Everyone is talking about the Dirac situation on these, but the spec that made me sit up is 1440p passthrough and AMD FreeSync compatibility across all four models - the Cinema 50 Series 2, both Cinema 60s and the slimline 70s. Receivers have spent years treating PC gamers as somebody else's problem, and getting a 1440p signal through an AVR intact has historically been a coin flip. Seeing it stated on the sheet for the cheap model as well is a change worth noticing.
The rest of the range logic is familiar enough. The 50 is the flagship with nine channels of amplification and 11.4 of processing, and it gets the Dolby Atmos Channel Expander that pushes channel-based Atmos out across every speaker you own. It also has a Centre Bi-Amp Mode that lets you run an extra centre alongside the front pair, which is aimed squarely at the dialogue complaints that fill this section every week. The two Cinema 60s and the 70s all do seven channels, but the 60s are 100W per channel and the 70s drops to 50W, so the slim chassis costs you real power and not just depth.
Every model gets a 32-bit eight-channel DAC, HEOS and Bluetooth, with LE Audio promised in a future firmware update. Dirac Live stays a paid add-on on everything except the flagship, which is Marantz being Marantz.
What is missing from the announcement is the HDMI 2.1 port count. They confirm 2.1 support and then go quiet on how many ports actually run at full bandwidth, which is precisely where receivers have been quietly cutting corners for years now. Has anyone found the port breakdown in the fine print?
The rest of the range logic is familiar enough. The 50 is the flagship with nine channels of amplification and 11.4 of processing, and it gets the Dolby Atmos Channel Expander that pushes channel-based Atmos out across every speaker you own. It also has a Centre Bi-Amp Mode that lets you run an extra centre alongside the front pair, which is aimed squarely at the dialogue complaints that fill this section every week. The two Cinema 60s and the 70s all do seven channels, but the 60s are 100W per channel and the 70s drops to 50W, so the slim chassis costs you real power and not just depth.
Every model gets a 32-bit eight-channel DAC, HEOS and Bluetooth, with LE Audio promised in a future firmware update. Dirac Live stays a paid add-on on everything except the flagship, which is Marantz being Marantz.
What is missing from the announcement is the HDMI 2.1 port count. They confirm 2.1 support and then go quiet on how many ports actually run at full bandwidth, which is precisely where receivers have been quietly cutting corners for years now. Has anyone found the port breakdown in the fine print?
