Denon 3312ci or Marantz SR6006?

truth is they are basically the same thing, all current Marantz models are essentially rebadged Denons. Marantz and Denon are both owned by the same company (D&M Holdings)... there used to be more product differentiation but for the past few years the Marantz models have just been re-skinned Denons, presumably to save cost on the supply side. Marantz still customizes a bit (slightly different back panel input/output options, possibly some different component stuff on the analog side) but it's essentially the same thing. They even have the exact same GUI interface.

The 3312ci does have a PHONO input as well (you can check this yourself pretty easily by going to the product page and simply looking at the photo of the back panel). The SR6006 has 7.1ch analog multich inputs and dedicated FRONTB speaker posts, whereas the 3312ci doesn't have a "FrontB" post but it does have speaker posts for DSX speakers (F.Height + F.Wide). They both have the same featureset otherwise (MultEQ XT + Dyn EQ/VOl + DSX) although the 3312ci is spec'd as having more powerful amps.

Compare the photos of the back panel and note the striking similarity in the layout -- note the IDENTICAL location of speaker posts, HDMI inputs, component video inputs, digital audio inputs, ethernet port, RS-232 port, trigger outputs, pre-outs, etc.

If you are talking about the Home Theater Mag reviews then I would check out this thread I started a while back. Like Batpig said, internally they are identical and I even have picture of the insides of both receivers in the thread below.
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1412790/bias-from-home-theater-magazine-reviews

The only receiver that even comes close to "audiophile quality" is the Cambridge 650R. The rest, even some that cost $3000 or more, have inadequate power supplies for peak demands and cheaply designed amplifier circuits that sound like crap to me.

The 650R has a 1400-WATT power supply; try to find another one that has HALF of that! 99% of them have 600 watts or less, no matter how much BS power they try to claim. The 650R puts out 100 watts of RMS power to all 7 channels with all 7 channels driven. No other receiver does that.

You can also bi-amp it and have 200 watts per channel for the front two channels if you run 5.1.

Check out the Home Theater magazine review, which also says this is the best-sounding receiver you can buy. Buy one. The amplifiers in it may sound better than the Adcom.

A decent phono preamp is not found as a "built-in" feature on any receiver! They are $15 add-ons that sound crummy.

Spend $150 on the Musical Fidelity V-LPS phono preamp and the phono sound will be much better.





Edited by commsysman - 6/23/12 at 8:13am