Marantz is one of those companies that will properly never die as long as there is ears to hear and music to be played at home. And after many years of giving the world some of the best Hi-Fi equipment, and being pioneers in the home theater industry, they are still able to bring out equipment that improves every time they change a model number
And so the Marantz SR7007 came to me in a box, a square box in a way that most receivers are boxed. Opening it gave me something I did not expect, and that was a 4 page instruction manual. Interestingly, all the writing was big enough that any 50 year old man not to struggle to gets his spectacles, hardly any usual information.
The accessories is the standard thing, Manual, Instruction CD, Remote with batteries, FM Cable and Auddyssey mic.
The remote has the same look as the Marantz SR7005, few buttons changed to accommodate the expanding multi-room functions.
So before I started to read the four page instruction manual, I carefully investigated the back panel. Yes indeed, three HDMI Outs. The Marantz SR7007 receiver has three HDMI’s out.
Following the confirmation from my eyes that the Marantz SR7007 has indeed have three HDMI’s out, I followed the instructions.
In short it said the following:
1. Unpack
2. Plug in TV HDMI on HDMI Out 1
3. Plug in power cord
4. Follow on screen instructions.
I thought this was not a good idea as their might be complication with wires touching each other if you by accident increased the volume. But no, this was not the case. When you go to what they call “Setup Assist”, the amplifier itself switches off, leaving you with an instructions menu. From there you can choose language, speaker connection/calibration, Input setup and Network setup.
Now from here you just need to follow the instructions as showed on the screen with no danger of shorting out cables. Setup is very easy onward.
A 11.2 setup is available with the Marantz SR7007 , but it still claims to be a 7 channel unit. I am waiting to get some feed back from Marantz on how they configured the amp to run the full 11 channels.
With Surround Back you can assign either one or two speakers, giving you the ability to make use of a 6 channel or 7 channel configuration.
When doing a more custom setup, with Zone capabilities the onscreen menu is easy to understand.
So setup and gadgets out of the way, I am impressed. So let us go for the performance part. So I wanted to test the units power in a 5 channel setup, without using the Bi-Amp and Bi-Wire capability. My surround package: the Monitor Audio Gold GX300. I loaded John Mayer live Blu Ray. I stood in the middle of the room, lights of, closed my eyes. It felt like I was there at the concert. I hear the whistles of fans from behind, the screams of the lady who should not have been there. It is just so atmospheric, really, I have heard many systems with this same live disc, but this just had such depth in the sound. The singing was perfect, it just gave such a real feeling.
I then got a track from my NAS drive, to test the Marantz SR7007 streaming ability and if it could handle the GX300’s. It was a classical piece with nice low end, quick and sharp acceleration on the violin. The Marantz SR7007 handled it with absolute authority.
I am pleased with the new offering from Marantz. The Marantz SR7007 is really awesome, full marks in features, looks, ease of use, performance and value for money. The way it empowered the Monitor Audio Gold to perform the way it did was truly spectacular. It is also one of the best receivers with multi-room capabilities, the ZONE 2 HDMI making it easy to use in a second room.
The Marantz SR7007 should be available by now where you are, go and audition for yourself.