Marantz AV Receivers: How do we achieve our signature musical sound?
Reading time: 5 minutes
True music lovers continuously seek to enhance their home listening environment and capture every detail of a musical performance with precise imaging. At the same time, they want to enjoy multichannel home theatre with the latest blockbuster or their favourite live concert on Blu-ray Disc. But space in the living room is limited, and decisions must be made between a stereo amplifier and an AV receiver like our new SR-Series. A widely known prejudice says that AV receivers by nature cannot guarantee satisfying 2-channel performance, as they have too many noisy parts inside that care for the multichannel audio and video experience. The Marantz philosophy continuously strives for the best 2-channel performance, no matter which type of product we create. How can we achieve this?
Built quality and customized components
The circuitry and craftsmanship that go into a home theatre receiver makes all the difference in the sound quality it produces. With the right technology inside, you can enjoy a deep, immersive experience that captures every nuance of your favourite movies and music alike. The Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Modules (HDAMs) incorporated into Marantz Hi-Fi components, for example, contribute to the superior performance of Marantz technology, setting these products apart for decades. Marantz sound engineers developed the HDAM solution to overcome their dissatisfaction with existing operational amplifier solutions. These types of amplifiers are versatile, reliable and inexpensive, but they also have serious limitations. Noise and a low slew rate — a measure of the rate of change in current over time — can greatly detract from the resulting sound quality, especially at higher frequencies. The HDAM outperforms the op-amp solution, since it has high speed, keeps the audio signal clean and is tuned for the best sound performance. As a result, the music sounds fresh and alive, rich and more dynamic, with accurately reproduced high-frequency details.
Extensive listening and sound tuning
Extensive and painstaking tuning by sound masters is what powers the exquisite sonic signature of any Marantz product. No component leaves the hands of Marantz Sound Masters until it passes rigorous testing. This does not only apply to the famous Marantz 2-channel Amplifiers. It’s actually a process that all products undergo, no matter the price class and no matter if it is a mini system, CD Player or an AV Receiver.
When creating a new AV surround receiver, the first thing sound engineers do is to extensively test the 2-channel performance. They take the Marantz reference class stereo amplifier do some AB testing against it. Only when they feel the stereo sound in the AV receiver holds up to the high standards, they consider it worthy of the Marantz brand, and apply those findings to the surround channels of the product.
As a result, you will always get the most musical sound from any source and in any speaker configuration, from 2-channels up to 13.2ch in the current Marantz AV pre-amplifier flagship AV8805.
Read more about the famous Marantz sound character here.
