A new receiver. Again.

[Akula]

A little over a year ago I bought that refurb Marantz SR6012 from Accessories 4 Less and was pleased with how it handled my upgraded home theater.

Over the last couple months I noticed some occasional issues- the receiver's video wouldn't sync up properly to the TV. I had suspected it was the DirecTV box going out, but this last week we had some serious problems with the Apple TV. You couldn't watch much of anything without video hiccups.

And of course, it was a couple months after the warranty for the Marantz ended. Crap.

So, the local A/V shop (The Sound Room) was holding a "trade in your receiver, dead or alive" deal through the end of the year. I went by there, chatted with them, and now I have another new receiver handling things.

Welcome to the Integra DRX 4.3.


I have to admit, I'm much happier with the Integra than I was with the Marantz. After doing all the calibration and EQing, the audio seems to sound a little more alive- more like the Denon 3808 I had been using before the Marantz. I also like how you can set audio defaults for each input- so you can have a streaming box or Blu-Ray set up to go for Dolby Surround with THX Cinema processing while having the satellite/cable just go pure direct with whatever processing comes out of the box (so it's not forcing rear channel sound when there's none in the feed, keeping the rears from being too prominent). It's just a more configurable unit in a lot of ways.

So I can't say I'm happy I had to drop the cash again, I am happy with the result.

 

[Towen7]

Congrats!

I hope you have better luck with your Integra than I’ve hade with my Onkyo.

 

[Akula]

Congrats!

I hope you have better luck with your Integra than I’ve hade with my Onkyo.

Yeah, I was a little nervous because Onkyo doesn't have the greatest reputation, but I figure it would be hard to underperform that Marantz. I'm hoping they (Onkyo/Integra) have learned a few things over the last few years. At least with a 3 year warranty I should be ok at least until 2023.

 

[Randy]

I had phenomenal luck with my Marantz reecievers over the years. Great sound, gobs of power, and easy to use.
When I hung the plasma upstairs I had to update my receiver so I could have HDMI switching so I bought a newer Marantz from accessories4less (cant remember model #) and I have been less than impressed with the power from day one. It is not in the same league as my older Marantz.

 

[mzpro5]

The Denon I bought about a year ago from accesories4less is chugging along and doing a great job

 

[Akula]

I had phenomenal luck with my Marantz reecievers over the years. Great sound, gobs of power, and easy to use.
When I hung the plasma upstairs I had to update my receiver so I could have HDMI switching so I bought a newer Marantz from accessories4less (cant remember model #) and I have been less than impressed with the power from day one. It is not in the same league as my older Marantz.

I know there has been a fair amount of consolidation in the home theater market, and Marantz and Denon are now owned by the same company. I'd not be shocked if there's been some corners cut in the last few years. Not saying others aren't cutting them too, but the two companies had great reputations for producing components of excellent quality. They don't seem to be living up to them quite as well as in the past. But then, one can say that for most consumer gear nowadays.

 

[Flint]

Many of the characteristics we associate with "quality" have nothing to do with performance, but they can sometimes increase reliability - though some do nothing to make the component longer-lived.

A heavy chassis has very little to do with performance and rarely with reliability. In most cases what matters most for reliability is thermal control and solid mounting of the transformer(s). Putting a huge, heavy, block of metal on the faceplate is just for the owner's ego.

 

[Akula]

Many of the characteristics we associate with "quality" have nothing to do with performance, but they can sometimes increase reliability - though some do nothing to make the component longer-lived.

A heavy chassis has very little to do with performance and rarely with reliability. In most cases what matters most for reliability is thermal control and solid mounting of the transformer(s). Putting a huge, heavy, block of metal on the faceplate is just for the owner's ego.

You can tell the manufacturers are playing for that kind of thing- they'll publish weight specs, but when you pick the things up, they're amazingly front heavy. So they put a big thick faceplate on, but the power transformer is still made out of butter.

 

[jomari]

add in onkyo acquiring pioneer as well.

 

[Akula]

add in onkyo acquiring pioneer as well.

I didn't realize they had done that- it was 5 years ago. In looking, apparently Denon/Marantz parent company (Sound United) was about to buy the combined Onkyo company but terminated that process. That would have left them and pretty much only Yamaha and Sony as standalone companies in the market.