Marantz appreciates more and more homes are using a TV for day-to-day viewing, plus installing a projector for ‘special event viewing’, such as movies and sports – consequently its SR7002 now features twin HDMI outs meaning switching between displays involves no crawling behind the equipment rack to plug and unplug leads – it merely involves the user pressing a single button on the SR7002’s supplied backlit learning remote control.
At Marantz, the introduction of a new model is not an excuse for engineers to aimlessly bolt-on the latest specification. First-up the Marantz design team assesses the relevance of the incoming technologies and, ultimately, decide on their potential usefulness. For this reason the SR7002 includes some extremely timely and useful additions to its SR7001 forebear. In response to the increase in ownership of viewing displays Marantz adds an HDMI output to the SR7002 – bringing it up to the same number as its SR8002 big brother – while the engineers have also noted the huge number of Apple iPods and MP3 players being hooked up to its AV engines.
To get the best from digital music the SR7002 includes Marantz’s newly-developed M-DAX (Marantz Dynamic Audio eXpander) system: this ingenious technology uses digital signal processing to improve the sound quality of compressed audio signals, boosting not just digital music, but also enhancing sound from lower quality TV and radio. Pumping out the tunes here, of course, is a muscular amplifier, which offers seven channels of 110 watts. Marantz’s current feedback amplification system – the impedance at the current feedback point is kept very low, which means there is very little phase shift – is present and correct, helping the SR7002 deliver a beautifully pure sound. (Only Marantz receivers offer this highly musical sounding approach).The latest 1.3a HDMI specification is available via the SR7002’s suite of connectivity – four HDMI inputs and two HDMI outputs – so users can enjoy the full potential – think 1080p and Deep Color™ 36-bit video signals – of the latest HD sources. SR7002-routed digital images in all rooms – the SR7002 can deliver signals to a second zone, in addition to the main viewing room and the price includes the RC101 ‘sub’ remote for just this purpose – make the most of full bandwidth, uncompressed digital video signal transmission, and to help boost non-HDMI transferred signals, the receiver includes up-conversion from analogue video signals to HDMI including interlaced to progressive conversion. Audio and video switching is also a potentially invaluable feature of this advanced, yet accessible, home cinema hub.
A dab hand with movies and music, the SR7002 is also the perfect houseguest: Marantz’s design team’s research shows that equipment racks – due primarily to the growth in sales of LCD and plasma screens – are getting shallower, therefore the SR7002 retains a respectable sub-400mm depth. The chassis, naturally for a member of the Marantz family, remains thoroughly solid – and fine looking, too – but Marantz will not add to its dimensions just for the sake of it. To further endear itself to the home, the SR7002 includes Audyssey’s MultEQ system. This Room Acoustic Calibration auto set-up feature ensures great sound for the entire audience, plus brings a very easy set-up process. All Marantz asks is that the user invests around 15 minutes to ‘hit the correct buttons’ – which, in return for many years of music and movie brilliance, seems a good deal.