Significant difference??

I too am in the boat. my dealer just got the av 7701 from marantz in, he also has a used anthem d2. i run everything through hdmi. PS3 to receiver( using the preouts) to amp and hdmi directly to projector. the dealer seems to want me to get the anthem and let the playstation do the decoding. but the anthem has only hdmi 1.1 and the rest of my gear is 1.3. also the anthem cannot do dts master or dolby true hd. but i guess it would have to if the playstation did it.

i can get the marantz for 1500 and the anthem for 3000. i was also leaning toword the marantz...

what to do.

if you get the marantz please post your thoughts as thee are not reviews yet.

Bill

If you are looking for a surround sound processor and don't care about HDMI then I would suggest looking for a McIntosh MX119. You won't get the HDMI inputs or the HD video switching but it would probably be better anyway if you run your HDMI directly into your TV. For audio let the Blu-ray player decode the HD sound via the Analog 7.1 outputs to the 7.1 inputs on the McIntosh. These usually sell for right at 2K or less and like all McIntosh gear, it was built like a tank. For solid state it is a wonderful sounding Pre/Pro.

Thanks for the info. I'm hoping some will share their thoughts on sound difference in performance. I'm thinking of getting a good receiver Togo with the new oppo 103......maybe the Marantz 7007 or the Denon 3313. Any ideas?? And what about McIntosh

Denon and Marantz maybe "under one roof" but so is McIntosh but I believe most would agree that McIntosh is better made and has superior sound.

D&M Holding owns Marantz, Denon, and McIntosh, as well as a few other companies. Before 2002, Denon was a separate company.

I know they share a lot of the same parts (that's how you keep cost low), Denon and Marantz have seperate design philosophies and some of the features may only be avaliable on a Denon but not on the Marantz (at least at first), however I do not know if they are actually made in the same factory.

I do not think there are any significant differences between the two.

Just my half cent as I have not any experience with any Denon gear. But my recently acquired Marantz PM8004 integrated amp would have me leaning towards the Marantz anything. Sound combined with a 3 year warranty deserves a very look.

If possible really check out the "ease of use". No matter how good in other areas, if it is a pain to use for yourself and especially other family. It will be a major pain in the butt or simply not get used.