Marantz SR 4001

[Airplay355]

Just ordered the receiver from ac4l to replace a POS Sony HTIB receiver my parents had. I had an SR7200 when I was younger and I loved it. I figured for $268 shipped I probably wasn't going to find anything better. It's new too, not refurbished so I get a 3 year warranty :)

Anyone have experience with the newer receivers? They will mostly be using it for TV and movies so I have a feeling it will be perfect powering the JM Lab 706s we have as mains. Maybe we'll add a center and surrounds now.

[slowpolky]

I replaced my sony htib with an onkyo 607 last month and love the sound from hdmi via my 2 week old ps3. does the 4001 have hdmi?

If so you should be in for a treat watching bluray

[Kex]

No direct experience, so I probably shouldn't even bother responding, but I like to make useless observations as a rule. I've heard a lot of good things about that receiver, and nothing bad (other than no pre-outs, of course). I'd expect it to match perfectly with the Focal-JMlab 706, since they're very efficient, and apparently sound great with any half decent receiver (if you mean the Chorus 706 V). Great styling too, IMO.

Throw a couple more of those speakers on surround duty, and maybe another as a center, and you should have something really good going on!

[mvs9963]

I have had the marantz 4003 for about a year now. I repaced it with an old jvc rcv. The difference was amazing.. I researched for about 6 months and listened to denon,onk,yahmaha. It was a toss up between pio lower vsx line and the marantz. I liked the marantz sound overall. very warm and full compared to the pio overall 2 me

[Kex]

... I repaced it with an old jvc rcv. The difference was amazing. ...

You probably meant that the other way around?! Or maybe we should add some Wal-Mart listings to the Audio Deals of the Day thread for current JVC models!

[cnh]

I think so, Marantz is generally considered a more 'musical' AVR, and warm like a Harman Kardon--you'd also like that if you like Marantz. I haven't heard the new series which I think is 'improved' but I've felt the H/Ks were warmer than the previous Marantz models.

And Kex, you've GOT to be right...

cnh

[mvs9963]

oops

[Airplay355]

I actually have the older model of Chorus and turns out they are 707s, not 706. Same tweeter just a larger woofer. The 4001 has pre-outs, not that my parents would be using them but they are there.

It does have hdmi but I'm really out of the loop with HT technology. Does the hdmi cable mean I don't have to use an optical cable for audio anymore? Is blurray sound better then regular DVD sound?

[Kex]

I actually have the older model of Chorus and turns out they are 707s, not 706. Same tweeter just a larger woofer. The 4001 has pre-outs, not that my parents would be using them but they are there.

It does have hdmi but I'm really out of the loop with HT technology. Does the hdmi cable mean I don't have to use an optical cable for audio anymore? Is blurray sound better then regular DVD sound?

Well, some will disagree, but you shouldn't really need to use the pre-outs with those speakers IMO.

As for HDMI, there are different variations.

The most basic is a simple HDMI repeater. This just means that only the video is sent through the connection, with no processing or alteration. In these models, you usually have to hook up a different, analog connection just to get the setup menus to display. Also, setting modifications, such as volume changes, will not usually show up on screen (a convenience feature), so you may have to peek at the front display on the Marantz to know precisely what volume the level is set at. In this case, the only advantage that I can think of is the single HDMI cable connection required between the receiver and the display device, provided all source devices are also HDMI capable, since no analog video input will be cross converted to a digital HDMI output.

The SR-4001 is HDMI 1.1, so you will still need a regular digital audio connection via a separate cable AFIK. The good news is that there is no real possibility for video signal degradation, which others have complained about sometimes when using units that actually process the video signal.

HD audio, via HDMI, is supposed to be better than digital audio delivered by optical and coaxial cables (either or). It also has advantages for SACD audio IIRC.

[Airplay355]

I just meant that if i slapped an amp in the setup my parents wouldn't know the difference. I could do it, but I don't need to do it by any means. They won't be cranking it or doing any serious listening. Plus the bookshelves are easy to drive and are pretty efficient.

Not too worried about the sound differences between an optical or an HDMI cable. There are certainly things in the system that could be changed to make much more drastic improvements but thanks for pointing that out. I didn't know there were different versions of HDMI.

All the sources are HDMI capable so I guess I'll run them all through the receiver so the OSD shows up.

[Kex]

... All the sources are HDMI capable so I guess I'll run them all through the receiver so the OSD shows up.

Well, that was my point, actually. I'm not sure you will see the OSD information with a HDMI 1.1 repeater. You can download the online manual to verify this if you're worried about it, but I think you'll have to just watch the front panel display on the Marantz.

http://us.marantz.com/Products/1867.asp

[cnh]

An HDMI repeater version 1.1 should be able to carry audio as multi-channel LPCM as well at the 24 bit/96Khz level? I think!

See below....

cnh

HDMI Repeater
Now remember, with HDMI switching, it's as if you're running a cable directly from your source to your TV. A receiver with just an HDMI switcher never processes the HDMI audio — it just passes it through.

If you want multichannel sound to play through your home theater system, you’ll want a receiver with an HDMI repeater. Rather than just passing through the HDMI signal, a receiver with a repeater will process the audio portion of the signal coming in, and then send on ("repeat") the video portion to the HDMI output going to your TV.

Not every receiver that does HDMI switching has an HDMI repeater. But all of the receivers that do have an HDMI repeater also do HDMI switching.

[Airplay355]

Gotcha Kex. If that's the case and the OSD doesn't show up, I'll just run a regular RCA cable to a different source on the TV and use that to view the OSD and to change the settings on the receiver. My parents won't be messing with any of the settings anyway. All they want is volume and a power button ;)

Either way there are enough inputs, output and wires for me to get something working lol.

[mvs9963]

on my 4003, i have an s-video connection to the tv for the osd. it does not show osd over hdmi

[Kex]

on my 4003, i have an s-video connection to the tv for the osd. it does not show osd over hdmi

This has been quite common, unfortunately, although it may be changing. In this case, I prefer the old composite video connections since they are a lot less fiddly and prone to damage or failure than S-Video in my experience.

[mvs9963]

totally agree with you just had extra s-vid within arms reach first cable i grabbed

[Airplay355]

It shipped today and the package weighs 34lbs. I didn't expect it to be such a beast. I'm sure the parents are going to love it.

I wish I could find the matching center channel for the JM Labs. The newer chorus line looks so different it would look strange to mismatch them.