Marantz 5400 vs 6300

[Roreman]

Anyone have an opinion on which is the better of these two, given a similar price point? The 5400 has had very good reviews, but 6300 owners seem pretty happy with theirs. I like the learning remote of the 6300 better, and am not convinced of the utility of component switching as I have all the component ins that I need (right now anyway) on my rptv. The intangible in my mind concerns any audio improvement that Marantz has done in the 400 line. Unfortunately, I can't find a store with side-by-side comparison in my area.

Any opinions appreciated.

[F1]

Go with 6300.
Learning remote is a BIG plus! I can control TV, DVD, VCR, cable box, even my aircon with it!

[Roreman]

Go with 6300.
Learning remote is a BIG plus! I can control TV, DVD, VCR, cable box, even my aircon with it!

Yeah, my wife laughed at the look on my face when I saw that remote! ..and you control your aircon with it..lol! That's a gas!

Anyway, I think that it's a BIG selling point, but my hesitation stems from reviews that I've seen that state that the 400 line "is significantly upgraded from its predecessor", which is presumably the 300 line. I haven't been able to determine what these 'significant upgrades' entail however, and the audio guys at my local shop don't seem to know either.

I'm not sure if this is just marketing hype, or if there is actually some significant differences that happened with this year's models. I was hoping that someone here might know.

[F1]

What I can think off, the x400 series only offer more surround modes compared to its predecessor. Other than that the amplifier section should be the same. With this logic 6300 should be 'better' than 5400. Good luck.

[RGA]

Agree with F1.

The preamp power amp section will be the same. Hell they are probably the same as they were five years ago...on a sound quality basis.

Yes they may have added different surround modes. 6.1 to 7.1 big deal since 5.1 is good enough. They'll have DTS and blah blah blah.

Get a deal on the 6300. A&B Sound had it selling for ~$700.00CDN and the 7300 for $860.00CDN.

By the way - don't pay attention to most of the reviews. the magazines are only there is companies sell. Many of the magazines accept advertsing FROM the likes of Marantz. A bad review can mean no more Marantz or Denons sent. And NAD or Outlaw don't have the bucks to replace those advertisng revenues.

You don't see a lot of reviews of Sugden or Audio Note in magazines. Neither spends any money on advertising - notice the correlation.

[Thomas_A]

Regarding Marantz I've had some problems with noise in their SR4300 model. Marantz could not fix it so I switched to a H/K. Many other reported this noise problem too, although the problem could have been fixed now (but I don't know).

http://hem.bredband.net/b113928/The_...antzSR4300.htm

T

[Roreman]

Yes they may have added different surround modes. 6.1 to 7.1 big deal since 5.1 is good enough. They'll have DTS and blah blah blah.

Get a deal on the 6300. A&B Sound had it selling for ~$700.00CDN and the 7300 for $860.00CDN.

By the way - don't pay attention to most of the reviews. the magazines are only there is companies sell. Many of the magazines accept advertsing FROM the likes of Marantz. A bad review can mean no more Marantz or Denons sent. And NAD or Outlaw don't have the bucks to replace those advertisng revenues.

Thanks RGA. That's about what I figured. And yes, I'm getting it from A&B Sound. It's a floor model (which they tell me hasn't been on the floor long---certainly looks and sounds fine), and I've bargained them down to $575, with full warranty. They didn't have any 7300s left. Can't wait!