Marantz SR-5000 vs H/K AVR310 (1 Viewer)

[Will Moir]

Hi all,

I'm in the market for a cheap home theater setup, and recently I've been looking at refurbished as a way to get excellent bang for the buck. Two deals have really stuck out for me.

1) Refurbished Marantz SR-5000 from accessories4less.com for $289 + $20 shipping. Comes with One Year Parts and Labor Warranty from Marantz and 30 day DOA exchange from ac4l.com.

2) Refurbished Harman/Kardon AVR310 from ubid.com ... the price varies but seems to be around $289 + $66 shipping shipped w/ 2 year warranty from H/K.

Does anyone think that going refurbished is a good idea? Or is it asking for trouble? Both of these are stretching my budget, so if I went for a new reciever I'd probably be spending $250 - $200 or maybe even less. I'd really love to have either of these speakers, but I don't want to end up getting screwed by buying refurbished.

Also, if anyone thinks it is okay to go refurbished, would you recommend one of these over the other?

Thanks for the help,

-Will

 

[ColinM]

Will -
I wouldn't worry about the refurb issue, esp. with a warranty. The systems you want both garner great reviews!
I personally have the AVR110. I haven't heard the 5000. I can say that the 110 is an excellent performer, but I would like to have the pre-in's and out's. In a couple of years I'll upgrade, after I get some buddies of mine to spend their money on other brands so I can compare. hahaha
Beware Ubid, bad service in many cases, high shipping.
I have done business w/ A4L, tho. They were great.
Good Luck!
- CM

 

[John Garcia]

I have a 4000 and a 6200, and both do an excellent job at music as well as HT. Can't go wrong with Marantz.

HK is good too, but I would (and obviously did) go with Marantz.

 

[Bert D]

I bought a "refurb" AVR310 from Ubid, works perfect, but came with a deep gouge in front panel and vol knob. I paid $269 w/ shipping a while back. I complained to Ubid about the condition, and they gave me a $35 "gift cert." for any other prod of theirs. I bought some outside speakers for the $35.

It appears that Ubid's refurbs are either cosmetic or electronic, I got a cosmetic, and overall at final cost a fair deal. If you want PLII, you need to go to a 120/220/320, those now have PLII. My recommendation: Buy a brand new AVR 220 from Ebay/Yahoo for $400 shipped. While the 310 is a awesome unit, ( I use it everyday ) the new 220 is only 5 watts per channel less than a 310 and has the PLII and should be more reliable. Only the more recent H/K units are pretty reliable, some of the older ones (310) had some reliability probs. That is what I would do if I bought today. By the way , these H/K units put out about double the power they are rated at, so a 220 will give ample headroom, especially if you have a powered sub. IMHO>