Marantz SR7300 OSE Review (against SR6200) (1 Viewer)

[Pablo Abularach]

Hi,

I just wanted to post my thoughts and experiences with the new Marantz SR7300 OSE.

First I want to thank my dealer "Sonido Seguro", which let me borrow it so could test it at home. Esteban Saravia (owner) and Alfonso Vielman (salesman).

My current setup
Reciever: SR6200
Mains and Surrounds: Four JBL S26
Subwoofer: SVS 25-31
DVD Player: Sony DVP-NC655

Before I get to the sound/preformance anlisis, I want just to talk about the HISS problem that has being talk around here in previous threads. When I just plugged the speakers and all the connections, I heard a wierd sound thru the center channel, very lound, but the other speakers didnt have it. I setup the speakers and connections thru the reciever setup, and it dissapear. I dont know if it was a glitch or something in the way that marantz has the recievers setup from the begining. But there wasnt any hiss from that point until the last minute that I unplugged everything, the reciever work great.

Well, lets go to the review, I do not consider my self an audiofile, or an expert so this is more my impression and experiences with the SR7300 OSE, than a professional review.

Connection,
Comparing it to my SR6200, it has more connection, and the componnent inputs/outputs are a plus. But I dont have to much connected right now to my reciever so more connection are not a plus for me, but it can be for you.

Remote,
The remote is something that is a lot better than the one that came with my SR6200, is more confortable, and much easier to browse thue the menus, is better arrange, the buttons are more accesible. For me it is big plus, comparing it to the SR6200 remote.

Copper chasis,
It looks very good, but overall, cupper is just a better conductor of heat, so if you have a good ventilation on your rack, you might go with the SR7300.

Menus,
It is more friendly than my SR6200, it is much easier to setup, it has two big plus for me that my SR6200 didnt have the variable cross over (which I setup at 80) and the distance to the sub. Also it reconize the DTS-ES very easily in the movies that I tested.

Power,
It seems this part of the reciever is better than the last X200 series, the reciever can mover very easy my JBLs. Comparing it directly with my SR6200, it can reach the same SPL with half of the volume display (in the SR6200 3/4), and it moves them very easily without any sign of restrian or clipping.

Movies testing,
I used Star wars Episode I and II, Lord of the rings Special edition. In every movie I could notice the more power and separation of the sounds in the SR7300 OSE than in my SR6200, you feel much more in the movie, the effects are more accurate. But I was comparing it with 80Hz cross over of the SR7300OSE to my 100 Hz crossover fix of my SR6200, I dont know if this was fair, but I did want to see how much better was the 80Hz cross over.

Music Testing,
I'm not a big fan of music as I'm of movies, but I did tested a couple of discs, (on in DTS, I dont have DVD-A yet)
Roy Orbison - Black & White Night - DTS
and The Eagles - Hell Freezes Over - DTS
In both tests the SR7300 came out first, the sound of the gitars were much more accurate and alive. The sound was very good. I think in here is where the SR7300 does have a big advantage over my SR6200. When we tested pretty woman with my family, my brother even ask if I had change speakers, because he did heard it a lot better.

Conclusion, comments and overall impresion,
I do think that marantz made a wonderfull reciever with SR7300 OSE, but is very expensive. I bought my SR6200 a year ago for $700, and the SR7300 goes around for $1300-1400, it is a big difference, and this were the SR6200 offerd me more for my money.

I wont argue that the SR7300OSE is superior in every aspect than my SR6200, but not twice as good. Like the money reflects. I think this receiver should be around $1000 to be consider as a better match than my SR6200. I know most of you could get it around that price, but living in guatemala is very hard to get good prices.

I know I didnt reach much in technical aspects as you might wanted, but as I said, I do not consider my self as a audiofile or an expert, I do like my ears and my personal jugdement to dictate my reactions and my preferences.

Any comments and suggestions are very welcome.

Thanks for taking the time and reading this review.
Pablo Abularach

PS, I didnt keep the SR7300 OSE, I will wait to see the SR8300.

