Denon or Marantz? Home theater beginner.

I've had a couple Denon's and an Onkyo. I prefer the Onkyo. Ease of set up and very good features and sound. I have the 905. As mentioned the Def Techs are really good for HT.

Given your options, I'd certainly look at Onkyo.

Unless Marantz has dchanged a few things in the past couple years, their video section did not upsample video resolutions over HDMI. I recall 480p being their standard when I was shopping. I wasn’t thrilled with their service and support dept. either.

I settled on Onkyo 805. I didn’t want a digital amp section, and I did want a good sounding unit for stereo listening opportunities. Some of their sales info however was nearly misleading if not in fact. Additional zones past the main one are all analog only. No digital connections are conveyed into the second or third zones.

It also does not convey info onto the screen if HDMI is used as the interface. With component, S Vid, and RCA (composite) it will. Of course one can go into the menu and that will appear very well indeed, regardless the interface in use.

Despite these subjective shortcomings, the 805 does a great job sonically, and with video. It does require adequate cooling though and some other receivers do too… so bare that in mind when shopping.

J River, among other online dealers sell new and closeout models all the time. Check the Onkyo usa website for authorized online dealers, or any other maker’s site for that info.

I wanted new at that time, with no aspirations of adding to or stepping up from it…. That idea lasted about 2 months. It is now only partially a processor as outboard amps are now connected to it. So do think about this a bit…. It seems new receiver line ups come out twice a year. Buying new is nice and all that… but if you are the sort that usually can’t leave well enough alone, perhaps buying a recent pre-owned & more upscale unit may be the ticket for you. You’ll get more for your $$$ that way of course and overcome the depreciation of new all in one fell swoop.

AS for speakers the more efficient and easier impedance curve they have the better. Much depends here on room size and listening levels though. I have a Sony 110wpc 10 yr old HT unit which drives speakers of 85 & 87db and both reputedly are 8 ohm units… in a 14 x 12 room and it can be made uncomfortable very easily.

Good luck.

Of those you mention, my favorite is Marantz, the 7200 has amplifiers that sound great and the receivers are also usually good. Denon and Onkyo is not bad, you try to compare their performance, features, watts to locate one suited to your needs more.

onkyo. sound quality is equal or better then denon/marantz plus onkyo service is much, much better.