AV8003 vs 998

With the unveiling of the AV8003 from Outlaw, I am concerned that the price point of the 998 may have shifted up a little. Why would one buy the AV8003 at almost twice the cost of the 998 (with the discount) and then buy a 998. The same held true with the Onkyo 886 but its cost was less than the 997/998 at the time. The Marantz is a world class unit and likely can't be beat for specs. Its cost is a little much for most and I hope it is not an indicator that the 998s cost is also going up.

I don't know that it necessarily suggests such a shift. My suspicion is that it has more to do with wanting to have some sort of product available for the folks who need something between now and when the 998 arrives, and if they had an arrangement in place for the SR5004 it would have been convenient to extend it to a Marantz processor. Since Marantz only has one processor, there's not a lot of choice on price.

Great processor. Not sure I'd spend $600 more for the privilege of getting it from Outlaw rather than other Internet sellers (Google it).

Outlaw is all over the place. They can't seem to decide what ecosystem they want to live in. Are they a "bargain" audiophile brand or are they just going to resell other brands at their list price? I realize that the Onkyo and now Marantz processors are supposed to be "temporary solutions," but how many Outlaw customers do they think are going to spend $2600 for their theater processor? Of that small sample, how many do they think will ignore the $500-600 premium? Granted, Outlaw needs to have something to sell as a processor, but they've currently got something on the low end ($850) and then the next step is something 3X as expensive. Seems like that "hole" is precisely where the typical Outlaw customer probably resides, no?

Best,

I'm not seeing the Marantz AV8003 anywhere else on the internet for $600 less. Where did you see that Ritz2?

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=marantz+av8003

Got it! Thanks Ritz!

Wow! Ritz 2 you on on the ball...big time. $1800.00-$2599.00 an $800.00 difference is a big number. Seems like the Outlaws did not do their due diligence. Somebody out there fell asleep at the wheel. You would think Outlaw would search the INTERNET first before advertising the AV 8300 at such a steep price compared to the reasonable or even low prices it deals out to fellow Outlaw and I might add good high quality products.
I don't know what going on with Outlaw but I am still holding out. I like there products. I like their customer relations. However I think that the 998 better have all of the bells and whistles that the Marantz 8300 has and then some with an attractive price-tag.

It looks like a lot of places are holding to the $2600 price (including Amazon, OneCall, Vann's, and Audioholics in addition to places that typically gravitate toward MSRP like Crutchfield and AudioAdvisor), which suggests that there may be some restrictions imposed by Marantz on advertised online prices. Some folks may be bending the rules and going lower. Some may also not be authorized, meaning that Marantz would likely blow you off if you needed service.

The Abe's of Maine fine print:

*Marantz has chosen only a select few to be an authorized internet dealer for their products. Abe's of Maine is not an authorized dealer for Marantz products and as such, Marantz may choose not to honor the warranty included in the package. Abe's of Maine offers Marantz products at a substantial savings as compared to our authorized dealer competitors. As such we provide you with a free 3 year warranty with this item.

Rick S

You posted something I was hesitant to point out. I did not want to really bring up operations such as Abes or several others who market in a similar manner. But now everyone knows the reasons for the low prices.

And Rubbersoul, contrary to what you might believe, we actually did do our homework and know who is selling this unit and for what price and why.

For the record, let's just say that we and all our fellow authorized online e-tailers of Marantz have the full backing of the company on all issues including service. There are some online operations that obtain their goods through a back door, gray market or other "unconventional" channels . Most of the issues surrounding authorized businesses is providing after market servicing of customers, including answering questions, solving problems or taking the unit back in for proper service. It also has to do with confidence in the ORIGIN ofthe goods.It is possible that some gray market goods were never destined for sale here and do not carry a US warranty.

On Outlaw's part we take our vendor relationships very seriously including taking the extra (and expensive) steps of creating totally new easy-to-understand manuals for our customers (the Outlaw Guides) We also stand behind every purchase.and are there to help and support before during and after the sale.

If the above is not important, then there are always places where one could take his chances and get some kind of deal. When we were offering the Onkyo 886, there were other venues where the customer could get a lower price. Yet we sold every one of those units we could get our hands on. There was a reason for that : The way we engage our customers and the confidence in the origin and condition of the units.

We know as a certainty that there is no online Marantz retailer that will take better care of its customers than we do. We have always had the confidence and trust from those that purchase our products and our vendors who build those same products. That is simply way we do things here.

Peter

It is hard for me to envision someone buying the 8003 and then the 998. What would be the motivation? The 998 will have Trinnov and HDMI 1.4 and on the surface will likely be as well spec'd as the 8003. I wonder with the El Cheapo nuts and bolts kind of customer that Outlaw has cultivated, if they will sell enough to make a mark. I bought the 886 only after they dropped the price $350. Even Peter T. was surprised at how many orders they got in 6 hours. I got mine for $100 less than the 997 would have cost after the $200 discount. The same type of sale won't work with the 8003 being twice the cost of the 998. The buyers of the 8003 are playing on a different field than most of the Outlaws are.

