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CEDIA 2008: More Marantz AVRs Add Blu-ray Surround

Denver — Three new 7.1-channel A/V receivers (AVRs), four integrated amps, two SACD players, a CD player and a stereo receiver will accompany Marantz’s newest Blu-ray player and latest anamorphic lens here at the CEDIA Expo.

With the introduction of three new AVRs — the $1,199-suggested SR6003, $799 SR6001 and $549 SR4003 AVRs — Marantz is bringing AVRs with embedded decoding of all Blu-ray surround formats to $799 from $1,399, 1080p up-scaling of all video sources to $799 from $2,600, and video transcoding of all video inputs to HDMI to $799 from $2,600.

Last year, the company introduced its first two AVRs with embedded decoding of all authorized Blu-ray surround formats at a suggested $1,399 (SR7002) and $1,999 (SR8002). The latter was the brand’s first AVR with HD Radio.

The new $799 and $1,199 AVRs are also the company’s first with dual XM/Sirius-ready capability. The company previously offered XM-ready products.

All three AVRs are replacement models with a shallower chassis at about 16 inches deep for rack mounting. All also feature cursor-controlled menu system.

The $549 AVR features three-in/one-out HDMI 1.3 repeater capability with Deep Color support and proprietary room-acoustic-correction technology. It was scheduled to ship in August. The $799 model was also due in August, and the $1,199 model ships this month.

Besides embedded Blu-ray surround decoding, 1080p up-scaling, HDMI up-conversion and XM/Sirius capability, the step-up $799 model adds multizone, multisource capability and Audyssey’s room-acoustic correction technology. To that, the $1,199 model adds three-in/two-out HDMI repeater capability; a new GUI; and a front-panel USB input to play back MP3, WMA and WAV music files with playback control via the AVR’s included remote.

In two-channel integrated amps, the company is expanding its selection to four models from three with the launch of two Referencer series models — the $4,499-suggested dual mono block PM-11S2 and gold-finish $1,999 PM-15S1GL — and two models billed as high-performance high-value models. They are the $999 PM8003 and $449 PM5003. The integrated amps ship in September and October.

 Two new SACD players are two-channel CD/SACD models. Marantz reserves multichannel-SACD playback for its universal SACD/DVD-Audio players. The Reference series SA-15S2, at $4,499, ships in September. The SA800s SACD/CD player features USB audio input at a suggested $999.

The CD player at $349 features SACD-grade DACs and plays MP3/WMA CDs. It ships in September.

The new stereo receiver, at $499, ships in September with 2×80-watt amplification and video switching.

Details of the new BD7003 Blu-ray player were sketchy, but the company plans shipments of the $799-suggested Profile 1.1 model in November to complement its first model, the $1,999 BD8002, which ships in September. The 7003 ships in November.

The 8002 features embedded decoding of all Blu-ray surround formats, 7.1-channel analog outputs, HDMI 1.43 support for 36-bit Deep Color and 1080p up-scaling of DVD video.

The motorized anamorphic lens system, the $4,999-suggested LN-11S1, is designed for use with Marantz’s VP-11S1 and -11S2 projectors and VP-15S1 projector. It joins other anamorphic lens systems from Marantz.

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