Masterly Multichannel

WITH THE advent of features such as room correction, object-oriented surround, and networked/wireless streaming (to name but three), AV receivers have become more elaborate than ever.

So much so that just to enumerate all the features and functions of the Cinema 50, the next-to-top model in Marantz's newest AVR lineup, would easily exceed the column inches allotted to this entire report; pity the poor AV reviewer! (I know you all do.)

Such an embarrassment of riches leaves no choice but to hit the high notes and leave the rest to our readers' googling (or duckduckgo-ing), saving at least a bit of airtime for impressions of performance, component presence, and usability.

So, the basics: The Cinema 50 is, as mentioned above, the second in line in Marantz's new Cinema AVR range. A bit confusingly, the model numbers go backward: the top model is the Cinema 40 ($3500), which gets you slightly more power and a few more inputs, including legacy video. The lower models are Cinema 60 and 70. Marantz dubs the C50 a "9.4-channel" receiver because, in addition to nine powered (100-watt) channels, it features four independent subwoofer outs, about which I'll of course have more to say. The 9-channel-power item is important, as this is enough to drive a 5+4-channel Atmos setup-like mine-without resorting to an additional outboard amplifier for any height speakers. If you do add an amp, it also offers 11.4-channel processing.

The next salient item is room correction. Here, the Marantz delivers Audyssey's MultEQ XT32, which is the U.S.C.-bred firm's top onboard flavor, with the greatest number of filters and highest precision. Audyssey's $199 MultEQ-X is an outboard Windows program that ups the adjustability ante with considerable user-input options and the ability to interface with Room EQ Wizard, the free, de facto standard in-room measurement. But MultEQ-X is an extension of XT32's capability, not a replacement for it, and the built-in automated XT32 gets us much of the way there, hands-off.