Marantz is a very frustrating company with which to keep an unbiased view. Whereas Yamaha changes receiver models every 12 months and generally keeps ahead of the pack in terms of technical gizmo's and whatnots, Marantz seems to rest on its laurels for a couple of years then Whammo - it jumps to the top of the heap. The old SR-7400 was never a real contender in the technical stakes, it was outflanked by it's sister company (Denon) and the Yamaha RX-V2500. Then the SR-7500 comes along, this is the first of a range of receivers out of the new factory in China which produces both Marantz and Denon. The quality doesn't seem compromised by the shift in production (most of the older range was produced by Sherwood in Korea) and apart from losing some individuality (you'll notice a lot of shared components with Denon - both inside and out) it appears well made and - so far - fault free.

So what's the big deal? - well believe it or not, just the addition of a couple of extra component video inputs. A small thing but a vital part of today's expanding systems. The old model had two component inputs (as does the Yamaha, Denon etc.) and the new SR-7500 has four. This may not seem much but to an enthusiast it makes an enormous difference in terms of equipment interfacing. Other features over the old model include automatic speaker set up using the supplied microphone (no big deal), a Time Base Correction video processing which (supposedly) reduces the digital artifacts on fixed pixel arrays (I wonder what it does on the 1024 X 1024 floating pixel systems of the Fujitsu panels) and a video off mode for the audio purist.

Sonically, the SR-7500 has gained a bit of dynamic range over its predecessor. The SR-7400 was a little lay back which was great for most styles of music but was a little lacking in the movie department in comparison to - say - the Yamaha RX-V2500 which was the SR-7400's natural competition. The SR-7500 however, has gained some oomph in the output department and brings a little more detail to the movie soundtrack. The difference over the old model is only subtle but noticeable.

Our test rig for the review was a pair of Paradigm Studio 100's (mains), CC470 (centre), 2 X Studio 20's (surrounds), Yamaha YST-SW1500 Subwoofer and a Marantz DV-6500 Universal DVD. Musically the 7500 was superb, playing our reference disc - Amanda McBroom and Lincoln Mayorga's "Growing Up In Hollywood Town" (Sheffield Lab CD-13) with all its fine detail intact. The percussion on track 5 (Dusk) was particularly crisp with none of the ho-hum lay back sound of some of the Onkyo and HK models. Even at high volumes there was none of the strain on Amanda McBroom's vocals that was evident when pushing the 7500's predecessor to the limit. Surprising, especially since the new model is almost 4 kgs lighter than the old one.

So lets go to the movies! T3 is the one to test the mettle of the receiver here. The explosion during the opening credits generally gives us a good idea of how loud we can go before distortion rears its ugly head - the SR-7500 took it all in its stride, then the subtlety of sound as the beer bottle as it falls into the water was distinct and in the foreground. Centre channel vocals were well placed and cut through the action occurring elsewhere within the sound stage. All in all, the sr-7500 gave an excellent account of itself.

Perfect? - no bloody way. Nothing in this game is perfect. The universal remote supplied with the unit refused to learn my Foxtel Digital commands and the most annoying thing was the inability of the receiver to output a subwoofer signal when playing my DVD concerts in Dolby Digital 2.0. I know that technically, the correct decoding shouldn't include the subwoofer - but if I want my subwoofer thumping along to Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel Live, I shouldn't be made to hook up the analogue outputs from my DVD Player to do so. At least the Yamaha set up menu gives me a choice!

Apart from those misgivings, the Marantz SR-7500 is currently the best value mid range A/V receiver available (RRP $2199 - 3/5/2005). Make the most of it Marantz, it's a volatile market out there.