These Reviews are assessed on a purely personal viewpoint and since nobody around here seems to agree with me on anything, I'd take these with a grain of salt. However, at least I don't have to worry about offending any manufacturer thereby loosing an advertising contract like the magazines you read!

Ask me about the reviews on the Bose Studiocraft model 200 sometime.


Marantz 7400 Receiver

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           About time Marantz was dragged into the 22nd century, they've always made fantastic sounding receivers but have lagged in the technical aspects (video upconversion etc.). Finally the SR-7400 can compete with other brands technically whilst still offering one of the best "musical" sounds around for 2 channel listening. At $2399 it falls slap bang in the middle of the mid priced premium receiver market. It's available in Black or Silver and is a heavy (16.5 kg) handsome beast.

          Basic specs are, 110 Watts X 7 Channels (RMS 8 Ohms) not 105 Watts as per the Len Wallis Audio catalogue (Picky, Picky), 192/24 bit Crystal DAC's for all channels, Video upconversion to Component with processing, Variable crossover, Multi Room , Multi Source for Audio and Video, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, video off mode for serious audio listening, 7 Digital inputs (assignable), plus lots of other goodies you can check out at http://www.marantz.com/hifi/asia/ as soon as they get off their butts and post the new products.

           Ah yes, but how does it sound. Bloody good actually, on delicate 2 channel music it's as good as anything on the market in it's price range and better than most. On rock and heavy music I still prefer the more "immediate" sound of the Yamaha RX-V1400 (it's natural competitor at $2299) although the Marantz is certainly more aesthetically appealing. On serious music (Classical, Jazz and 60's) the Marantz is more subtle and sweet than the Yamaha and overall more sonically appealing although there's not a great deal in it.

          Playing Terminator 3, the Marantz 7400 offers a dynamic range which should satisfy anyone from the midnight viewer to the Saturday night raucous, mates drinking session, movie night. The audio is detailed and well defined with a superb sound stage up to ear splitting levels, one thing the Marantz receivers do well is deliver a gob full of power when all channels are driven, most brands drop to below half their rated power once the surround channels are activated (Harmon Kardon is the exception), Marantz, however, is generally within 90% of the two channel rated power when all channels are driven.

          The only real downside to this unit is also applicable to the rest of the Marantz range and that is the painfully slow acting volume control, it seems to take forever to increase or decrease the levels to the speakers by twiddling the front knob (and being a knob twiddler from way back, I know my knobs)

          The RC-1400 Remote Control which is supplied with the unit is the best of the supplied remotes being fully programmable, 20 macro's, backlit LCD screen and 512 kB of non volatile memory. It's easy to operate and program and controls up to 12 independent devices. It's available separately for $299.

          So, how do I rate it - It has better sound than the Onkyo 701, better video conversion than the Denon and better power output in surround mode than the Yamaha. If it retailed for $1999 it would be the a serious contender but at $2399 it heads the pack in pricing but not everything else, it should be on the anyone's short list although you'd have to look carefully at the value-for-money equation.

NEWS FLASH - As of June 2004 for a limited time, we are able to offer the SR-7400 at $1999 - at this price it's the king of the kids.