MARANTZ AV8003 Networking Preamplifier

I owned it and then purchased the AV7005. I think the 8003 sounded better, though the Audessey in the 7005 was better. It depends on what you are looking for. The 8003 is built much better in my opinion. The 7005 does have more networking features, so it really depends on personal preference for feature set. But for sound, especially for 2 channel, I thought the 8003 was very good.

Yes! I have used the AV8003 for 2 years. It is excellent, and extremely neutral and transparent in the direct mode. The tuner is also better then you might expect. The remote could be easier to use, but the bottom line for me has been superlative sound obtainable for a paltry sum of money. Highly recommended!

I have two, and like them both. I use it for 2 channel and HT and they are able to play a DVD with stereo speakers and send center channel info. equally to both speakers. I can watch DVD music and only use two speakers, and get a great central image. A very good sounding preamp, a big surprise to me. I am a tube guy, and have a very heavily modded tube preamp, and this is competitive, a real dark horse, a sleeper and way better than it has a right to be. I had a speaker manufacturer at my place to hear my music and he was floored by how good it sounded, with my Marantz. He just got a new Aesthetix Calypso, a fabulous preamp, so I want to compare and find out how much I am giving up. Can't go wrong though, and I use a tube amp with it in one system, and an ATI amp and they both are magical matches. It goes great with Quicksilvers. Jallen

I switched from a B&K preamp to the Marantz AV8003. I absolutely loved my B&K for its sound quality, but needed something with HDMI that could excel at both 2 channel and HT. The AV8003 was my choice, falling between blowing all my money on the peerless Cary Cinema 11 or Anthem D2v, or getting decent HT but garbagey two-channel from an Integra or Emotiva and the like. Long story short, I am not missing anything; the Marantz is very similar to the B&K with regard to sound quality and character. Simply put, the HT is incredible, and the 2-channel is absolutely heavenly for something that is not a dedicated 2-channel pre. Actually, I think it competes very well with most 2-channel preamps.

Like another poster mentioned, the 8003 is superior in sound quality to the 7005. However, I have just a few complaints that I might as well mention, as they may help you:
1) The crossover is only adjustable in increments of 20hz, and only goes down to 60hz. Furthermore, it only works globally, not on an individual speaker basis.
2) With regard to HD sound codecs, Audessey can only be applied to a PCM signal over HDMI, meaning that if you want room correction, the lossless codecs (Dolby True and DTS Master) must be processed by the player. The Marantz will process a bitstreamed HD signal, but will not be able to apply Audessey. Also, the Audessey is a somewhat outdated version, not the newest 32xt or whatever. I don't care for Audessey, but I figured I should mention it because this is a common complaint.

I should also mention that I use a dedicated HTPC, and thus do not use the networking features of the Marantz.

If you get a 7005, rumour has it that the Japanese version is superior to the Chinese. They outsourced to China during the radiation issues. All 8003 were Japanese construction from my understanding. Jallen