So I have the chance to buy a marantz 7705 preprocessor for $1300 to upgrade from my current denon 3400 which is showing it’s age a bit. I know that Amir said that the 7705 is all but absolute garbage, but in real world use, is it? I’ll have it running a 7.2.4 system in a 15X13X8 room. I have 2 outlaw 5000x’s(input sensitivity 1.2v) for surround and atmos, and 3 outlaw 2200 monoblocks(input sensitivity 1.7v) for the front stage. All of these amps will be fed via GLS(unless there’s another xlr similar in price that you guys recommend which is better) XLR cables.
My main concern is distortion which seemed to be Amir’s biggest complaint. I don’t mind the high end roll off because I usually EQ a roll off above about 1500hz anyway; that’s just the sound that I like. I do love the laid back tonal quality of my denon and expect a very similar sound from the marantz. But if there are better processors out there, I’m open to suggestions. I’ve seen the tone master but I honestly just wouldn’t be happy with the GUI on that thing, as impressive as the unit is in terms of performance. Also, usage would be about 70% movies at right around reference level and 30% music listened about 10-20db below that. I really don’t care about any of the room correction stuff because I hate the EQ that they put on it with a passion and it seems as though the actual room correction portion is disabled when you disable audyssey EQ in denon and marantz; so it’s pointless for me to even use at all.
My main concern is distortion which seemed to be Amir’s biggest complaint. I don’t mind the high end roll off because I usually EQ a roll off above about 1500hz anyway; that’s just the sound that I like. I do love the laid back tonal quality of my denon and expect a very similar sound from the marantz. But if there are better processors out there, I’m open to suggestions. I’ve seen the tone master but I honestly just wouldn’t be happy with the GUI on that thing, as impressive as the unit is in terms of performance. Also, usage would be about 70% movies at right around reference level and 30% music listened about 10-20db below that. I really don’t care about any of the room correction stuff because I hate the EQ that they put on it with a passion and it seems as though the actual room correction portion is disabled when you disable audyssey EQ in denon and marantz; so it’s pointless for me to even use at all.