Advise thread- Marantz, Denon

[teledynepost]

Well my replacement speaker came after the first was damaged during shipping by UPS. The mains are Athena F2.2's, I have a Velodyne CHT 15 and my old speakers are Definitive SM350's (not a good sonic match). These I will use for the rears until I move in August and see if I should go for a second pair of Athena's floorstanders or their bookshelves; depending on how much room I have. Center channel is also Athena (C 1.2). When it comes to the actual quality of sound, my main reason for getting a surround setup is for 5.1 music mixes, DVD-A, SACD, though it will will be used for HT.

I've been settled on a Denon DVD-1920 for the source for a while now; has all the features I think I need.
So, when I was first starting out I was looking for under $400 for a receiver (probably SR4600) BUT now I've got a bit more money. My speakers are 'cheap' but quite adequate for me. I'm sure much more could be gained by working with the room/placement. I have one of those Radioshack decible metres but I am assuming that a receiver with mic and room EQ would give more accurate sound and much easier to set up. At an independently measured 93.5 d/B efficiency of the mains and a powered sub, I don't think that I'll ever need more than 70 clean watts of power so the incremental 80-110 W ratings that Denon or Marantz offer aren't the reason for upgrade.
I'm concerned most about features and Denon seems to offer room setup with the AVR 2106 at a lower price point than Marantz (SR 7500).

My dad has a Marantz receiver he got from a local botique dealer (carries both Denon and Marantz- more on that in a second); it looks great, works great.

So the difference in price is about $300 more for the Marantz. Marantz has me with their no-nonsense presentation and design; Denon can shove their iPod connectivity for all I care. Measurements done by http://www.hometheatermag.com on the previous corresponding 5.1 models of receivers shows that Marantz's 4500, (advertised as an 80W receiver) put out more wattage driving all 5 channels at 0.01% than the Denon 2105, advertised to be a 100W 5.1 receiver. Is it safe to give Marantz an extra point for that? Is the extra $300 worth it?
Am I not comparing equivalent receivers between the 7500 and the 2106? There are so many features I'm pretty sure they are not exactly the same, but the next step down from the 7500 does not seem to have Marantz's room correction feature.

Now about that hifi store (here's a link to their website http://www.bradfordshifi.com/) that's in town. In the 'prices section', it is headed with "Suggested Retail Prices". Does this mean I should go in there and haggle with them for a lower price? I mean, I'm willing to pay a little bit more than I would from online for the convenience of being able to go in this weekend and see the stuff in person, but not enough to pay MSRP. Or do I go refurbished online? My current receiver is a refurbished Onkyo I got off eBay, not had any problems with it. I could really save quite a bit.

My new limit is $1100 combined for the disc player & receiver-- I don't know if they would go that low in store, never done this sort of thing.

Well, thanks, any advise appreciated.

[superpanavision70mm]

Honestly I don't think either way would necessarily be bad. Is there a way for you to return anything that you might purchase? Reason I ask is because usually within about 3-4 hours of using a piece of equipment I typically know how it works inside and out. I am talking about all the functions and remote commands etc. So it's usually after I am comfortable navigating a component that I really make my decision. I have always loved PIoneer receivers because they are so easy to master. Once you own one...you can use them all. Yamaha and Sony were always a bit backwards to me....maybe they have gotten better. Denon and Marantz make great stuff, but it's usually tricky to get them mastered quickly. However, once you do...they are superb. I would make your final decision based on your preference because doing an A/B comparison they are probably going to line up very closely.

[drseid]

I confess while I own equipment from both brands used on my bedroom system, I am a little more in the Marantz camp (which is owned by Denon, as an aside)... On sound quality I doubt you would notice much of a difference between the two brands, as they both make quality equipment... I think it comes down to connections and ease of use.

On the connections, Denon tends to have more (but not necessarily), but on ease of use I have usually found Marantz gear to be my favorite. I still use one of their old remotes from a old receiver for controlling many of the components in my main rig, as it is so intuitive to use -- for some reason Denon's remotes have never been easy for me to master...

Personally I think you could go with either and be very happy. With respect to the $300 difference in price, you will need to be the judge as to whether the difference in price is justified.

---Dave