Marantz is giving us a sneak peek into the company’s plans for 2015—which seems to include a lot of in-your-face audio. The company just announced the AV8802, an 11.2-channel amplifier that packs in both Dolby Atmos and Auro-3D surround sound systems options.
Both of those formats promise a 3D-like experience, with sound coming from almost every direction. It’s important to note that you don’t just need a compatible receiver to tune into one of these formats, but you also need the extra speakers to deliver it as well. (Also, you’ll need to pay for an upgrade to get the Auro-3D support.)
To help deliver those audio goodies, the AV8802 has Marantz’s HDAM (Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Module) in Current Feedback topology, which can handle all of the signals before they get to the XLR outputs and separate power amp. It also has four DSP (Digital Sound Processing) engines to deliver 11.2 channels of the aforementioned 3D audio formats, as well as Audyssey DSX and DTS Neo:X 11.1. The AV8802 even has 13.2-channel pre-out capability (13.2ch XLR, 13.2ch RCA) and a 2-channel XLR input.
Rounding out the audio portion, audiophiles (and pretty much everyone else) will appreciate the 32-bit/192kHz DA-Converters and the power supply with 4x 10.000:µF capacitors.
One the video side, the AV8802 does have support for 4K Ultra HD high resolution video, 4K 50/60Hz pass-through, and 4:4:4 Pure Color full color resolution sub-sampling. It can even be used to upsample 1080p content to 4K, as well as transcode HD and SD analog video source and connect to legacy video sources.
Speaking of connecting to sources, the AV8802 has plenty of options for that. Expect an array of eight HDMI inputs, three HDMI outputs, a USB port, a phono MM input, WiFi, Bluetooth, and more. Marantz also plans to add HDCP 2.2 via a future upgrade, but it will require a hardware modification.
Other features include the Audyssey MultEQ XT32 (Pro ready) room correction suite, a toroidal transformer, a three-piece top cover layout, and a heavy copper-plated chassis. It also ships with its very own remote or users can tap into functions via the Marantz Remote App for iOS and Android devices.
Marantz will start selling the AV8802 sometime in February 2015, with an MSRP of $3,999.
Leave a Reply