I'll start this review out by saying, i am very happy with this receiver. For what it is, for the room it is in, and for the void it has filled... it has worked out great.
I bought a Panasonic 42PZ77u 42" plasma and was missing the whole sound aspect. I had the ps3, I had the HDTV, I had the DirectTV HD-DVR, I had the speakers, but my old marantz receiver didn't have HDMI.
My girlfriend (the sweetheart she is) did a lot of homework and bought this receiver for me for x-mas. She isn't really rich, so I think it's that much more special, but I think she did a fantastic job.
During this era of receivers, it was difficult to find a 1080p hdmi pass-through reciever. The ones that had it either had one or two HDMI ports, or were in the $800-$1500 range. I am only in a 20'x20' living room, so buying an $800 receiver really wasn't something I wanted to do.
Hook up, this thing is easy as they get. With it's 3 HDMI input ports, it snapped right together. Set up was an absolute breeze. I didn't use the auto sound detection, instead I manually adjusted everything to my liking. AVSforum.com has some amazing tips on setting this guy up.
The sound is perfect for my room. I have some white fan fronts, an RCA center, a Klipsch 12" sub, and two pioneer bookshelves. It's the mutant home theatre system. Even with these unbalanced speakers, I have found that the sound is crisp on all levels, and hardly muddied.
The one downfall about this receiver (which I haven't ran into yet) is that you lose 1080p pass-through if you are running full 7.1 uncompressed THX audio through HDMI. I have yet to find a Blu-ray that runs this high quality of sound, so I can't fault the receiver yet. I just figured I would point it out.
There are thousands of receivers out there. My biggest thing is finding the best value for your dollar. Home audio becomes an addiction and it's hard to draw the line. You hear something a little better and clearer and you HAVE TO HAVE IT. So my motto is, find your satisfaction level for the lowest amount possible. This receiver passes that with flying spades.
All in all, a great receiver. I highly recommend it for someone starting out with their home theatre system.
