Audio Emporium
Newsletter
Marantz
In the last few months Marantz has revamped its line of Surround Sound Receivers, DVD players and projectors. We’ve had them a couple of months now so I’m comfortable making some pronouncements.
Remember, all of these Marantz products have a three year warranty P&L! In this day and age of pressure to plunge prices… warranties have been plunging too!
Another reason to buy a Marantz surround receiver instead of one of “the other guys” is a set up provision they’ve thought of- that the other guys haven’t. Suppose you have an HD cable box and are running HDMI out. Some of these HD cable boxes will NOT allow you to rout the signal through a receiver! They only allow you to run straight to the display panel. With Marantz, regardless of the HD cable box you are using, you can run the signal through the receiver! Marantz has a menu option to select this. Nobody else does!
Surround Sound Receivers
SR-7001 $1400 (110x7)
SR-7001 has proven to be the best seller in the line. SR-7001 runs $1400 and has just about every worthwhile feature you would want, including one of the best remotes (RC-1400) in our business. It has 110x7. It weighs about 35 pounds. The new Current Feedback amplifiers in this guy are gutsy. It is very comfortable running anything Paradigm or B&W that we sell!
At the heart of this piece is – nice build quality. Using all discrete output transistors, for all channels, SR-7001 has massive heat sinking and does NOT require fans! Almost everyone else uses a minimal array of heat sinks and requires multi-speed fans to move enough air to keep the unit running safely. Fans are noisy to begin with. They get noisier as time goes on. Eventually you could have a receiver sounding like a vacuum cleaner in your home theater!
SR-7001 has HDMI uplink technology. It has 4 HDMI in, one HDMI out. Connections and operations have never been easier. All the amp connections are via binding posts so you can use banana plugs. Many receivers still use those Mickey Mouse spring locking terminals.
In a word, SR-7001 sounds like it is “coasting.” We’ve used them in a variety of installations already and they just never sound stressed. We’ve run them with B&W 700 theaters and big Paradigm combinations. SR-7001 has always been up to the task.
I would recommend that you not be fooled by the sub $1k competition. There are lots of receivers in that price range that have more FEATURES than you can shake a stick at- but they cut back in the essence of what makes a system sound good- gutsy amplifiers with lots of reserve.
SR-8001 is $2k (125 x7)
SR-8001 is the audio/videophile top of the line receiver. It is a tad cleaner sounding than SR-7001 and has a bigger kick. This is our favorite SS receiver!
SR-5001 $750 (90x7)
SR-5001 has Component Uplink and HDMI (2 to 1) pass through. While it has strong, discrete amps on board, it doesn’t have the new Current Feedback design used in SR-7001. SR-5001 can appeal to those of you who take your sound seriously- but you’re not in SR-7001 price territory. It comes with a very nice smart remote- though it isn’t as cool as RC-1400. It has zone 2 out that can be different from zone 1.
Like SR-7001, SR-5001 doesn’t use fans and has all binding post connections. The sound is more dynamic than SR-4001- noticeably so. It’s for the extra $200 for its SOUND.
SR-4001 $550 (80x7)
SR-4001 is a killer budget receiver. It has Component Uplink and HDMI (2 to 1) pass through. It doesn’t use fans and has binding post connections. SR-4001 is ideal with Paradigm’s new Monitor Series or B&W’s 600 Series speakers. The amps on board are still discrete. SR-4001 is a good distance better than the $500 competition using hybrid chip amps, spring loaded terminals, whining fans and a one year warranty!
DVD Players
DV-6001 $550
Just in is the remarkable DV-6001. It is a universal player, so it’ll handle your DVDs, SACDs, DVDas, and of course, your CDs.
We look at the whole Blu Ray – HD DVD battle like Beta/VHS all over again. What in the Hades were these morons thinking in going forward with non compatible formats?! Will they never learn?! Obviously not.
Even though both formats have their selling points, the first wave pricing is too high. The first wave products have too many problems (like long load times and disc incompatibility). The movies are few and expensive. There’s a lot of water to go over this dam. What should you do? Buy a DV-6001.
DV-6001 has 1080p upsampling. Every disc you have now, and every disc over at your favorite video store, can be played in 1080p. If your TV has an HDMI input but isn’t 1080p, no biggie- you’ll love the DV-6001’s 720p upsampled signal!
DV-4001 $330
The new entry level Marantz DVD has 720p upsampled output via its HDMI jack. It still supports Component, S & Composite so you’re set for anything. This unit is way too good for the money!
Projectors
VP-11s $20k
This was the first 1080p projector available! Its picture is stunning- regardless of the source. When you want the best projector out there – this is it!
VP-8600 $6000
VP-8600 is a fairly new, outstanding projector! Its lamp life is twice that of competitors!
VP-4001 $4100
This new projector offers very competitive pricing with the more mass oriented names- while having superior performance and the famous Marantz 3 yr warranty!
Projector & Lamp Info
We’ve waited a long time for Marantz to come to the market with a full family of projectors. Over the past MANY years we’ve had to carry a lot of different projectors.
We suffered through some tough years with Sharp. While they deserve credit for “inventing” the reasonably price home LCD projector, they weren’t built very well. Literally every time a lamp needed to be replaced ($500) the ballast had to be replaced too (another $500). We battled them tooth and nail to cover units under warranty. They always thought they were doing US a favor when they sometimes gave in. If the unit was out of warranty by five minutes- even if it had been in for repair before- you had to pay!
We were happy Toshiba offered an affordable DLP projector with a nice picture. It was a nice improvement over the LCDs. But service and Toshiba shouldn’t be said in the same sentence. Repairs are expensive and slow. There are 800#s and hold forever.
It is a pleasure to be able to offer a full line of Marantz projectors! Any projector can break. It’s not like Marantzs never fail either. But with Marantz, you have a generous three year warranty and the most responsive service available. We want you to buy a Marantz due to its picture quality and level of support we can provide if you need it!
Dolby
At the recent CES Dolby was pushing a 13.1 surround scheme. Just what your wife wants for Valentine’s day, right?
DTS-CDs!
About ten years ago DTS 5.1 surround sound came out. It came out in movies of course, but it also came out in COMPACT DISCS.
We have a couple of dozen titles on DTS CD. They will be played through your DVD player into your surround sound receiver or preamp’s digital in. The decoder in your receiver or preamp will do the work. Unlike SACD and DVD-A, the discs load up promptly (like CDs) and you don’t have to fidget with different settings.
This is a much unappreciated format- largely because almost nobody knows it’s available!
If you like surround sound music (no video on these!), you owe it to yourself to try some of these. They make great use of the surround speakers. Sometimes they choose to use them for ambiance. Sometimes the surround speakers are used for panning tricks. Regardless, if you like surround sound, stop in to buy at least one. They’re lots of fun!
Artists include Diana Krall, Cheryl Crow, Eric Clapton, Steve Miller, Steely Dan,
Lyle Lovett, The Eagles, Moody Blues, Sting, Police, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, Alan
Parsons, Allman Bros, David Benoit, Dave Grusin…