13 pages in the manual dedicated to the RC8001 and 6 for the RC101. I’ve only glanced at this section of the manual, but basically both are fully programmable and the RC8001 looks like it has a lot of potential, including of course macros.

I personally didn’t like the RC8001 at first and found it hard to use. I have however warmed to it over the week and can see it does have potential as a universal remote, however I feel its not as user friendly as my Harmony 880 (and certainly has none of the WAF of the Harmony), so have relegated it to the remote drawer. One tip with the remote, you have to press the AMP button in the bottom right hand corner for it to control the AVR (volume etc). If you don’t, you’ll be pressing the buttons to no effect, as I was initially!

Regarding the Harmony, the database has the 7002 and did set-up the basics. I do now of course need to put aside a few hours to fine tune it (groan).

edit: iv'e since noticed the IR receiver angle is fairly limited compared to my other components.

Performance:

Its very early days, so I’ll keep my comments brief and add more when its had a chance to run-in fully.

Movies: I have watched 3 movies and parts of a few others so far. Audio wise I have been very happy, with meaty, detailed LFE, clear dialogue and excellent steering of surround effects. I’ve had (touch wood) no lip-sync or HDMI issues so far and really everything has worked perfectly.

TV: I’m still playing around with the surround modes to find the one I’m going to settle on. I like the CSII and ProLogicII (music), one of which I’ll probably stick with. Again, happy with performance so far, and like with movies, I’ve been particularly impressed with improvements on dialogue. I think the Marantz does a noticeably better job of driving my centre speaker.

Music: This is where for me I find it much easier to tell the difference between the 7002 and my old Pioneer and in this case the differences are not subtle. Key improvements I’ve noticed have been in the bass, which is clearer, sharper and sounds more powerful (I do like a bit of extra bite in the bass, so this suits me nicely), soundstage imaging, which is considerably improved and not “veiled” in any noticeable way and the midrange overall, which is much more detailed and revealing.

My 2ch listening was done in PURE DIRECT mode and overall I’m really chuffed with the 7002. I had high expectations of the Marantz musically and it hasn’t disappointed. I cant honestly say its as good as my old Musical Fidelity A3.5 stereo amp, but it is much better than any AVR I’ve heard before, especially my old Pioneer. I think this will tide me over quite nicely while I save for a separate 2ch pre-pwr combo.

Conclusion:

So far I’m really very pleased with this upgrade. I haven’t found anything about it yet that I don’t like (well, except maybe the menu, but how often do you use that once its set-up?). In going with the Marantz I did “forego” some of the bells and whistles of the competition, but I’m pleased to say that to me its been worth it and the sound improvement more than makes up for it.

I do have an Elektra power amp on the way, and will report on my opinion on the change that makes and the suitability of the 7002 as a pre-pro in due course. My expectation is that it will make a fine pre-pro and the Elektra will take the sound up another notch.

Anyway, if you have made it this far, thanks for reading and please feel free to ask any questions or correct me on anything you think I may have got wrong.

Cheers!

DG, happy Marantz owner.

Read every word.

Well done.

Can't think of any questions other than what movies did you demo?

a good read DG, congrats on the new purchase, good on you for taking the time out to post a review, sure there'll be many quite interested both in how it goes not just an AVR but also for its pre-pro capabilities. A very good alternatives to the denons it would seem not just in cost but in quality terms as well.

Great review DG,

I must say this AVR is at the top of my list now
Funnily enough the OSD and Menu system look almost unchanged from my SR7400 (and even on that it was behind the times)... i actually like it though as it is easy enough to navigate and it is rare to make major setup once it's all calibrated anyway:D It could be a con but it makes me feel that they have maybe spent the money on pursuing the finest audio quality? Coz we know the budget hasn't gone on the GUI or even the video side of the unit

One question if i may, you mentioned Source and Pure Direct modes bypassing bass management - does this mean that nothing is output through the LFE channel at all (as per classic Marantz and earlier Yamaha Pure Direct) in these modes or that the bass is just unmanaged (ie no Low Pass point etc etc..)?

I really hope it is the latter as i love the direct modes for music listening but need augmentation from MR. Subby

Cheers,
Alex

Thanks Lyle!

Movies were:

- Pearl Harbour (Blu-Ray), via uncompressed PCM
- The Hills Have Eyes II (Blu-Ray), DTS core as PCM
- First Blood (HD-DVD), DTS-HD MA bitstreamed

Also parts of We Were Soldiers (HD-DVD), with both DD+ and DTS bitstreamed.

And gave the Eagles (HD-DVD) with DTS-HD MA bitstreamed, a good workout (god I love that disk!)

Music was:
- Rolling Stones Flowers SACD
- Bernard Fannng Tea and Sympathy
- Dire Straights Brothers in Arms SACD
- The Dissociatives
- Bic Runga's Beautiful Collision and Drive
- MOS Chillout Sessions 9

One other Q please DG

What speaker system did you audition with at HN when you were shortlisting the 3?

