-=> Quoting John Allen to All <=-
 JA>         Marantz has released its' AC-3 stand alone
 JA> Decoder/Processor that stands between the pre-amp and amp. The
 JA> unit has an MSR of $699 (US) and is said to be capable of
 JA> handling DVD and HDCD. The low price tag (by comparison) is
 JA> achieved by cutting some of the frills most of us have come to
 JA> expect. One: There is no remote, so set up and testing is a two
 JA> man job. (But once set up there are very few reasons to monkey
        Yuk.  Geez, otherwise it sounds like it might be a real
winner.  I'd rather pay $750 or even $800 and get a remote control
than to save a few measily bucks and have nothing but a headache.  I
*have* a remote on my Carver C-5 Sonic Holography pre-amp (rare to
find a true pre-amp that has a remote) but it still doesn't have
balance controls on the remote and let me tell you it's a major pain
to set it for my weird shaped room by running back and forth between
the listening position and the preamp!  (can't use a 2nd person
because if someone stands by the preamp (which is near one of the
AL-III dipoles) it offsets the balance while they're standing there
(thus it's ineffective).  I can see that the Marantz would have the
same problem and would be AWFUL to try and ever adjust. 
        Geez, even el cheapo $99 cd players have remotes, for goodness
sake and that's just a *fraction* of the price.  You'd think Marantz
could charge an extra $20 and make life simple. 
        I know there are some that think a remote would screw the
sound over (somehow magically), but I'm not one of them.
        If they offer a model *with* a remote, be sure and let me
know, I'll check it out.  At this point, I'd rather add an AC-3 unit
to my preamp than replace my preamp (since the only preamp out there
that has the equivalent of Sonic Holography are those from Lexicon
with their "Panorama" modes and their AC-3 model is $4500!!! (a might
high IMHO)
G.G.
 * AmyBW v2.14 *
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