Marantz or Pioneer Elite?

[thedude1]

anyone had any experience with either one of these companies? i'm looking for a new a/v receiver(neutral sound,high current design, reliability,good customer service,to name a few).i'm looking at the Marantz 7500 and the Pioneer tx52.one of these will be driving B&W 600 series 3 speakers(lcr600 center,602s3 fronts,601s3 rears.my sub is the old klipsch ksw 200watt 12 inch.) any help will be greatly appreciated!!!!

[meephis]

In my opinion Pioneer is "dirty" power (high THD), go with the Marantz! How much areyou going to spend?

[eisforelectronic]

I'd take Marantz over Pioneer, even Elite. What about HK, Onkyo, Denon, Yamaha...etc.?

[Slosh]

I have a Pioneer Elite integrated amp in my home office, a Marantz integrated in my livingroom, and a Marantz A/V receiver in my bedroom and all three sound great. They all have that smooth, yet well-defined sound. The Elite has just a touch more treble extension but is in no way etched or bright.

The Elite is probably the better value. I'm not sure of the specific receivers you're asking about but my Marantz has only one crossover point and no room calibration features.

FWIW, I own 7 Pioneer products (including my car stereos and DVD R/W drive) and 4 Marantz products and have never had any problems with either brand.

[drseid]

I have owned both brands, and unfortunately can recommend neither, solely due to reliability issues.

I loved the Marantz SR-7400 I own... It looks great, and has a killer multi-component remote that I find extremely ergonomic... That said, the component video upconversion died a week ago, and the analog audio has made a strong buzz ever since for some reason... This caused me to have to buy an Outlaw Audio 950 Pre/Pro. Oh yeah, the Marantz is only 5 months old! I will get it fixed under warranty (and use it for my bedroom system), but this is now the 2nd Marantz product to die on me in a short period of time... Not good. :-(

As for Pioneer Elite receivers... I say again, steer clear. I bought a top of the line offering from them a few years back, and it was DOA... I then asked for a replacement unit, and it was DOA as well... After 2 DOA units in a row, I gave up on them.

I suggest looking at a Rotel, NAD or Denon receiver instead.

If it has to be one of the two you listed, then I would say Marantz (at least I got 5 months on each of mine as opposed to DOA Pioneer Elite units).

I hope you have better luck than me!

---Dave

[kexodusc]

In my opinion Pioneer is "dirty" power (high THD), go with the Marantz! How much areyou going to spend?

Huh?
There's no high THD in any of the Pioneer Elite gear.
Considering the human ear can't detect distortion below 1% (conservatively, some say 2%), the THD is really a non issue for either of these brands.

Also, Pioneer Elite gear is not of the same stock as the regular Pioneer stuff.
That being said, they've had their fair share of reliability issues in recent years, but that's what waranty is for. Although not my first choice, the Elite stuff is pretty solid.

[cvc]

I purchased A pioneer Elite CLD-79 Laserdisc player (remember those?) because it had gotten great reviews at the time. It just broke down for the 3rd time on me a few days ago. It looked good, sounded good, was a bit loud while disc was spinning though, but is now going to be taken out of my system and never used again. I only used this player on weekend evenings. Not a lot of play on it really. I'm not buying any Pioneer gear again.

My Yamaha gear has always been solid.

[Kursun]

I suggest looking at a Rotel, NAD or Denon receiver instead.
---Dave

I had read about a higher end Denon test in the Stereophile magazine... The first sample poofed the instant it was switched on. Later on the lab test bench, the front channels of the second sample burned out... Some of the tests had to be caried using the surround channels only, some test it was... Yet the test people were very polite about the whole thing.

And I have heard about Nad equipment with faulty volume controls right out of the box. Also about their speaker muting relays going bad after about a year. Actually to see more about NAD problems you have to type "NAD problem" on Google.

I have been using a Pioneer Elite for about 2 years now. I have no problems. And the sound is terrific.

[drseid]

I had read about a higher end Denon test in the Stereophile magazine... The first sample poofed the instant it was switched on. Later on the lab test bench, the front channels of the second sample burned out...

And I have heard about Nad equipment with faulty volume controls right out of the box. Also about their speaker muting relays going bad after about a year. Actually to see more about NAD problems you have to type "NAD problem" on Google.

I guess that just leaves Rotel. ;-)

My Rotel power amp (bought as a demo unit) has been running strong for 7 years and counting.

Of course, all brands will have defective units to some extent... It is just in my experience, the two mentioned in the original post have been the worst (to my chagrin). :-(

---Dave

[Kursun]

I guess that just leaves Rotel. ;-)

My Rotel power amp (bought as a demo unit) has been running strong for 7 years and counting.

Of course, all brands will have defective units to some extent... It is just in my experience, the two mentioned in the original post have been the worst (to my chagrin). :-(

---Dave

I must admit I didn't hear any problems with Rotel.
I have a Technics integrated and a cd player, both over 20 years old, they refuse to die. I still use them at the office.