 

[John Garcia]

Pablo, thanks for the review. You don't need to be an audiophile to write a review I spent some time with the 7300 on different occasions, and I can say that there is no improvement in power, but the DACs are definitely better, which will likely explain the greater performance vs the 6200. The 7300 uses the DACs from the 8200 and the OSE uses the power supply from the 8200 as well. The 8300 will have all new DACs, the same as the 9300 (which I was very impressed with).

My dealer offered me the OSE at just a bit above the 7300, but he also said he would give me a deal on the 8300....so I am waiting to see how good of a deal. I asked my dealer straight out "If I buy the OSE, will I be back to upgrade to an 8300?" He said "Yes."

One thing - I did not like either of the remotes that came with the 8300 OR the 9300!

 

[ChrisDixon]

Are you sure that the 8300 has all new DACs? I was told (and read in several places) that the differences between the 8200 and 8300 were:

CS II (software)
'Precision Decoding' for DTS/DD (software)
new RS-232c protocol (firmware)
DTS 96/24 (firmware)

These are also the items in the 8200 upgrade (which is said to bring the it up to the same as the 8300). If you heard otherwise, do you have a link?

Chris

 

[John Garcia]

No link, my dealer told me this, so that is the extent of my knowledge. The 8300 is supposed to have the new 32 bit Crystal DACs just as the 9300 does; the 8200 has the 24 bit DACs. This seems very likely, as the 8200 and 9200 shared the same DACs, and the 9300 is already out with the 32 bit DACs.

I don't know for sure, but it didn't sound like the upgrade to the 8200 will include the new DACs, AFAIK. He also said the 8300 will share the same chassis as the 9300, unlike the difference between the 8200 and 9200 (BIG).

 

[John Garcia]

The info for the 8300 is up on Marantz site, which means they should be hitting stores soon.

DOH! Looks like my dealer was wrong, they list dual 24 bit DACs, not the 32s in the 9300. That probably means that an upgraded 8200 will be basically identical to an 8300. Darn, that means if I got an 8200 on clearance and the upgrade, I could be paying fair amount less for about the same thing.....:frowning: (I got a good deal on it though).

 

[ChrisDixon]

If it's any consolation, they have not yet released the upgrade in the USA (to my knowledge). I'm curious to know how they do it because my dealer told me that his rep said that they are toying with the idea of making it free in the USA. If that's true, I would guess that it is software only, but he wasn't sure. If it's more than a trivial cost, I will probably pass since the updates don't look all that essential to me. Anyone have an update on the status of the 8200/9200 upgrade in the USA?

Chris

 

[Pablo Abularach]

John,

DOH! Looks like my dealer was wrong, they list dual 24 bit DACs, not the 32s in the 9300. That probably means that an upgraded 8200 will be basically identical to an 8300. Darn, that means if I got an 8200 on clearance and the upgrade, I could be paying fair amount less for about the same thing..... (I got a good deal on it though).

I just pass a 8200 a couple of weeks ago, there arent any in stock right now. By what you are saying is not worth to upgrade to an SR8300, so I will try to see if can get a good deal on the 9200 or 8200 used.

Thanks for the info,
Pablo

 

[John Garcia]

I checked around here as well, and I only found 2 demo units in stock locally for $1200, so I don't feel too bad about spending a few hundred more to get the 8300, plus I don't have to worry about getting the upgrade. I figured there would be some 8200s around, but I guess not. I asked the guy at the store what the differences between the two are, and he said "not much" though (he also does not have the 8300 in stock yet). I missed out on a demo 8200 for $799 a few weeks back!!

If you are considering the 9200, there was a 9300 on Audiogon for ~$2100, which is a very good deal, but more than I wanted to spend. I don't know from where, but that may be expensive to ship to Guatemala.

 

[ChrisDixon]

Yes, $1200 is not very good for a demo unit right now. That's about what I paid for a brand new one 8 months ago (before they were phased out). I think you will be very happy with your 8300, and you don't have to worry about issues with a refurb or demo. What are the 8300s selling for these days?

Chris

 

[John Garcia]

MSRP is $1699, $100 more than the 8200.

There were no new 8200s locally. I found one used locally on Audiogon, but the guy was also asking $1200; I offered less and got no response.

The 8300 should be here sometime early next week.