Marantz outs multi-talented Melody Movie

The Gadget Show  Wednesday 17 November 2010

A big box with big ideas

Marantz may not be the first name you think of when it comes to Blu-ray players, but then again this is no ordinary Blu-ray player.

The Marantz Melody Movie is a home cinema box that’s obsessed with convergence, giving you not only an HD disc spinner but also a multichannel amp and receiver that promises audiophile-quality audio from your tunes and cinematic scope and depth from your home cinema.

Aside from Blu-ray discs (complete with BD Live compatibility), the sleek Melody Movie also upscales DVDs to 1080p and plays back CDs with Marantz’s typical audio clarity and precision.

In terms of digital sources, the built-in DAC will lovingly caress your iPhone or iPod tunes (or any other MP3 player, for that matter), while an add-on device gives you Bluetooth connectivity, plus there’s the more prosaic FM or AM radio – though not DAB. The Class D amplifier pushes out an impressive 140W of what Marantz assures us is “class leading” power.

Round the back you’ve got an HDMI output, a network port for BD Live input, two stereo auxiliary inputs to go with the iPod input on the front, plus a USB connection for hooking up an external hard drive and drawing your tunes from there.

Available sometime this month, the Marantz Melody Movie is set to go on sale for £799.