Marantz's SR5500 has been doing the rounds since late 2004, which equates to being long-in-the-tooth in AV receiver terms.

As such it doesn't boast any auto set-up system, has no truck with auto EQ and doesn't come supplied with a little microphone that you are going to use once and stick in the box for the rest of its life.

That's not to say that the SR5500 is frugally specified. It ties with the Pioneer VSX-1015 when it comes to muscle. Our lab tests clocked it at 95W into 8ohms when in 5.1 channel mode and a chunky 120w per channel when used in stereo.

It also has trendy 192kHz/24-bit DACs for all channels, a 32-bit DSP engine and upconverts all incoming video signals to component output, albeit without scaling. The full range of Dolby and DTS decoding formats are on tap right up to Pro-Logic IIx and the analogue input frequency response spans 10Hz - 100kHz for Super Audio CD and DVD-A fans.

Circle of sound

Interestingly, the SR5500 also sports SRS's Circle Surround II, which I believe is an arguably better stereo to multichannel algorithm than Pro-Logic II. CSII has generally improved rear channel steering, smoother front-to-rear effects panning, and, for lovers of older movies, offers superior mono to 5.1 sound that can give classic films a real lift.

If you fancy a little surround sound action without disturbing the rest of the household this receiver also packs Dolby Headphone processing. This can turn even the most mundane earcans into surround sound stars although don't expect seismic bass effects from your iPod in-ear buds.

Up front the SR5500 sports a fetching brushed aluminium fascia, solid feeling buttons and nicely weighted volume knob. The build quality oozes class and is the most robust feeling in this group by quite a margin. The display is informative and bright, even if the colour is a matter of personal taste, and every feature and function can be accessed by the front panel for when the bland remote control slips down the back of the sofa.

The rear panel is equally well appointed. Despite lacking such modern digital niceties as HDMI or DVI switching it does use the Marantz D-Bus and has a bi-directional RS232 port should you have an AMX or Crestron style control system. It has multi-room outputs for a second (stereo) zone with internal switching that allows independent audio source selection for both zones. Sadly there is no secondary video output meaning it's music-only in Zone 2.

The onscreen menus could not be any more basic but do lead you through the set-up with equally simplistic style. There is no danger of getting lost in the menus or not being able to find a function and the base-level set-up can be achieved in seconds. Features of note include lip sync delay should a videoprocessor or display device in the chain be a bit sluggish and a video off mode that turns the SR5500 into an audio-only amplifier for improved sound quality.

It might be an old timer (relatively) and lacks some of the widgets of its current peers but the SR5500 has got technology where it counts, features that are genuinely useful and a build quality that justifies every penny of its £450 tag.

The big easy

With such a simplistic set-up and menu structure, the Marantz goes from box to box office in a matter of minutes. It's delightfully simple to dip back in and out of the menus at any time to tweak and adjust settings and this alone makes the SR5500 the easiest to use receiver assembled here.