That just ruined one of the best protected brands left.

[Link: twice.com]

Time to embrace Yamaha Tom :)

Ha! I don't know what the big deal is, onkyo has been available through distribution for years

I'd say the 99% failure rate on Integra Receivers was what killed the line for us.

When nobody buys the protected line direct, the line has no choice but to go distribution.

It reminds me of Sony when I first started my business back in 1999-2000. I contacted the Sony rep for my area asking if there was any way I could buy the line. I wanted to sell Sony because their TV's and receivers were really good, they were viewed as the best by customers... The response was pretty much that Sony didn't want to deal with a dealer like me. No direct option and they were too good to sell via distributors. He threatened me with legal action if I were to try to sell sideways (an options that I didn't even ask about.)

Now Sony embraces disty's... Only after the line hit the skids and got their ass beat by Samsung and LG.

It's the circle of life in this industry.

Sorry, but a big +1 on this one.

How's the failure rate on marantz? I realize it's basically a denon. Never messed with marantz. What makes it a premium over denon. Seems like denons flagship model is nicer then marantz's. Not to derail the thread but was curious.

I've done a lot of Marantz over the last 3-4 years and have only had one repair which was self inflicted (overloaded a 12v trigger output).

The Marantz does sound better in my opinion compared to Denon.  I've upgraded several Denon to Marantz and the improvement in sound quality was evident each time.

What I remember from D&M training is that better/premium components are used in the Marantz models so it's not simply re-badging the same products and altering some features.

There was also some talk about Marantz (at least the higher-end models) also being produced in different factories, but not sure if this still holds true.

Summary - Denon has more bells & whistles, but Marantz has better quality and sound.

Have had a handful of issues with 3+yo NR series HDMI boards. 0 issues with SR models.

I have dabbled around with receivers over the years and have observed issues with client equipment that they purchased elsewhere. I have found Onkyo to be by far the highest in issues, mostly related to motherboard, HDMI inputs, lack of audio only video and lack of video only audio.

I have noticed a high failure rate on Integra; however, not out of the box or after a short usage period. One issue is so evident that Integra will do the repair for free and ship it back at their expense. These monsters run hot, so treat them with care.

With Denon and Marantz I have not noticed the failures as much, but have noticed the occasional bad HDMI input. Same goes for Yamaha. After all this, I only sell Marantz and Yamaha, mostly due to customer experience, integration factors and ease of use. I would like to take the high end approach, but most customers don't want to hold on to a receiver anymore for 10 years due to sound factor only; they enjoy the latest features and comparability. For that reason I haven't sold any of the top end brands like ARCAM and Rotel. My weapon of choice in this cateogory is the Marantz 7011 or the Yamaha AVR-3060.

Recently I started dabbling with Sony and I have to say, th STR-ZA5000ES is one of the best I have seen in a long time. Amazing.

I might try an integra again, once I find out how liberal the return or exchange policy with AVAD is.
Going against the grain here. I know.

I laughed so hard at this it brought tears to my eyes.

+1

Lol!
Spot on.

Surprised to see only 5 inputs on the rear of that. That's interesting the inclusion of 8 port switch with Poe.

Trolllalalala. :)