Marantz Is True and Blu

Two of three new Marantz receivers have onboard decoding of Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, and both flavors of DTS-HD. They include the SR6003, 100 watts times seven, $1200; the SR 5003, 90 watts, $800; and the SR4003, 80 watts, $549; all available September. That third one has high-res PCM input, so it'll have no trouble getting the good stuff from a Blu-ray player's built-in decoder. Marantz has one of those too – the BD7003, due in November for $799, is Profile 1.1/Bonus View, not Profile 2.0/BD Live. Marantz also made an odd decision affecting two new SACD players, the SA1552 ($1999) and SA8003 ($999). They have neither HDMI 1.2 outputs nor analog multichannel-outs. Presumably Marantz is aiming them at a two-channel audience. Pictured: BD7003 Blu atop SR6003 receiver.

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