Marantz and Yamaha: Universal Players

Sounds Good…

After Onkyo and Pioneer it’s the turn of Marantz and Yamaha to present, at CEDIA their very first Universal DVD players (DVD-Audio and SACD).

Effectively, the big hitters of the Home Entertainment market, two manufacturers keenly seeking market share, are spending up big at the trade shows, with the launch of these new universal DVD players.
The CEDIA, the last big gathering before the CES of Las Vegas, is the annual event that allows many manufacturers to unveil their new wares to the public.


In the family of universal players, we’ll start with one of the two new ones: Marantz, who specialise in the upper end of the market, launching the DV8300. The latter takes on a similar set of characteristics to the Pioneer DV47i, without the high bandwidth "I-link" connector… but to which the certification THX Select has been added.
This model is destined to neophytes and enthusiasts alike, but marks a step forward by the manufacturer towards the "High End" sound fanatic. It’s available in the USA for around $1600.


Moving right along with a slightly more democratic manufacturer: Yamaha. They’ve released a universal DVD player entitled the DVD2300 that can be classified also a a top-line model and is characterised by the following elements:
- Audio: The DVD2300 is, like it’s cousins, entirely compatible with all current sound formats and standards.
- Video: It’s the only one of its category to have a video stage of this quality. The electronics are in fact based on a DCDi (Progressive Scan) chipset developed by Faroudja.
It’s also available in the States for around $1100.

We hope the other major players, such as Denon, Sony and Philips will show us some new wares along the same lines. The ball’s in their court.