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