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Which would you choose and why? Thanks for any info.
i just bought the 7000 and i love it ...i was going to by 3300 but got sick of waiting...besides they are having BIG problems with this unit ABC Stereo had 25 waiting to go back...the marantz is very soild and clean sound
Your situation is similar to the one we have experienced the previous couple of months. After trying out and eliminating the Yamaha 995 (too bright) and the Onkyo Integra DTR-7 (too much hiss and somewhat harsh), we had "settled" upon the Denon AVR-3300. At the last moment, we tried out the Marantz SR-8000. What a great receiver!It is not that the Denon AVR-3300 is a bad receiver (it isn't), it is just that the Marantz SR-8000 had a better, smoother sound in stereo mode and was just as impressive in HT as the AVR-3300. We listen to a lot of rock music (60's to recent) and found the SR-8000's sound to be more pleasing, bassier, just as detailed when compared to AVR-3300. It has a wonderful, non-fatiquing sound that we can (and have!) listen to for hours.
We also found that the SR-8000 could drive our tower speakers a lot better (Canton Ergo 92DC, rated 4 to 8 ohms, depending on frequency). Whether at low or moderate volume levels, the SR-8000/Ergo 92 combination is splendid.
There are other issues one might consider (like component switching, digital out, DSPs, etc), but for us the discriminator was the musical sound and on that issue the Marantz SR-8000 is substantually better than the Denon AVR-3300. Of course, this is OUR opinion.
I would choose the Marantz (though I have never heard it). I have the Denon AVR2400 (a previous model without DD/DTS decoding but with 5.1) and a friend of mine has the AVR95 (same as the 2700) and though they both are great, the main reasons that I noticed that people upgrade for is due to the fact they want to 1) more power, 2) newer/additional processing (like people going from DD to one with DD/DTS), and 3) going to separates.The Marantz would make this transition easier as it has pre-outs for all channels. In addition, it also has a digital out (notice that the Denon 2800/3300 doesn't) and if I remember correctly component video switching. The 2800 only has one composite digital input (but 3 of the lower quality opticals) and if I remember correctly the Marantz has 2 of each. When you make your next upgrade to separates, this could be used for a pre-amp until you can afford a pre-amp (and then it could be downgraded to either another bedroom, second room, or even a generic 6.1 by doing 3 channel Dolby and running your rear outputs of your potential pre-amp). I think that Denon missed the boat by not including a digital out or rear pre-outs.
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