Marantz Experience

At Marantz, we’re lucky we get the chance to create, test, and experience some of the best audio and video products in the world. Audio is a passion of ours, and that passion has been at the heart of everything we’ve created for the last 65+ years.

Passions are great, but they’re better when they’re shared. So, that’s why we teamed-up with What Hi-Fi? to offer their readers an all-expenses paid trip to Future Labs test room in Bath where they got to experience the unmistakeable sound of Marantz in all its glory.

Spoiler alert – they were blown away by what they heard.

The emphasis of the day was on music and we wanted to offer our guests a chance to experience their favourite tracks in a way they hadn’t heard them before. To do this, we focused on a range of Hi-Fi & Network Streaming systems gradually progressing from a more entry level system up to full blown audio wonderment, followed by an audio-visual dem.

Melody X – Network Streaming System

To kick things off, we started with the Melody X. This little box of tricks has been designed with the modern audiophile in mind. It features endless steaming capabilities and CD Playback for ultimate convenience without compromising on sound.

“The first system blew me away a little bit. I wasn’t expecting the sound to get that good, that quickly.”

AndyBristol

“It was very clear, there was no muddiness to it. Everything was in its right place, if that’s how I could say it. If you closed your eyes you felt like you could imagine yourself at a gig really.”

ShamboGlastonbury

CD6006 & PM6006 UK Editions – CD Player and Integrated Amplifier

Next up we had the What Hi-Fi? award-winning CD6006 and PM6006 UK Editions. These products were designed to provide more traditional hi-fi lovers with audiophile level sound quality in a more affordable package. The CD6006 UK Edition picked up a ‘Product of the Year’ award at this year’s What Hi-Fi? Awards and was described as the “The finest player anywhere near the £500 mark.” The PM6006 UK Edition was also deemed the ‘Best Stereo Amplifier Under £400’ and was described as being “full bodied and focused, with plenty of detail to boot.’

“We started listening to the 6006 system, which was like a step up, and I was like; how can they go from the first one to this? But it did, and that’s when I started closing my eyes and you could really see the soundscape.”

ShamboGlastonbury

“It was just so 3D … with the backing vocals being on the sides but the main vocals being directly in the middle, but there was no speaker there… Don’t know how they did that.”

VedaGlastonbury

SA-10 and PM-10 – SACD Player and Integrated Amplifier

Wrapping up on the hi-fi dems, we saved the best to last with the 10 Series paired with our TT-15S1 Turntable. These flagship models were designed with the serious audiophile in mind, drawing on decades of expertise. Both models are the embodiment of the passion underpinning every product we have produced, summed up with the simple phrase ‘because music matters’

“The 10 Series was the real beast. That was coming at you from all directions. It was like a pleasant attack on your ears.”

VedaGlastonbury

“You could hear things on it that you couldn’t hear through a normal sound system at all. I heard a guy playing a crash cymbal with a brush… and it was just so subtle, you would never hear that normally.”

ShamboGlastonbury

SR8012 – 11.2 Channel AV Receiver

To finish off the day we ran through an audio-visual dem with our SR8012 AV Receiver. This award-winning model combines high performance home cinema with the most musical sound. Home Cinema Choice described the SR8012 as being “built around Marantz’s much-loved smooth, detailed and sophisticated sound. A supremely well-equipped 11-channel AV receiver that will wow all but the hardest of hardcore action fans.”

“At no point was I thinking about the speakers or where the sound was coming from. I was just there, just in the middle of it all. That’s definitely a setup I’ll be working my way up to.”

AndyBristol

“Sometimes you watch a movie at home or something, the lights are on and you look at your phone. But with that, you were just totally glued to it. You were totally in it.”

ShamboGlastonbury

“Comparing to what I have at home, it just blows it out of the water really. It’s kind of ruined the rest of music for me actually.”

VedaGlastonbury

Because Music Matters, to people

So, there we have it. We think it’s safe to say our guest enjoyed their experience and we were glad we got to share it with them. As the late and legendary Ken Ishiwata once said: “ Everyone has in one way or the other, some relation with music and, for many, music is associated with their memories… it is a strong part of their lives… Because Music Matters, to people.”

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