Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Receiver: Arcam vs Marantz vs Integra

I am building a home theater and have received my epic 80 system. I chose the EP500 sub and will be running a 5.1 system in a room that is 14 x 16 x 8 (I know, it'll be rockin'!). Most of my use will be for movies and TV, with maybe 10-20% music listening and concert viewing.

The local (Northern Virginia) hi-fi store guy will be doing my prewiring and projector set-up. He deals in the above brands, plus some higher end stuff (B&K, etc) that is over my budget. My budget is flexible but I'm eyeing the USD$1000-1500 range. I could stretch this to $2000 for the Arcam AVR300.

I lugged my M80s and VP150 into the store and auditioned a Marantz receiver and thought it sounded really nice - I guess it is called "warm". I heard some Arcam separates which have some of the same hardware as the AVR300.

Can anyone share their experiences over the long term with any of these receivers?

Imho. save yourself some money and go with the Denon 3805.

JP, welcome. You've already completed what is by far the most significant audio step by getting your excellent speakers. Frankly, attempting to "audition" a receiver with them is a rather pointless exercise since any well-designed receiver amplifies transparently and doesn't introduce a sonic character of its own. What's heard at such "auditions" isn't the receiver, but rather the source material being played, as affected by the speakers and the specific acoustic characteristics of that particular room.

If you're not limited to that store, there're several excellent receivers at the $1,000 end of your budget which should be considered, such as the Denon 3806(or as previously mentioned, the older 3805 if you'd like to save a bit more), Pioneer 74TXVi or Yamaha 2600.

Actually, I've lurked for a while in these boards (and others, eg AVS Forums) and noted that the Denon 3805/3806 seems to be the receiver mentioned most. It actually was my first thought as I was ordering the speakers, and I haven't ruled it out. There's a Tweeter in town that carries it and the Ya-mama-hah! 2600/4600 models as well as Onkyo's 803.

I'll be running DirecTV HD/DVR, which has HDMI, so the switching on the 3806 seems a plus, I guess. I'm also shopping for a universal DVD player, and was going to ask about those in another thread.

Thanks for your replies - now where are the Arcam/Marantz users?

Ratpack has the Oppo dvd player and an Onyko 703. You might fire a PM at him. I believe he doesn't use the video connections. Just the audio in his set-up.

Bug is correct. I have all of my video connections going directly to the Sony SXRD. After studying all of the pros and cons of doing your switching in your audio receiver, I decided that unless you have an overhead projector where cabling may be an issue, it just doesn't make any sense to video switch in your audio receiver. I have also seen a large number of threads where people are complaining about the HDMI switching of the Denon and Yahama receivers. I suspect that the other brands are also having their share of HDMI problems.

I bought the Onkyo 703 instead of the 803 because I didn't want the HDMI switching of the 803. For just about the cost difference, I was able to buy a Harmony 880 remote.

I think that was an excellent trade. A key stroke or two with the Harmony and all the audio receiver, cable TV, Satellite TV, DVD or VCR settings are automatically sent to the appropriate gear.

Thanks, ratpack. My installer has recommended just what you are doing, ie feeding the audio to the receiver but the video sources directly to the projector. With a prewire, hopefully the cables will be out of the way.

In addition to the receiver choice, I am also looking at universal DVD players, currently favoring the Marantz 7600. For a projector, either the Panny AE900 or Epson 550. Looking forward to having this all complete by March Madness! Then I can add my name to the listeners list (northern VA)...

Hi medic8r,

Based on our past Axiom customer experiences (and my own as well), Arcam receivers will drive 4-ohm M80s with no problems. As to Marantz and Onkyo, the record is spotty. Many Onkyos shut down or overheat with 4-ohm loads, and some Marantz have also not coped well with 4-ohm loads.

Since the Marantz in the store drove your M80s (did you run it fairly loud for an extended period?) you should be OK, but one of the reasons Axiom likes the Denon, H/K and Outlaw brands is that even the less expensive receivers from those brands will drive the M80s without overheating or shut down.

Regards,

Alan, thanks for your input, and thanks for your work with these fabulous speakers that I now own.

I am glad that you mentioned Outlaw, as I had been curious about them but never investigated them. I have since gone to their web site and am very impressed with their gear. There is something appealing about buying high-performing audio gear over the internet for and keeping the money that would have gone to the middleman! After all, I'm one-for-one so far!

medic8r

The best thing about Outlaw is the trial at home just like Axiom.