Surround Processor Reviews

The Marantz AV7005’s video processing is very good but in practice will have some limitations. With its Video Convert feature set to On, it passes all of our critical tests over HDMI, with the exception of chroma resolution, which it fails with a complete blank on the highest frequencies. Set Video Convert to Off, and the AV7005 passes all chroma frequencies and offers flawless passthrough. But with Video Convert off, no deinterlacing or scaling is performed—if 480p goes in, 480p comes out. Although neither situation is ideal, since the HDMI passthrough with Video Convert set to Off is pristine, the AV7005 still warrants a Top Pick, just be aware. With component video to HDMI, the AV7005 passes all our deinterlacing tests, passes clipping with toe room and headroom into 240s, but fails luma and chroma resolution (which is common). As with most components, we don’t recommend analog to HDMI conversion for quality critical sources.—SCB