AVR Upgrade Opinions

[BinaryLinguist]

I've had my Sierra Towers for a month or so now and I love them. But... It kicked off the upgrade bug. :D. I picked up the Panasonic 65" VT30 Plasma and decided to switch out the AVR.

My original plan was the Marantz AV7005 + Wyred4Sound Mini MC 3 Channel Amp. I went to a local place to check out the 7005 and ended up spending an hour with the Anthem MRX AVRs... I am now leaning toward going with the Anthem but can't decide on the 300 vs. 500 vs. 700. If I knew I wouldn't start itching for the W4S amp eventually, i would just go with the 700 with the extra power and toroidal transformer. The 300 makes more sense at half the price of the 700 if I add an amp but not sure it would suffice for the time being.

Anybody have experience with any of these units? Open to other suggestions as well...

[Sam1000]

Check out Onkyo's 5509 pre-pro (same as Integra 80.3). There's a review in stereophile about 5508 model. SQ is very good on this unit. I got my unit(5508) for a significantly less $$ than MSRP from Abt electronics (1500 shipped).

I have not heard Anthem, but it's EQ capabilities are suppose to be very good as well..

5508 model had a bug, but Onkyo has extended it's warranty for resolving the bug. They should have sorted it out on 5509.

Here's a press release about the issue in 5508
======================
http://www.onkyousa.com/press_releases.cfm?id=215

Press Releases

Return to Press Releases
Automatic Continuous Change of Listening Modes and/or Remote Controller Commands are not accepted
06/21/11 - Models: TX-NR708, TX-NR709, TX-NR808, TX-NR1008, TX-NR3008, TX-NR5008, PR-SC5508, HT-RC270, HT-RC370

If your receiver of the above mentioned models experiences the following : Listening modes automatically change one after another. When this problem occurs most commands will not be accepted.

Please contact our Product Support Department at (800) 229-1687, option 3, to confirm that this issue exists in your receiver. If the issue exists you will be given further direction on how to have it serviced.

***This issue will be handled for you even if you are out of warranty (this only applies to US and Canada).***



Return to Press Releases

[BinaryLinguist]

Thanks for the input. I am not an Onkyo fan at all. I had the 905 for about a month when it first came out and that was enough to keep me away from Onkyo. I compared it to a Denon 4310 and ended up keeping the Denon for a while. The heat and weak analog were two of my biggest gripes as well as frequent pops.

I found a local dealer that gave me a good deal on the Anthem MRX-700 today so I'm happy. :D