Room layout is quite good for home cinema. Typical 5.1 set up, rectangular room 3M x 7.5M (3M from TV viewing) Adding height speakers would be difficult as the house is over 100 years old but upward firing speakers are a possibility. Just had a Marantz SR7015 on demo for a week (you can see the tip in TV reflection, lol). Bit disappointed if I'm honest. I was expecting to be blow away due to the price bracket of the product but just wasn't. Going to give the Yamaha Aventage range a trial next and take it from there.
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The issue is more about the speakers and sub you have being mediocre than the receiver (SR7015). For some reason people tend to think you can suddenly get superior sound from cheap speakers with expensive amp. You should always spend more on the speakers as they will be the biggest factor for SQ.
SR7015 isn`t really worth it over SR6015 if you aren`t building larger Auro 3D system. Both models are heavily overpriced currently. Denon is introducing new models later on and that should apply to Marantz aswell. Sadly we don´t know which models and when it happens as it would mean price drops for current models. Denon X3700H is equal to SR6015 with the price of 979£, SR6015 goes 1149£ which is too much but i think you could get discount if you have a little chat. In case that you buy speakers + sub with receiver you are definitely going to get better "bundle" price! Never settle for list prices!
Marantz will sound slightly different due to using slow roll off in DAC and other changes which seem to be made more by ear as in reality it has more noise and distortion, the older model of 6000 serie rolled off the highs more than Denon X3700H which is quite strange but maybe some folks prefer this then and feel it sounds "warmer". In general these two models share lot of parts together being sister companies. Which is going to sound better for your ears with 2ch music listening is something you have to find out. Suprisingly Denon has 6year warranty and Marantz 5 years (Peter Tyson). If you are going to listen Yamaha then RX-A4A is closest to these, but it´s stuck on 7.2 (5.2.2) and costs over 1200£ but again better deals could be possible.
Rather than dreaming of upfiring speakers now you should concentrate buying better front three speakers and better subwoofer with new receiver. Let`s say you spend 1k£ for receiver, that leaves you 1500£ for three speakers and subwoofer. For subwoofer you would be looking to spend roughly 450£ IF your aim is to get bit more performance, good sound (bass) quality with music listening rather than shooking the room with movies even if that is your main use. Oh and also as a bonus you would get much better looking finish, real wood veneer example in walnut to suit the av-unit. With the choice i had in mind you can choose from FF vs. DF driver orienation. Taller with lower depth (driver hidden) or lower with deeper cab (driver/grille visible). Of course there is better subs for similar money if the aim would be on action/scifi flicks with the more physical sensation.. But the XXLS400 has been forum favourite for mixed lounge use for nearly 10years if not more and being wife/kid/pet friendly could be important factor.
Choosing the speakers is more trickier and ideally you would write a list which intrests you and are possible within your budget. Then you would call local dealers which has them stock for demoing so you could listen/compare. If you like Monitor Audio sound the new Silver 7G 50 and C250 7G could be ideal start point. Many dealer giving nice discounts for them so i wouldn´t be too worried about the list prices. I`m not sure if possible but i would want the front mains little bit more forward as the left side is directly in corner which is not ideal. You have good space below the tv for larger center channel which is great to see!
Thoughts?
I hope you didn`t pay the list pricesas model 607 S2 went 319£ and the centre 349£ few weeks ago, now they milking lot more..
