Mark Fleischmann

Managed copy will not be part of the final spec for AACS, the digital rights management used by Blu-ray (and HD DVD, but never mind).

The entertainment industry has always been dead set against home recording. However, in what potentially may be a major departure, the security specs for Blu-ray and HD DVD may soon be altered to allow legal copying under limited circumstances.

Purchasers of Marantz Blu-ray players will get a free Roku video streaming box between now and March 31.

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.