Any thoughts on the new Marantz HT separates?


Has anyone experienced the marantz AV 8003 prepro. To me it looks sweet. Has all the bells and whistles. I wonder how it stacks up to other "high end components"? Their new BD8002 blue ray player looks pretty sweet as well.
docrobbi
.
Yeah I've been salivating at both pieces. I've just bought a new pre/pro and blu ray player two months ago and already I'm looking to upgrade to the Marantz pieces.

I've been reading the owners manuals of their new blu ray player and of the new denon hi end player. Amazingly their owners manual is almost identical nearly word for word... Do electronics mfgs use the same companies to make their manuals or do you think that the Denon and Marantz models are made by the same manufacturer? Their specs are nearly identical also.
Post removed 
.
Ericjcabrera you are correct....I just checked it out on the web. What an eye-opener.

Denon and Marantz merged in 2002.

All of the companies below belong to D&M holdings.

Denon
Marantz
McIntosh
ReplayTV
Rio (digital audio players)
Boston Acoustics
Snell Acoustics
.
Yes; the Denon and Marantz are basically the same player; like Ford and Mercury putting different lables on the same car...Question: What do you think you gain by spending $2k for BD player? They don't perform CD and regular DVD play as well as other quality non-BD players? How many BD discs do you watch; and are you happy with the catalogue of titles? Why is it worth double what the new Sony 550 will do? Yes; I agree the new HD audio codecs look promising; I'm waiting until after the CEDIA show to see what the big boys are planning to release for the holiday sales freenzy.
I have heard many great things about the new AV 8003 - Mine is still sitting in its box waiting for me to purchase power - I opted not to get the Marantz Power - my speakers are 4 ohm, add to that long speaker wire to the rears and I believe the Marantz would cook - looking for a krell or Theta -
Google AV TALK and check out the review by uncle Eric.
.
I bought the BD-8002 Blu Ray player. It is outstanding. Great on-screen image for both Blu Ray and upconverted standard def discs.

My prepro doesn't decode the new hi-def codecs, but the Marantz does thru it 7.1 analog outputs. It sounds outstanding.

It is also a great cd player.

An exceptional machine.
.
I was using a pioneer elite 94 receiver as a prepro, I sold it and went with the marantz 8003, it was a signifigent improvement on sound quality, I used to think that using a receiver as a prepro was as good as a seperate prepro, but the marantz proved me very wrong,
.
I pulled the trigger on a Marantz 8003 pre/pro....I sold a 4 month old Sunfire TG5 to get it.

...very nice.
.
I finally have the theater system up and running - I matched the Marantz AV8003 with a krell Showcase 7 - without writing a book I can say that The pre/pro is Awesome !! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask...TONY
I had a Marantz Pro-Logic Theater receiver in the mid 90's, and gave it to a friend for his kids use when I upgraded 10 years ago. The Marantz had a great sound and it is still kicking after 12 years old. great build quality.