PICK ONE... ONKYO 805 or MARANTZ 8001


I'm trying to decide on a new (to me anyways) receiver.

I've narrowed it down to these two:
MARANTZ - SR 8001
ONKYO - TX SR 805

About the only big deal I see bwtween them in their feature set is the 805 has better video flexibility & the HDMI 1.3 thingy. THEIR POWER RATING IS ABOUT EQUAL AND ALL i WOULD NEED.

The HDMI 1.3 does seem attractive for multi ch. high res audio playback via a single wire bundle, BUT not having heard anything through one, I'm skeptical on it's performance level and would think the Marantz the more musical of the pair... albeit the need for RCA cables for SACD.

The onkyo is also cheaper.

Any other thoughts or experiences here on support or performance, would be super and greatly appreciated.
blindjim

Showing 2 responses by mrmikesmail

The biggest difference between the two is that the Onkyo 805 will decode Dolby Digital HD, DTS HD Master and uncompressed PCM. The 805 also has digital room correction eq wich many believe is a huge improvement in sound especially for mid-fi.

Marantz has a better reputation for sound quality mainly due to their reference series. I would bet the difference in sound would would quite small in their mid-fi gear. I am not sure about the 8001 but the 8002 does have an oversized power supply wich could be benificial for hard to drive speakers or while driving 5 to 7 speakers at high levels.

I would get the Onkyo with an external amp.
Congratulations. Please let us know how you like it. I hope to get the Onkyo 805 or Marantz sr8002 and would apreciate you oppinion.

Have fun!