Ta

thanks Al. of course your welcome to drop by for a listen any time.



hehe, very ture re: the GUI, thats pretty much what I put it down to!

re: bass management, I understand its the latter, as the manual states that in source direct mode, all speakers are automatically set to large and subwoofer to "yes", with tone, EQ and other additional processing deactivated.

A very comprehensive review D.G. Extremely helpful for prospective buyers especially given there are currently no online pro reviews that I'm aware of.

Just some minor queries. How bright is the 7002's front panel display in a dark room? Your pictures look like they were taken in daylight/lights on, no doubt to get good shots. I note above you have the option of completely turning it off but can you also dim it if desired?

Also how responsive/smooth do you find the volume control via remote control and how accommodating is the 7002 IR sensor to an acute angle signal from the remote, or do you need to be pretty straight on for it to work properly?

That is awesome news
Thanks for taking the time out to review and Q&A it. As Felix said it's nice to have such a comprehensive review, especially in absence of pro reviews (although i always prefer real world reviews anyway)

I really think i will be sticking with Marantz now... yay

Did you really mean to repeat this three times?
ie, Audio quality was what really mattered most!!

After reading the OP, I've created a list just for this AVR.

DG, what an excellent read, I thoroughly enjoyed it and could sense your emotions whilst reading. I’m glad my system was a bit of a help in your evolving journey.

great read DG
Cheers

Did you really need to quote the whole OP?

By the way DG - any word on the speakers you auditioned each amp with?

Thanks a lot, DG, for the informative read.

I am now, too, extremely interested in this A/V Receiver. It costs a lot more than I was hoping to pay for a pre/pro, as I am awaiting my Elektra. It is my own fault I have not received mine! I would have had mine before Christmas, if I hadn't postponed it, due to financial constraints.

I had mentally decided upon an Onkyo 705, but after reading this, and I also seem to remember that Krix does recommend Marantz to complement its loudspeakers, so I shall have to certainly keep this Marantz in mind, when the time does indeed arrive!

Like yamapro, I am keenly interested to hear as to which loudspeakers were powered, when you auditioned this Marantz.

Dan.

Being that it was Harvey Norman, would reduce it to only a few contenders. What are they running these days? I remember seeing Krix, DB Dynamics (or something like that) and Klipsch. Can't remember much else. I recall someone saying HN were stocking Mission now???

(HN over here is a little different, and sell B&W (600 series only), Cerwin Vega, Athena, Klipsch (not the reference series though) and can't remember the last couple.)

thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated.



Hi Felix, its not particularly bright at all, but bright enough to be read in the day (unfortunately I have a skylight right above it) and not be distracting in the dark. I've taken to using the auto-off function, that switches it on for a few seconds when you press a button, but then turns it off. theres no dimmer button or any mention of one in the manual im afraid.

volume control is very smooth and the dial is solid. if anything, the input dial could be a bit firmer with the "notches" when you turn it. it can be hard to tell when you have turned it far enough for a "click". I've noticed this will past Marantz's as well. No big deal for me though as i use the remote all the time.

IR sensor is fine, i tried it at some extreme angles, including with the rack pulled out and facing the wall, and it worked fine. ive had a few troubles with the harmony when switching inputs, sometimes it doesnt change on the AVR first time. I think i can fix this though by tweaking the settings on the remote (putting a gap in). as i recall i had the same problem early on with my Pioneer.



no problem!



hehe, subtle I know....



cheers Spearmint and yes it was a huge help as it opened me up to a whole next level of audio performance and also got me thinking beyond just the components themselves and to the impact a well planned/laid out room with sound treatments can have. your also of course welcome by any time for a listen.

hi yamapro, unfortunately i didnt note the details, but from memory they were Klipsch floorstanders.

I agree and I remember Caniffe asking that we not do it.

Great read D.G. Must ask [after noticing the hi def movies used so far ] does it sound superior to the pio with the lossless tracks ? Specifically dolby true hd as I see you can now decode dts hdma ;where you couldnt previously [or at least core 1.5mbps].

Hi cwt, I havent actually watched a movie with TrueHD as yet, and if recall correctly isnt there a bug with the XA2/XE1 in relating to bitstreaming TrueHD? I believe there is an LFE issue which affects all AVR's. I'll find out probably during the week when I watch something with a TrueHD track.

i am keen to do a comparison between DTS core and HD-MA, as I want to get a full sense for just how much difference there is. I've watched some Blu-Ray discs with the DTS core only and they sounded fantastic.

My B&W Night has Dolby TrueHD. When I select it on the XE-1 I get much better sound than the normal 5.1.
I'm bitstreaming from the XE-1 to the Denon 3805 via 5.1 analogue.
At least doing that, there does not seem to be a problem.

hi DG, no troubles bitstreaming truehd from the XE1 to my 4308 most defintely works and no bass/LFE issues to report.

