Marantz SR5001 AV-receiver

Marantz SR5001 has no phonostage and auto calibration (it will appear in the next model - SR5002). Instead of an equalizer there is the HT-EQ system, which creates the effect of a large cinema hall. The amplifying section has a smaller output power, but has a better signal-to-noise ratio. However, in terms of switching SR5001 surpasses many competitors, it better fits multi-zone systems. And the main difference is the quality of the multi-circuit power system and the entire sound path. High-end DAC/ADC and a powerful 32-bit processor are installed in SR5001.

First I connected the source directly to the multichannel input. The result pleased. The receiver showed a clear, relaxed sound with correct musical balance and realistic dynamics. The audio path has a high resolution - we felt the difference in full when the player worked in normal and pure modes. The comment could only be made about the scene - the stereo space was organized correctly, without anomalies, but the localization could be better.

But when the signal from the source went to the receiver in digital form, Marantz SR5001 surprised me even more. Usually, through such a connection, some degradation of the sound is inevitable, but here everything turned out to be quite the opposite. There was a feeling that you listen to music not from a DVD player through an AV receiver, but from a much more thoroughbred system with high-quality CD transport, a first-class DAC and an audiophile stereo amplifier. Pure Direct in Marantz eliminated all doubts at all. The sound is alive, emotional and very clear. The receiver has an uncommon timbral intelligibility; micro-dynamics is not superficial. All mentioned problems with the scene disappeared - the panorama is large, tying of imaginary sources to loudspeakers is absent, each image is distinct and seems material. If something in Marantz SR5001 loses to a venerable stereo amplifier, this will be only the realism of the reproduction of the bass - there is the power, the dynamics are more than enough, ultra-low register is confidently transmitted, but the soundness is a little bit insufficient.