Marantz receivers any bad vibes for 2ch&HT combo

When you are dealing with higher end stuff, I agree. But we're talking receivers here. If you did a survey, I think you find as many pro Denon as pro Marantz. Sorry I have to disagree but they will have a tendency to share at this level. Also, I would not really want to put Lexicon in the same class as Levinson myself. I might choose certain Harmon Kardon over some of the Lexicon stuff!

Didn't Marantz and Denon merge at some point a while back? Seems I read that somewhere. Seems the parent companies joined up. If this is truly the case, I would think the newer products would probably be about equal.
I have liked the performance of the older Marantz like the SR19 and SR18 receivers. I thought you got a little more for your money.

Just because someone has the latest gizwitchy doesn't make them a quality built product. Lexicon has built some really questionably priced pieces. Have you ever looked inside of a Lexicon and then compared the parts and build quality to Levinson? That's where I'm coming from. And yes, I have seen a lot cheaper units with equal or better internal quality than Lexicon. Marketing is a wonderful thing! Why don't you take a peak and see where some of those pieces parts in that Lexicon come from. Might just be surprised. Lot closer to Harmon Kardon and others than you might think!