Onkyo vs Marantz (1 Viewer)

[Charles Chan]

Hi,
I'm a newbie to home theaters. I'm planning on buying a home theater setup for watching movies (40%) and listening to music (60%). Which one do you think is better: Marantz SR4300, Marantz SR5300, Onkyo TX-SR601, Onkyo TX-SR-701.

Also, any suggestions for affordable 5.1 or 6.1 speaker sets?

Thanks for your help!

 

[David Preston]

I don't think there is much difference between the 4300 and 5300. I first bought the 4300 and then decided I wanted more so I went with the 7300. From my experience and from what I have heard the 7300 is a great piece. YOu can get a refurbished one at www.accessories4less.com they have some great prices there. Mine is not a refurb but if I plan to upgrade my next one probably will be. As far as a resonable set of speakers try Link Removed and check out the Micros 5.1 system Brian can make it a 6.1 by adding another MIcro for the rear. I have a set of MIcros as my rears. He has a few different colors you can get them in. I chose black. They are smaller in person that they look on the site. Just my $.02

 

[Pablo Abularach]

I think for your preference ratio, Marantz will be a better option. I think you should try to see if you can get a SR6300, I have an SR6200 and for me it does a wonderfull job with music as well as for movies.

As far as speakers, there are a lot of affordable brands that you could look for, I have marantz with JBLs and for me its a great setup, try to check JBL Studio or Northbridge series.

 

[David Preston]

As Pablo said the 6200 is great I haven't heard any thing bad about it just good ones. I would skip the 4300 & 5300 and go with the 6300. I just went with the 7300 cause I got a pretty good deal on it. Let us know what you decide.

 

[MTrotter]

I picked up a Marantz SR8000 a while back and ended up sending it back. This was a very expensive, heavy receiver. I was hoping it would be an upgrade to my $300 Nakamichi AV500 I got from Best Buy while they were carrying them. Not that the Marantz was bad, but the Nak just blows it away in audio quality. The Marantz had much less cajones, and the Nak has much more clarity and coherence. I also tried a darned expensive Sherwood Newcastle one time, and it had audible hum and hiss from the speakers, and not real dynamic.

Maybe Marantz has beefed up their audio power sections, just check it out carefully.

 

[ChrisDixon]

I'd like to add a dissenting opinion to MTrotter. I also have one of the Nakamichi series from BestBuy (mine was an AV400 which was pretty much the same thing with different inputs if I remember correctly). I also had a Marantz SR7000 (which is one step below his 8000) and did a fair amount of A/B comparison. The NAK did appear to have more power, but part of that is due to the fact that it has an analog volume control. You can turn it up 1/3 of the way and get really loud so it seems like there is a bunch of headroom, but the amps would probably clip if you pushed it up to even half way. To me, the Marantz was superior when it came to sound quality of music when in Source Direct mode. To my ears, it was warmer and more detailed (I found the sound stage to be a bit more compressed on the Nak). Not that the Naks were bad receivers... they were rebadged versions of the more expensive models and had great price to performance ratio. I have since upgraded from the SR7000 to the SR8200, and that was another leap in quality and power. My only caution is to avoid the lower Marantz models if you have a very big room or power-hungry speakers.

Chris

 

[Lew Crippen]

Also, any suggestions for affordable 5.1 or 6.1 speaker sets?

You might post a question in the speakers area. Include your budget and some other details.

What you might consider affordable, I might think expensive.

 

[Rich Wenzel]

if it were me, and not having compared the marantz and the onkyo, i would go with the marantz...just cause, in my own and my friends' experiences onkyo's build quality and service was not acceptable. I would be reluctant to buy a product of theirs again. I have had good results with mthe one marantz product (cd player, 4000OSE). however, that is a small sample set, and not conclusive in anyway...

as for speakers...you dont say what you consider to be affordable...I would offer this advice though, if you are looking to spend $600 or less, to hold off on 5.1 and just get 2 channel...with a good pair of fronts you can better sounding bass in most cases than $100-$300 sub, not to mention much fuller and better sounding mids...The bass might not be as booming or as loud, but it most likely will be more musical, faster and clearer...thats just my opinion. I would rather listen to good 2 channel set up than a thin sounding surround sound channel, especially, since like you, i dedicate more time to music listening.

Best of luck.

Rich

 

[Joel McIntosh]

I have just gone through the ordeal of trying out the following receivers over the last three weeks — Onkyo 601, Onkyo 701, H/K 525, and the Marantz 7300. I spent at least a couple of days with each. I’ll try to keep this short, but if you want more information, just ask. The following are some of my impressions: the Marantz 7300 is without doubt, hands-down, no questions asked the best of the four. Circuit City is selling the Onkyo 701 and the H/K 525 for $799; Marantz is releasing their new line within a few months, so it is likely you can talk the price down (as I did) to that range with your local dealer. I think you should at least try to get a good deal on it if you can. Otherwise, I’m sure the 6300 would be fine. The sound clarity and power of the Marantz and the H/K were both outstanding. Music and theater surround is wonderfully crisp and clear with both. The H/K is a nightmare to set-up and calibrate because of the way the set-up menu system is organized. The H/K inputs and remote are poorly designed. The H/K front panel is not intuitive for the user. The Marantz was a breeze to set-up and calibrate. The remote is great (it learns, so you can eliminate your other remotes). The front panel is a breeze to use. The Marantz and the H/K blew the Onkyos away where sound quality was concerned. The Onkyo sound had an ever so slight muffled quality with both receivers. Furthermore, I could hear this extremely low-grade “shhhhh” sound with both (maybe this was the result of "dirty" power, but I filter my power and the "shhhh" sound didn't appear with the Marantz or the H/K). I initially liked the Onkyos when I first got them (and posted something to that effect on another thread), but eventually the dulled sound and “shhhhh” sound got to me. That is when I tried out the Marantz, and was just thrilled at the difference. I hope this helps.

 

[Joel McIntosh]

I would like to agree with Rich about going with 2 channels if you have a speaker budget of $600. Right now, Circuit City has Polk Audio's RTi150's on clearence for $299 each. You would probably get more pleasure from two great speakers like these at that price, than 5.1 speakers at that price. Then, you can add the center speaker, surround speakers, and subwoofer later as your budget allows.

 

[Nick.H]

Harman Kardon!

 

[Nick.H]

Harman Kardon!