I smoked through a big pile of money over the weekend buying Christmas presents for friends and relatives and adding the final upgrades to my home theater system (a refurb Marantz receiver and a new Samsung Blu-Ray DVD player). Although my wife and I did visit a mall briefly (which I mostly used as an excuse to visit my optometrist in a drive to burn through my remaining flex spending money), most of this spending occurred right here — at my computer.
This little scene o’ adorability may be the strongest sign so far that I am spending a little too much time at my computer. On the other hand, I got that Marantz for less than half its retail price and got a great deal on the Samsung as well — so at least in this case, it was time well spent.
Just curious what Marantz receiver you ended up with. I have a very similar speaker setup. Are you happy with the receiver?
I bought a SR5001. I am very happy with it, although it occasionally gets a little ‘out of sync’ with the cable box via HDMI and has to be turned off and on to get things working again. The cable box had problems with the last receiver as well, so the problem’s probably at the cable box end. If it really annoyed me, I could route the HDMI switching through the TV set and just run a single line from the TV to the receiver (it still might be an issue, though).
It’s very powerful; setup is a breeze with the mic and built-in testing program; you can dig into about 847 individualized settings if you’re a tweaker; if you’re like me and have a 5.1 setup, you can even use the spare two channels to bi-amp the front speakers (this is what I do).
Accessories4Less.com, which is an authorized Marantz refurb seller, is currently clearing out its remaining stock of 5001s (they’re last year’s models) for $270. This is a receiver that listed for $750 new! I could not find the slightest imperfection in my refurb — no scratches, no paint blobs, no nothing.
Thanks for the detailed and timely response. I am sorting through the complicated process of selecting a receiver without forking over a boatload of cash. The refurb market appears promising.
I also enjoy your other blog posts. Keep up the good work!