AV Receivers

Fresh from scooping the industry equivalent of an Oscar for technical innovation at this year’s CES, Lexicon’s DD-8 power amplifier comes to the test bench flaunting the looks of a size-zero super-model – wistfully thin, lithe and lightweight, and sexily wrapped in cat-walk style designer clothes. Unlike most supermodels there is more than airspace between its rack-mountable ears, too. Using some clever proprietary amplifier technology, Lexicon’s DD-8 packs eight channels of 125W into that slimline chassis.

Whether through luck or design, Marantz has created something rather special with the NR1602. Driven by a desire to innovate within the often stultifying constraints of hardcore AV, the company has taken the traditional hefty AVR form factor and chopped it in half. The result is a component with a good deal more va-va-voom than its peers.

If traditional home cinema is to flourish, it needs AV receivers like the Marantz NR1604. It’s no secret that real-world consumers have fallen out of love with the surround sound behemoths of yesteryear – incredible hulks just don’t cut it anymore (unless they’re green gamma-soaked scientists). Home audio has downsized dramatically, and AVRs have been slow to follow suit. Just as well then, that this third iteration of Marantz’ slim-line NR models is, simply put, the best yet. When it comes to form, functionality and outright fun the NR1604 pretty much nails it.  It goes without saying that by its nature this style of receiver isn’t so much about reckless performance, as usability (an often ignored phrase in the hedonistic world of home theatre). The dinosaur, it seems, is evolving.

The latest in Marantz's now long-established slimline, half-height receiver range, the NR1711 is a bijou behemoth for those of us who don't require unhinged power, but do want advanced connectivity to best work with modern wired and wireless sources.

I confess that I have never really been excited by Marantz’s AV receivers. They were never ahead of the features game and always aired too much on the side of sonic caution for my liking. Safe, reliable, solid and about as exciting as endurance snail racing. When the SR7005 arrived I brewed a really fresh cup of Horlicks, put my slippers on and settled down for an evening of light entertainment.