I doubt anybody will buy the 8003 and then the 998. Some folks may not be in a position to wait for the 998, and thus may get the 8003 now because it's available. Somebody setting up a system from scratch today could get a combo of 8003 and amp - the combo provides some discount (possibly a major discount, if they're buying one of the bigger amps) and equipment that they can use today. I doubt such a buyer would buy a new processor for a while. The kicker is that they can offer something to those people who want to buy today. Those of us who may want to buy at some point are not likely to need this option.

I stand corrected on the homework issue PT.
For the record I am staying put with my 990 until the 998 is up and running.
I never had doubts that Outlaw was anything less than a first class act for quality and service.

Thanks for the clarification on the AV8003.

How cool it would have been if Outlaw had taken maybe 100 bucks off the list price and still provided all the great service, etc. A real differentiator from the rest of the "bust-out-list-price" gang and still (unless I am completely mistaken) a nice profit for Outlaw. Hard to believe that Marantz insists on approved distributors charging full list, but it wouldn't be the first thing I've ever been wrong about (maybe the second or third...;-)

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Marantz tries to hold online dealers to the list price, as that protects their other dealers (the brick & mortar outlets and custom installers).

Outlaw's work-around to that seems to be the package deals. Buy an amp with the AV8003, and you can get more than $100 knocked off the total price...

In late winter of 2009 when my old Yamaha AVR died, with my two 7125's waiting on the rack and no sign of the 997 and since the 8003 had been out for a few months, at the time, I seriously pondered buying this unit. Just a few months prior to that, Marantz also introduced the 5003 and 6003 AVRs(with similar faceplates to the 8003) and in all honesty when looking at the feature set and processing power, which were very similar to the 8003, I ended up buying the 5003 using it as a Pre-Pro because, for the life of me, I just couldn't justify the massive difference in price point between the 8003 and the 5003 unit. My observation would also apply to the newer 5004.

The 8003 was introduced in August of 2008 and considering what has "come down the pike" since that time, in essence, this is now a "legacy" piece of equipment which, in my opinion, wouldn't make sense to purchase at this price even if I was looking for a new Pre-Pro or AVR today!

There is no question in being able to sell this product and appease the manufacturer, prices must be kept in line, however, assuming the 998 is introduced in the next few months, realistically it will more than likely be, at a minimum, "light years" ahead of the 8003 in feature set and maybe even performance for considerably less money, so I think I will just wait.

As a happy 990 owner, I've got amps a-plenty. Guess I'll wait it out. I've shopped at authorized dealers in the past, and as often as not still seen some kind of discount, sale price, temporary reduction or whatever you want to call it. We've become acculturated to not paying list price for this kind of stuff (even on this site with "family" discounts, regular sales, and so on), and so this remains a bit hard to swallow. Also a departure from the normal Outlaw pricing sweet spot, IMHO.

when your competing with other online vendors price everything will drop in price..

for the moment atleast I would say the 8003 would be the only option you could go, since the 998 is no show for the time being atleast, feature specs the 998 may win hands down comps, though you're still only going on a speculative of what the final specs will be for the 998..

until the 998's release, you're playing a wait and see game..

if you want something to use now, the only options I see is, if you want processor/pre-amp then the only 2 options you got is 8003 from marrantz or pr-5507 from onkyo unless you got the cash to buy the denon avp, you're going to be limited at looking for avr's with pre-outs.

looking at the current 2010 avr line up you'll be looking for high end models for pre-outs as looking this year's avr releases from onkyo, denon and yamaha most of the mid level gear likely have no pre-out support... the only difference will be wattage output..

agreed, it is a wait and see game (anyone noticed that it's been a couple of months without any update since the 998 announcement? just sayin'...). luckily, my "still kickass" 990 is making the wait quite bearable, wire jungle notwithstanding.

hmm I wish the 990 was still available as it would give me something to use.

You might check the used market - warranties are transferrable, and there are probably some floating around on sites like Audiogon and eBay.

Wow!!
Good deal the Outlaws have with Marantz AV8003.
Tempting indeed.
I wonder what is up with the 998?
I want to stay loyal to Outlaw but I wish there was some credable news, an update.
Someting.

Check accessoriesforless.com. They often sell refurbished AV8003 for around $1500. One year warranty instead of the usual 3 year but the warranty is from Marantz.

Thanks
gbomd/
I want to continue the relationship with Outlaw so I will sit back and wait.
I think of the fact that if I did purchase the Marantz Outlaws' 998 might be a match or better.
Just anxious.