I jsut checked for you DG, put iwo jima into the xe1. With bitstreaming truehd across to the 4308, Defitenly no troubles with LFE. When the plane flys in with commander onto the island the rumble of the motors can defintely be felt as goes by. When he's walking along the beach you have the deep bass of the drum, plus ofcourse about 47min in when the island starts getting pounded and theyre in the caves in the mountain..the bass still shakes the house !

Great review D.G. if I hadn't recently bought the Yammy 3800 this would have had serious consideration.

Further to Al's post I have the XE1 as well and have had no LFE probs bitstreaming to the 3800 all of the 5 Harry Potters are true hd and they have been fine.

Cheers,

Karen

Thats a interesting comparison D.G. look forward to your thoughts. Ive read that the core is perceptually close to the limits of human hearing . I found an interesting list of various codecs-

'So, when you are talking about soundtracks on an HD DVD, the following are all possibilities:
16bit/48khz lossy (common, used by Warner often with DD+ at 640kbps bitrate)
16bit/48khz lossless (common, used by Warner often with TrueHD at 1.5mbps bitrate)
20bit/48khz lossy (common, used by Paramount with DTS-HD at 1.5mbps bitrate)
24bit/48khz lossy (common, used by Universal often with DD+ at 1.5mbps bitrate)
24bit/48khz lossless (less common, used by Universal with TrueHD at 2.8mbps bitrate)
24bit/96khz lossy (rare, used only by RnB Films on the HD DVD Chronos'

You know I keep having to remind myself that the bitrate is just a measure of the codecs compression

if looking for bitrate and bit depth capabilities of the formats this link tass posted is very good reading

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=59717

and ofcourse if looking for actuall disc specs audio wise we have some good info here in the sticky for both disc formats.

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=55826

thanks Lyle, Al and Kazz. the issue i mentioned there is one i noticed when reading through the Marantz 7002/8002 thread on AVS, with the first post on it being THIS one. there are a few others further down that back this up and point to a thread on the issue. i havent looked into it any further but will try and find that XA2 thread to understand whats happening. good to hear though your not reporting the issue.




interesting that the second and third last two in the list are so close (the numbers anyway), yet of course one is lossless and the other lossy. of course a lot of people are upgrading their equipment so as to be able to go from core to full lossless, so i think its important to consider just how much difference can you hear and also how good does the rest of the links in the audio chain need to be to reproduce the difference? then theres the question of how much difference the pre-stage makes, and is the end result better using core only via a good pre-pro, or full lossless with an AVR?

just had to make my first edit, remembered something important i forgot to add in:



i read somewhere (probably AVS) that this is probably due to the amount of processing power required to do both.

Does that mean that the settings aquired using the Audyssey are lost when doing this?

I wonder if perhaps (and I'm probably way off base here) our firmware is different and therefore we don't have the same problem?

if you read the post you pointed to DG. it infact relates to LFE issues with PCM from the XE1, ie youd be decoding in the player passing pcm to the avr

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread....43#post12709243



reading this post I wonder if people are maybe jsut getting confused re the XA2 and issues with using analog multichannel (though there are work arounds for that.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread....07#post12712107

and this person is deifnitely saying theyre were having issues with the XA2 and pcm ie theyd be decoding in the player and passing to the avr as pcm
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread....78#post12716078

as per the posts above maybe there are LFE issues with decoding truehd in the player and passing as PCM to the AVR as there have been issues reported via using multichannel analogs where the player is doing the decoding. Might explain why neither of us bitstreaming truehd across to the avr to decode is reporting the same issue. I've mentioned before that although I'd applied the workarounds with my previous non hdmi avr, having moved to a bitstreaming and a hdmi avr have defintely found some good benfit in the bass side with a cleaner more detailed and defined sound.

To confirm no such issue that I've noticed with the XE1 and bitstreaming to my 4308, am running latest firmware on both. Few discs come to mind of late with truehd tracks that I've watched, hp order of pheonix, roy orbison black and white and yesterday iwo jima that I tested. Defintely no issue with bass/LFE and bitstreaming truedhd from xe1 to the 4308.

aha, got it round the wrong way, indeed its the PCM signal thats mentioned as down in LFE.

good news that its fine with bitstream, dont think i could handle dealing with another LFE issue!!!



the EQ processing, yes. its mentioned on p55 of the manual. as i read it, it does relate to EQ only, so other settings/levels etc would remain in place. i'd need the DVE HD-DVD to check it properly, just going off the manual at this point.

I'm sooo glad you are here to sort out the issues and workarounds for me before i take the plunge...

