Hello,
Just got the 4500.Was originally choosing between the Hk 130 and 230,since sabi ng shops na sa june pa dadating ang Hk 135 and up models.Anyway sa mga nababasasa kong forums Marantz almost always is mentioned up there along with HK,Nad and Rotel as the most musical of recievers.Also home theater Mag. lab report tested it putting out 74+ watts @ 0.1% distortion with 5 channels driven.that was enough for me ,after bringing it home from 5th ave.and hooking it up to my aurum cantus speakers, I was very pleased with its stereo sound which was warm yet clear never matining.Even in pure direct mode it remained dynamic and crisp compared to the flat dull response of my associates rotel ra971mk2 with tannoys we use in our office in tone defeat mode.Of course in with tone control the Rotel is slightly superior,but I still prefer the warm sound of the marantz especially in vocals where the rotel is a bit bright(also tested the rotel with my speakers).My only gripe is there are no DSP effects for movies (anyway it sounds good enough as is with movies).I think Marantz just concentrated on giving the best audio performance for the price by not including DSP effects which would have made it more expensive.Srry for the long post ty
Gub