I think bashing the Cinema 70s based on two-channel audio performance kind of misses the point here--the selling point for this slimline AVR to me is getting the pre-out, connectivity, processing and excellent on-screen menu experience that Marantz has become very good at with without paying more for additional amplification you don't need (either because you're using a separate amp or have very modest speakers).
I doubt anyone would bash the C70s but I might have missed some posts, I guess.
I would understand the vitriol better if this were a review of something in Marantz's Stereo series, but, as others have noted, the video/networking/processing features that make this AVR (and not an integrated stereo amp) valuable aren't even touched on.
The DAC may not rival the best in the audiophile sphere (at least in graphs, which seems to be the only thing ASR cares about), and if you want/need better amplification you will need to look to one of the higher spec'ed/priced models. But on the balance for a well-featured pre/pro AVR that works with complicated HT setups I think the Cinema 70s punches well above its weight and shouldn't be overlooked by those shopping in this price bracket.
The DAC is not an issue based on >90 dB SINAD for the most part, that makes it comparable to many decent power amps including the likes of the MA7200, it is not SOTA for sure, neither's the one in the MA7200, but with < -90 dB THD+N, it is well within the so called below threshold of audibility.
I don't know why you would think that the only thing ASR cares about is the DAC performance graphs, when Amir/ASR typically also measured SNR/DR, IMD, Cross talk, FR, 32 tones in, Jitter, FFT, frequency dependence and more.., many of those metrics would depend on not just the DAC IC in the audio signal path, just that it's understandably too time consuming for him to rank devices on each of the metrics he measured and published.
The good news is, if one look closely of all those measured performance criteria, one would find that in most (obviously not all) cases, if even just the SINAD of the pre out/DAC is reasonably good such as >85 dB SINAD, 1 kHz test signal, the device wouldn't likely perform bad in the other areas/metrics, at least that's what I found in the numerous Marantz and Denon AVRs/AVPs. Marantz prior the the 2021 through 23 models tend to do not so well in the pre out/DAC SINAD, but even at the 75 dB level found in those, should put them in the transparent category. The Cinema 70s, performed very well in the ASR review, I think Amir would not put it in his recommended list because of the power amp section only. In your case, the MA7200 got you cover, it's input sensitivity of just 1.4 V, means your Cinema 70s pre out/DAC SINAD would be in the optimum point of about 97 dB, that truly exceptional, considering just the DAC IC itself has a spec of only 93 dB. Marantz outperform the IC's own spec by 4 dB proves the point that implementation is not an issue, not for Marantz!!
Given such facts, no wonder you seem to like the Cinema 70s a lot. In my case, I avoided it mainly because 2 independent subwoofer outputs is a must feature for me, hopefully the upcoming replacement will be fitted with two outputs.
