AVS Forum Home Theater Discussions And Reviews > Audio > Receivers, Amps, and Processors > Are the best days of the Flagship Receiver in the distant past. 10-19-2014 Posts: 148. Joined: Jun 2005. So today I received my new $2000 Marantz SR7008 "Flagship " receiver.
As I swapped out the Onkyo tx-nr906 it was replacing My first reaction was less than enthusiastic I have to say. Here's some background first. Back in the day being as much into the actual gear as the sound it produced I've owned some nice receivers. The Elite vsx49txi was a massive structure with its copper chassis, rosewood side panels, extruded aluminum panels, anti resonate chambered construction it was a piece that as soon as you picked it up and felt its parts, you knew it was a level above the rest. My HK Avr8000 was probably the last great HK and its massive weight took 2 people to take it off my rack.
Boy was that a monster. I have similar memories of my Denon Avr5600. with its huge torridial transformer, Massive chassis and 50 plus lb dry weight, it stood out from the crowd. Again I remember my Yamaha Rxz1 was tall, with phenomenal construction, thick extruded sides and a mean stance. The knob felt just sexy as hell when I turned the volume. I also had a Newcastle piece from Sherwood and this Flagship deserved its namesake.
It was a monster. As you can see I've owned alot of flagship pieces and like someone who enjoys looking under the hood of a classic muscle car I enjoy the design and build as much as the sound or ride if you will. My Onkyo that I took off the shelf today was a 50 plus lb beast with its lovely donut power supply dishing out the power. The chassis was very deep and although not quite the fit and finish of the pieces named above, it was a flagship and felt most of the part. But Im seeing a trend where todays flagships, like my new Marantz looks and feels not much different from the lesser receivers in the line up. Sure they sound great and have all the technical dodads that make them sound steller and have all the flexibility, but this sr7008 was no better built than the marantz units costing half as much.
And it did not come close to the size, weight, and feel of the 906 it replaced and no where near the flagships of old. So.
I was just wondering if anyone else out there misses the days of those super premium pieces. For me the Marantz sounds better than the Onkyo it replaced, so for that im happy. But i do feel underwhelmed when I took it out of the box and carried it to my rack with almost one arm.
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