Some-one give DG a BETA TESTER CAP! (And wear it with pride sir )

Whew ! Finally, someone has tested this unit and taken out a great deal of their time to describe it, Hats off to effort put in !

3 months ago I had penciled in to buy the 6001 but during the christmas break I saw the prices of 7001 falling down to the price of 6001. And now the 7002 comes out .... its all very confusing for a newbee like me, who mainly relies on experts on this forum for comments. Everything I have read in the review here seems to suggest that the 7002 is worth the extra $$$ when compared to the 7001.

I will order the 7002 today, I am excited

Thanks for the detailed review again. I have book marked it so i can use it for reference when mine gets delivered.

Thanks DG,

I have been having out for a review of the 7002. Looks like its #1 on my list

D.G.
Sorry to ask, but are you sure it De-interlaces both 576i or 480i signals.
I could not find any referance and only speaks about up-converts 480i , 480p , 720p and 1080i on page 62 of manual.
KOAZ

Good and comprehensive list Al . Its interesting to note that the lossy codecs can have 24/48 resolution [ as noted by D.G.] . Needless to say thats the master rate of most new movies . Think I read somewhere that 20 bits is close to 20khz ?- what is usually accepted as the limit of hearing.

Good question if a top quality pre amp using dts core would be very close to an avr decoding lossless. As D.G. notes however it comes down to d/a quality ; pcb layout etc Noise is certainly the enemy of a d/a converters resolution

lot related to source to I'd suspest cwt. take a pox produced source master yeah do it at 24bit/192khz still likely to sound pox (think pox produced sacd/dvda here). probably also related to down the line equipment I'm sure from pre to pwr to speakers the room and ultimately the person discerning the subjective impression...lot of factors which I'm sure all have their own part to play in all this.

I remember all the discusions when we went from dolby prologic to DD/DTS and people saying how a good pre-pro would do prologic better than an avr doing dd/dts. Well ...I went from a dolby prologic av pre-pro to a humble $2k HK avr at the start of DVD and the avr shat all over what I coudl ever acheive previously ! As to top quality pre-pro using dts core being very close to avr decoding lossless ?..well we'll never know till that comparison is done. Though frankly I'm past all that given in my own experience on dvd and not finding there much difference between mid priced AVRs as pre-pros and av pre-pros even top notch ones ...I wouldnt be expecting any miracles.

Realistically though I am not sure why you would deny yourself the resolution of the source when it is there for the taking... and the real question is ...a top quality pre-pro doing lossless vs an avr as pre-pro doing lossless. Comparisons one day hopefully I'll be able to do once there are enough new gen hdmi pre-pros to choose from and using denon 4308 as benchmark. Keeping in mind as with any of these comparisons the only meaningfull ones are those done in the same context with the same source material and any results obtained still only relating to the context they were received in.

anyways all probably not really of terrible relavance to DG's review thread here I suspect, sorry for the diversion DG !

thanks again for the comments



it sure does, its the "I/P CONVERT" feature in the video set-up menu (see page p59).

no problem Al. i hadnt thought of it before (as i dont have a pre-pro), but it came up in conversation with another forum member who does have a pre-pro he is happy with and is obviously wondering if its going to be worth "downgrading" (so to speak) back to an AVR, in order to get access to lossless DTS decoding. alternatively is the core "close enough" to make justifying it difficult, at least until fully featured pre-pro's come out? Anyway, probably a discussion for another thread!

yes a valid question for anyone with a non hdmi pre-pro. I know rodn had a good experience as he posted back here "downgrading" from his rotel pre-pro back to a denon 4308 AVR as pre-pro. but really for anyone to answer for them selves the only way would be for them to do an AB in their own context to decide for themselves whether the change is worth it for them I believe. I suspect too in some ways, especially depending on the source material and the context, that sort of discussion is also a bit similar to the CD vs mp3 or CD vs sacd arguments that will always go on and probably be never a definitive answer people are looking for because its always comes down in the end to a persons own perceptions....

Made it from start to finish

A great read DG, I will be upgrading this year and the marantz already had me very interested before I read your review.

Wether its the 7002 or the 8002 thats the question.

I think the 8002 will probably be another grand in Australia.

Based on what I've read on the AVS forum, if it was stand-alone I'd go the 8002 probably. The power supply and the copper chassis would be worth it.

However, if you are using it as a pre-amp then I think the 7002 would be fine. My 0.02

think thats a pretty good summation there lyle. if looking for an avr the 8002 defintely appears to have some positives but purely as pre-pro not sure if there might be anything in it really 7002 - 8002 ? didnt appear to me anyways.

According to to the Len Wallis website the 7002 is $2699 and the 8002 is $3499.

If the 8002 is a better fit for what I need then I would spend the extra.

I'm glad the financial controller doesnt read my posts :ph34r:

I dont intend going the way of a separate poweramp down the track, but never say never

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.

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.

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!!!

What rumour?

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.