[MUSIC]
While CNET usually recommends home theater receivers in the $400 to $500 range, there are some benefits to increasing your budget.
With the $899 Marantz SR5009 for example, these benefits take the form of better music performance, more power, more inputs.
And a raft of great features.
The SR5009 is unmistakably a Marantz design with its rounded edges and its unique port hole display.
Though it looks pretty tiny compared to most displays, it's still readable from about six or seven feet away.
The Marantz is a 7.2 channel receiver rated at 100 watts per channel which should suit most speakers shy of the more exotic models.
It offers eight HDMI inputs and also includes a whole host of wireless connectivity, including Airplay, Bluetooth, and Spotify Connect.
Spotify Connect is especially great because it lets you control your amp as well as your music from within the Spotify app itself.
Apart from Dolby Atmos and a phono input there isn't much this receiver can't do that you'd actually miss.
Lastly, the remote control that comes with the package is pretty simple and friendly and so is the onscreen menu.
The sound quality this receiver generates is excellent and geared towards music, but will also belt out Hollywood blockbusters without much encouragement.
If you have a surround sound set of speakers over 1000 bucks or more, this receiver should suit them very well.
So you can buy cheaper models, and if you wanna save 200 bucks for example, Marantz's own NR1605 is probably a better deal, but the SR5009 is one of the better mid to high range receivers out there for its mix of sound quality and features.
This has been Ty Pendelbrief for cnet.com.
