Livonia, Mich. – D&M Holdings brands will go to a high-end audio show here May 2-3 to unveil Marantz’s third Blu-ray player and demonstrate such products as McIntosh’s latest HD Radio tuner, the $4,000-suggested MR88, and Snell’s $20,000/pair Phantom tower speaker.
The products, along with the recently introduced Snell Acoustics Phantom speaker, will be displayed at the Audio Karma Fest, a consumer show sponsored by Audio Karma, an online audio forum.
Marantz currently offers the BD8002 and BD7003 Blu-ray players, but the selection will expand with the flagship UD9004, the brand’s first model to play DVD-Audio and SACD discs. It will be available sometime during the summer at a suggested $5,999. Sister brand Denon has also announced a DVD-Audio/SACD-playing Blu-ray player.
Marantz’s UD9004 is a Blu-ray Profile 2.0 player with dual user-selectable HDMI outputs, internal decoding of all Blu-ray surround formats, 7.1-channel analog outputs, balanced outputs for the left and right channels, copper-encased toroidal power transformer, short signal paths, extensive shielding as well as a dedicated audio section based on Marantz’s SA-7S1 SACD player.
Marantz’s other two Blu-ray players, the $799-suggested BD7003 and $1,999 BD8002, are Profile 1.1 models. The latter incorporates HDMI 1.3 output, 7.1-channel analog outputs, and embedded decoding of all Blu-ray surround formats. The $799 model features built-in decoding of only Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks, playback of multichannel-PCM soundtracks up to 7.1 channels, and bit stream output of all other Blu-ray surround formats.
In the McIntosh Laboratory exhibit, the company will demonstrate McIntosh will demonstrate its new XM-ready MR88 AM/FM/XM/HD Tuner to the public for the first time. The $4,000-suggested tuner, now due in May, controls a separately-sold outboard XM Satellite Radio tuner. The MR88 features a traditional McIntosh-style front-panel AM/FM dial scale with weighted tuning knob. A two-line fluorescent display displays text information transmitted by HD Radio stations.
The MR88 joins an existing $800-suggested TM2 HD Radio tuner module, which plugs into the MA6600 integrated amp and other future products.
McIntosh will also demonstrate to consumers for the first time its limited-edition 60th Anniversary “Classic System,” which consists of reissues of legendary components MC75 monoblock tube amplifier, and C22 preamplifier from the early 1960s. McIntosh’s first-ever tabletop integrated audio system, the MXA60 “Executive System,” will also be demonstrated. Shipment is slated for the third quarter. It consists of a 75-watt-per-channel amplifier, CD/SACD/MP3 player, vacuum-tube preamplifier, AM/FM/RBDS tuner, and two-way speaker system.
Snell’s Phantom, the first derivative of the flagship Illusion, brings elements of its flagship Illusion speaker to the sleeker, smaller Phantom, due in the second quarter at a suggested $20,000/pair. Like Illusion, Phantom is a three-way model with handcrafted asymmetrical tapered-tower cabinet with gently curved surfaces. It features dual 4.5-inch midrange drivers, one above and one below a silk-dome tweeter. Dual 8-inch woofers extend response down to 30Hz.
