The SR7001 is the first of a classy new line-up of AV receivers. In the past, Marantz's receivers have tended to concentrate on sound quality at the expense of the latest widgets and gadgetry – but not so the SR7001.
Under the hood are all the hallmarks of Marantz audiophile design, including Crystal 192kHz/24-bit DACs for all channels, and a transformer that looks like it could run a small housing estate. But, uncharacteristically, the features count has caught up with the competition. Four-in one-out HDMI switching with the latest 1.2 spec connectors, 1080p compatibility, video Interlaced to Progressive conversion from all inputs to HDMI, and full auto-setup with Audyssey's MultEQ calibration system head up the goodies list.
At the heart of the SR7001 is an advanced 32-bit DSP chipset to decode the regular remit of Dolby and DTS surround sound formats, plus CircleSurround II, Dolby Virtual Speaker and Dolby Headphone for a bit of personal home cinema. Connections are in the numerous, with powered Zone 2 audio output (or to bi-amp the front speakers) and four-in two-out component video. There's no networking, USB or iPod connectivity – but those may not be a features to float your boat
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anyway. That aside, the Marantz has all the home-cinema toys and, for around $2999, is looking like damn fine value already.
Build quality is well up to muster, being a little larger, heavier and more excitingly chunky than most of its peers. The looks hint at stark minimalism, particularly with the flap closed, although the blue LEDs over the two main knobs are more clunky than classy. The graphic legends on the volume knob saying which way is up and which is down are worthy of a chuckle too – ‘grandma' and ‘sucking eggs' come to mind.
However, the remote control is a real smooth operator. Stylish, easy to handle, backlit in vivid blue, programmable and incorporating a large dot-matrix LCD display – perfect. Okay, unlike Yamaha's similarly priced receivers you don't get a second remote for Zone 2, but we think the Marantz remote more than makes up for it with its sheer class.
Not so luxurious is the onscreen display, which is old-school block text. It does the job, though, and, anyway, do you buy an AV receiver to watch menus or watch movies?
