PRICE $1,999
The Marantz SR7008 is yet another masterful receiver from a brand that has remained great despite repeated changes in ownership. With every new product, Marantz earns its stripes all over again, and as the years go on, I become increasingly impressed by how many deeply satisfying Marantz receivers I can look back upon.
I will say that feature-wise, Marantz ought to try harder. A top-of-the-line receiver must be able to play music files from a PC or Mac without going through a DLNA connection. And with Wi-Fi proliferating in receivers costing well under a thousand dollars, Marantz needs to add at least an optional wireless alternative to the Ethernet jack. Not everyone can string Ethernet from router to rack.
But then there’s the sound. A couple of years ago, I nearly adopted this model’s predecessor, the SR7007, as my reference receiver. The SR7008 is equally worthy of that honor. Sound-wise, your two thousand bucks couldn’t be better spent.