Ok, I wanted a new unit for a while now, and after a lot of time thinking about it, it comes down to this: The Marantz 5500, or the H/K 335/435. I'm using it for 50/50 music and HT. I heard many good things about the maratz, that got me very interstead. From the other hand my friend owns the H/K 235, and he loves it. I will very happy if someone will explain the Watts differences between H/K and everyone else, cause the Marantz give 90 wpc, and the H/K gives 65 wpc. and what are the diffrences between the 335 and the 435, only the power?
Hard to go wrong with either one but personally I'd lean towards the HK.
Disregard the power ratings, they mean diddley here esp. since HK is famous for conservative numbers. Assuming that 90wpc and 65wpc are equally accurate specs, that's still too small of an audible difference to matter.
Anonymous
Posted on
I own a Marantz SR7500 and love the sound. The HK also is a very warm sounding unit and HK is known to under rate their amps. Both are good choices! The only thing that bothers me with my Marantz is the remote. It has a very strange way of having to acess the receiver controls, you have to hit the "amp" button twice. Other brands have the receiver controls always available and the second piece not be in control of the remote. It's kind of hard to explain, you should demo the unit and the remote to see what I mean.
yep that exact same thing freaked me out when I first set up my 5400, then later on someone else told me it was intended as a firewall against wives with itchy fingers, LOL.
When I first got my Sr-7300 the amp button on the remote had me a bit confused also. I don't know what I did but I rarely need to use it now. Other option buttons seem to work without having to use it - most times. Go figure!
I previously owned the HK AVR-520, then the 525 and both were excellent receivers in my opinion BUT I'm extremely impressed with the build quality and sound of the Marantz AV-8400 that I won on UBID's auction in May. Of course, the 8400 would probably compare to the older top of the line HK AVR 7200. The sound of the HK & the Marantz are very similar in my opinion with the Marantz being a little bit more refined than the HK. The midrange in particular sounds better on my Marantz than it did on the HK and the bass, believe it or not also sounds deeper. That being said, it's a credit to HK for the AVR-525 to sound comparable to a higher level Marantz. At this point, my vote goes to the Marantz because of it's exceptional build quality, it's less quirky than the HK and it sounds a bit more sonically refined IMHO.
justiceserved
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Omer,
If you can wait a couple of months longer you will get a good deal on a 5500 as they'll be closed out in September.
I think Fernandos hit it on the head. That was my experience auditioning the two & I ended up going with the Marantz.
As for the remote, the "double-click" is in part consistency and in part because some of the receiver functions are shared with other device functions on the same button (ex, 0-9 buttons also have the surround processing modes). IMHO it's not too confusing once you get the hang of it; I'm in the habit of always selecting the device before issuing commands.