Mahwah, NJ — Marantz America is expanding its line of Blu-ray players to include four Profile 2.0 models, all with Ethernet connectivity and features to increase flexibility in both playback and installation.
Leading the new lineup is the company’s flagship player UD9004 (MSRP: $5,999.99), joined by the high-end universal UD8004 (MSRP: $2,199.99) and two high-value, high-performance players, the BD7004 (MSRP: $799.99), and BD5004 (MSRP: $549.99).
The UD9004’s extensively braced chassis features a thick bottom plate with machine milled copper feet and sustaining mechanical stability.
The Profile 2.0 UD9004 will play CD, SACD, DVD Audi, and Blu-ray. The unit’s dedicated audio section, which is based on the Marantz SA-7S1 SACD player, has been designed to ensure superior audio playback at all times and from all sources, according to the company. Two Sharc DSPs are included for HD Audio decoding, and SACD playback is enhanced through the use of Marantz’s HDAM technology, Hyper Dynamic Amp module. The UD9004 also features a 32-bit floating point type Analog Devices DSP with four separate circuit boards and a pure direct mode that even shuts down the video playing elements to deliver exceptional, focused audio output when desired.
Dual HDMI outputs add to the UD9004’s perfectionist-level performance capabilities, and are user selectable via separate HDMI connections. The UD9004 incorporates 36-bit Deep Color and a leading-edge 10-bit Silicon Optix Realta chipset, with a 297MHz/14-bit Video DAC.
Other features include internal decoding of Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master Audio, 7.1 analog outputs, including balanced outputs for the left and right channels, a copper-encased toroidal power transformer, short signal paths, and extensive shielding. The unit also features an SD card reader, an RS232C interface, and an Ethernet connection for BD-Live content and future software updates.
The UD9004 offers several features for home theater aficionados. The Vertical Stretch feature was designed for content in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Vertical Stretch eliminates the black bars at the top and bottom of the image without adding distortion, or artifacts, for HD displays, but it’s most beneficial for those users of Cinema Scope screens and projectors with anamorphic lenses, as the processing is done in the digital domain.
Many of the UD9004’s features also are included in the new Model UD8004 Universal BD player, including HDAMs, a dedicated audio board, 7.1 Analog Outputs, High Quality Scaling, Internal HD Audio Decoding and the Easy Operation User Interface.
With their sleek new aluminum/reinforced resin front panels, center-mount drawers and SD/SDHC Card readers for WMA, MP3, JPEG files(also compatible miniSD or microSD with adapters), Marantz’s BD7004 and BD5004 Blu-ray models feature HDMI 1.3a supporting 36-bit Deep Color and HD Audio bit stream outputs, and both feature Anchor Bay VRS Technology video scalers, with 1080p scaling from SD DVDs for additional viewing enhancement.
In addition to reading Blu-ray (both commercial releases and recordable discs), DVDs (movies and DVD-R/RWs), as well as standard and recordable CDs, both players also include SD and SDHC memory card capability, as well as mini-and microSD. In addition, the BD7004 handles DivX and AVCHD files.The unit also features internal decoding for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and video scaling by Anchor Bay. Both also handle disc-based DivX files in addition to AVCHD (high definition video format for Camcorder) contained on discs or solid-state memory devices. IR flasher inputs and outputs on both players add to their system-wide control capabilities, while their Ethernet ports allow users to update the firmware to take full advantage of future developments.
The UD9004 is scheduled for availability in August, and the UD8004 is scheduled to be available in October. Both the BD7004 and BD5004 are currently available.
