What better way to put this Marantz high-end home cinema amplifier through its paces than with some high-brow music. Specifically, Winter, from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons (or, as I like to call it, Le quattro stagioni). The trilling of violins, beautifully elucidated by this amplifier's melodious HDAM amplification, is sublime, and I just love the way the strings are dramatically engulfed by a full orchestral storm... and heavy weapons fire.
John Wick is on the hunt (John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum, 4K Blu-ray). The aforementioned needle drop, featuring Slovakia's Cappella Istropolitana chamber orchestra, provides a glorious accompaniment to the symphony of violence about to unfold, and any preconceived notion that a Marantz AV amp is too refined to do justice to genuine cinematic mayhem is quickly dispelled. Automatic weapons discharge all around me, and the transients are fast and fabulous. My ears ring. Now this is what you call music!
Turn up the Wick
The heavily armed agents of The High Table are swarming The Continental hotel, but they don't stand a chance. Wick has access to guns - lots of guns - and he's getting through the armoury at speed. The barrage of gunfire from every angle is astonishing; this is Dolby Atmos audio writ large.
When Wick and concierge Charon upgrade to heavy-gauge, armour-piercing shells, the gun retorts become even more visceral. I feel an urge to nudge the volume up further, something I've been doing all through the movie. Yet the amp, like Wick, remains unflustered. It never sounds under strain, always teasing more power in the tank.
The Cinema 50 heralds a significant change to Marantz's home cinema line. Most obviously, it introduces an entirely new design, and I certainly approve. But the changes aren't just cosmetic, they're also under the hood, from the interface to connectivity.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2023 من Home Cinema Choice.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2023 من Home Cinema Choice.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
AV Avenger
You should think twice before accepting an invitation to play Resident Evil 4 with spatial audio in a haunted prison, warns Steve May
Catalogue classic Star Wars: Ep. VI - Return of the Jedi → Ultra HD Blu-ray, Disney
Forty years on from the movie's cinema release, Anton van Beek ponders what might have been if things had gone a little diff erently during the making of Return of the Jedi…
Feedback
Got an axe to grind? Need to comment on current tech? Want to share your knowledge with our readers? Team HCC is here to help
M&K Sound V12
TIME ON TEST: Three years REVIEWER: Steve Withers
Sony 'bar demands to be upgraded
This well-specified Dolby Atmos soundbar may have a mid-range price tag, but you'll soon want to spend more, cautions Steve May
Short and sweet
Marantz's compact AV receiver returns with a new look and boosted features – Jamie Biesemans slips it into his AV rig
Discreet delivery
A slim, stylish Scandinavian on-wall system impresses Mark Craven with its handling of the sweet stuff
One project, two rooms
Dan Sait reports on a custom install where a JVC PJ/ Atmos system is joined by a stylish media den
THE KING OF B RDA HOLLYWOOD
Three of his movies have taken over $2billon at the global box office, he's pioneered SFX and 3D technologies, and he's been to the very bottom of the Pacific Ocean. That's James Cameron by the way, not Anton van Beek
System selector!
Given three similar budgets, Mark Craven, Steve May and John Archer assemble three different AV setups focused on movies, streaming and gaming
