SR7500 Ordered!!

I've sold my beloved SR7400 onto CrispyUK. Look after my ickle SR7400 Crispy mate , I'm going to miss it.

I've ordered a silver SR7500 to replace it and should be able to pick it up next weekend (great service from AV Land again!!).

I know it is just a sideways step, and not a true upgrade, but the wife prefers the finish and look of the SR7500 and I want to see if THX is all it is cracked up to be . Looking forward to it!!

I'll report back once it has arrived.

 

Interesting move Kaz, Crispy, you'll be very happy with your new 7400.

If there's an overlap it would be good if you could do a bit of testing between the 2 models Kaz. How much extra juice can the 7500 provide over the 7400 for your Quads?

 

The SR7500 won't be much different from the SR7400. I'll gain auto setup, THX and newer amps all wrapped up in a slightly sexier case, but that is all really.

Oh, and Lip Synch correction. Otherwise it won't make much difference to the actual sound quality if any.

 

Dare I ask how much you handed over?
Still completely unsure of what I am changing at the moment- it was going to be the screen but all this arse about HD compatability means probably not for a while. Still happy with the Pioneer and whilst I have a Marantz DV8400 on loan, my player isn't too shabby either. There is the other matter that sadly my old speakers aren't exactly flying out of the classifieds at the minute.

 

i'll also be interested to see how the Marantz receivers compare. I wonder if either of the two would be a BIG improvement over my Yam 640SE?

I really like the look of the new 7500 (not that it's a good reason to buy an amp), and I reckon it could be my next amp. But I'll be waiting till it comes down in price (just like the 7400 did).

Do you guys reckon it'd be a good upgrade?

hmmm.. I really should stop ploughing all my money into my AV kit! I've just about got over the outlay for my new XLS200. ohhh but it's good!!!

 

Nice one Kaz. How comes you didn't go for the 8500, would have been more of an improvement from a 7400? I take it you didn't fancy the DVI switching then!

Looking forward to your thoughts!

 

The problem with the SR7500 is that Marantz and some other amp manufacturers are going the speaker route and drawing up new contracts banning massive online mail order discounts and sales, similar to KEF and various other manufacturers.

If you want a discount, one is going to need to haggle in store or over the phone with a promise to pick up . I see this being the case until the SR7500 or any other amp come to the end of their shelf life.

Be one with your dealer people, be their friend, soon, it may be the only way to get a good discount. 90% of places you go to online, will show the SR7500 at £699.

 

Too much cost right now, this was just a sideways step for some experimentation, and to win some brownie points from the wife

The next serious upgrade will be going the pre/power route. Might get some monoblocks later in the yr for the SR7500.

The SR8500 adds a tad more power, and the DVI switching (which I do not need right now anyway, and probably not for a long while)

Hopefully processors by then will have DVI or HDMI switching.

 

I'll get your advice on a 7500 just before they release the 7600

The 7400 is working out very nicely so far, I just need to get some Quads in and I'll be motoring.

Hope you're happy with the new addition to the family

 

I am interested too in your opinion of the real world test of how good musically is the sr7500, since you have jumped the wagon before me.
Regards,
henrydiez

 

Great option Kazman

I've seen a 7500 last friday and looks great, but much bigger than the 7400.

I think I'll stick to the SR5500 and later add a pair of monoblocks... and maybe the Quads 12L+11L...

 

I bought the 7400 (cheers!) mainly for component upconversion and am waiting until amps offer HDMI/DVI upconverstion until I get another, hopefully the marantz will make a welcome change from the sound of the denon as I used to have a rotel 2 channel system which I prefered the sound of so hopefully the marantz will be closer to that than the denon (i hope)

Hope you enjoy the 7500

 

Mate, I'm thinking of coming up a bit earlier to play with all your games consoles I have the GC, Xbox and PS2, and owned all the others apart from the NES. Ahh, them were the days

 

Yeah, I was a tad gobsmacked when I saw the size difference Haven't told the wife that though

Better looking than the SR7400, lets hope that makes up for the added bulk, I hope it fits on my new soundstyle rack will have to go on the top shelf I reckon

 

hehe, If only they were plugged in

 

Woohoo!!

The SR7500 has arrived at AV Land, so looks like everything is set for the changeover on Saturday

 

LOL whe will you stop?? I'm sure you will love your new toy.

I'm still thinking of upgrading to the 2500 but now im unsure if its that much of a step up to be worth it. Almost tempted by all the Tag avr32's floating arround the classified forum at the moment and use my Yamaha and rotel as the power amps untill I can afford a proper 5 channel power amp.

 

Looking forward to a full report

 

Go for it DFour, there's really not much point in going from your 1400 to another integrated. Using your Yam as the power supply is the only way forward, but will Kaz listen

 

I knew this was a sideways step The next upgrade will be with Power Amps on the audio side Especially considering I now have all the processing modes I wanted.

 

Having only heard pre-power combo's at shows (haven't had a chance to demo any) is there really that much of a difference between the combos and a good integrated amp?

I'm not saying there isn't a difference, i'm merely asking the question. When you made the step-up was it a subtle difference or could you notice the difference straight away? Am I also right in saying that the amount of difference would depend on the speakers you are running?

 

You have gotten the wrong end of the stick Tejstar, I havent done it yet, im only looking into doing it. Cant quite justify spending £700+ on a processor yet

 

I realised that, the question was directed at eviljohn2!

 

oi oi, handbags down ladies

Think eviljohn2 was just making a suggestion and doesn't have a processor/power amp combo.

The biggest difference is with stable power all channels driven, an integrated would just not be as good as an equivalent power amp as the power amp is dedicated to one thing, power. There are a few exceptions, Krell and Lexicon for example, but even their pre/power combos outperform their integrated gear

It also depends on speakers, the more power they crave the better It's all about balance

 

Kazman - there's a good review of the 7500 in this months AV Guide. Ckeck it out here

It's on page 7

 

Thanks Tejstar, that is a nice review. Wish they had concentrated more on the sound side of things than features though .

Anyway, another day passes, meaning I'm a day closer to the SR7500 arrival

 

As has been said, I don't actually have a pro/pre/power arrangement (Marantz SR7400 as it happens).

The modern integrated amps are very good these days. There isn't really a bad one out there in any price bracket, the downside being that they're catching up with the top end gear quickly and that includes processors and power amps.

There are benefits to each, on AVS there are quite a few people who have left their processor/power amps behind and gotten the new Denon 5805 which is supposed to have phenomenal performance. It has digital video switching and Equalisation software which is miles ahead of all but the most expensive processors.

The reason I suggested pre/pro/power to Dfour is that going to another integrated is a sideways step (same as I said to Kaz although his reasons were slightly different). The benefit of pre/pro is that you can buy them with upgradability, you can put in some really meaty power amplifiers where necessary and skimp elsewhere if you want. The processing performance should be on a par with the higher ranges of modern integrateds but that's due to the march of their performance and not one against dedicated processors.

Flexibility is the key in my eyes and going from a good integrated to another one seems a bad use of resources to me. Unless there are features that you need of course (PL2x on an AV8 anyone?)

 

There is also the school of thought that with the bunfight about future formats on BR/HD-DVD about to kick off, a nice big power amp that can be connected to a processor once the dust has settled and the actual formats you will need have been decided. This is where I might be looking.

...... or I might just give up and buy a turntable based system on which I will listen to nothing recorded before I was born. To hell with the future.

 

Another well written post

But would you say the difference is more pronounced depending on the quality of speakers used?

 

That's a very good point, it sounds like flexibility is one of the major advantages of pre/pro combos.