Marantz SR-96 A/V receiver Review

Having tested the waters with THX power amplifiers and a THX tuner/preamp, Marantz has now jumped in with both feet and produced one of the industry’s few THX receivers, the SR-96. It performs both Dolby Pro Logic decoding and subsequent Lucasfilm Home THX functions in the digital domain by means of two specialized digital signal-processing (DSP) chips. And although it doesn’t contain a Dolby Digital (AC-3) chip, the SR-96 is ready to accept an outboard Dolby Digital decoder.

Had Marantz’s companion Dolby Digital decoder, the $700 DP-870, been available during our test period, it would have connected to an array of six RCA jacks on the SR-96’s rear panel (labeled 6-Ch. Direct Input). Providing standard connectors for this input (instead of the computer-style DB-25 multipin connector on some other Dolby Digital-ready receivers) allows the SR-96 to be used with non-Marantz Dolby Digital decoders as well as other multichannel devices not necessarily using Dolby processing. The receiver will amplify the signals at the 6-Ch. Direct Input whenever the 6-Ch. Direct Mode button on the front panel or the 6Ch button on the supplied remote is pressed.

Besides Dolby Digital compatibility, the SR-96 has three auxiliary DSP modes: Movie, Hall, and Matrix. Movie mode is Dolby Pro Logic decoding with the surround-channel delay time adjustable up to 90 milliseconds (ms) instead of the Pro Logic maximum of 30 ms. Hall mode, which generates multiple artificial reflections and sends them through all speakers of a system, is supposed to simulate the ambience of a “medium-sized circular hall with rich reverberations.” Matrix mode is similar in action to Hall but derives its reflection signals differently and feeds the center speaker with a reflection-free signal.

The manual’s description for the SR-96’s 3Ch Logic mode does not accord with other manufacturers’ explanations I’ve seen for it or with Dolby’s usage; Dolby explains that the mode is for home-theater systems that don’t have surround speakers. In such cases the SR-96, just like other devices with a three-channel mode, mixes the decoded surround output with the front channels. Marantz, however, says that 3Ch Logic is to be used to improve “the sound field of the center channel” if the left and right front speakers are located far apart, totally ignoring the contributions of the surround channel. Hmm .... Finally, as in other THX products, the mono “mode” turns the amplifier output into strict mono, with no additional spatial or other digital processing, and sends it to the center-channel speaker, if any.

Other important features of the receiver include high power-output capabilities in all channels, a key requirement that must be met for a receiver to get THX certification. During surround operation into 8-ohm loads, the SR-96 is rated to deliver 110 watts per channel to the three front speakers and 90 watts to each surround speaker. Those concerned about the 20-watt difference between the front and surround ratings can relax — at these power levels 20 watts represents a tiny difference (less than a decibel) in maximum output. The SR-96 should do well powering a Dolby Digital system given that format’s ability to generate very high levels in any or all of its six channels. In two-channel stereo mode, the SR-96 is rated to deliver 110 watts per channel into 8 ohms.

As important as high power are the SR-96’s bass-management facilities. While they are not as versatile as some we’ve seen, they do provide for the correct hookup and adjustment of a THX subwoofer by supplying an 80-Hz, 24-dB-per-octave low-pass cross-over filter on the (mono) line-level subwoofer output as well as 80-Hz, 12-dB-per-octave high-pass filtering on the speaker outputs. All these filters, which are engaged whenever the subwoofer output is turned on, should also work well with non-THX subwoofers and main speakers. The speaker-balancing test-tone sequence includes a tone for balancing the subwoofer, a rare and useful function.

The array of SR-96 features also includes a thirty-preset AM/FM tuner, connections for audio and video recorders that allow taping one program while watching or listening to another, and a handy on-screen display (available only on the composite-video monitor output, however). The rear panel has audio-only connections for a CD player and two audio recorders (one set designated, somewhat over-optimistically, for a DCC deck), as well as A/V connections for two VCR’s, a laserdisc player, and an auxiliary A/V source. Another auxiliary A/V input is located on the front panel for hookup to a camcorder or video-game console. All video connections, including the single TV-monitor output, are supplied with both composite-video and S-video jacks. There are also facilities for multiroom operation and for operating other Marantz equipment with the receiver’s handset.

An F-connector jack serves as the input for an FM antenna, while the supplied AM loop antenna is attached with spring clips. A complete (five-channel) set of jumpered pre-out/main-in connectors is provided along with the line-level subwoofer output. Speaker connections are via binding posts that take dual banana plugs. Two AC convenience outlets are provided, one switched and one unswitched.

The programmable remote control has buttons that are nicely clustered by function but are too similar in size, shape, and regularity of layout. The front-panel display normally shows the selected input and the volume setting (in decibels relative to the THX-standard volume setting).

In our lab tests the SR-96 performed very well indeed. Its power ratings were all exceeded, noise and distortion levels in both stereo and Dolby Pro Logic operation were very low, and deviations from THX standards for re-equalization and surround equalization were both small. The bass-management facilities performed according to spec. Tuner FM performance was, however, merely average. (Although we rarely see truly superb tuner performance in receivers nowadays, the average FM performance level is, in absolute terms, quite high.) The AM band was as miserably served by the SR-96 as by other recent receivers.

In listening tests, the SR-96 had very few performance anomalies. In our listening room, connected to a complete set of THX speakers, there was no audible background noise at any setting of the volume control below -10, a position that effortlessly produced extremely loud reproduction of music CD’s and movie soundtracks. Our measured data, however, which were taken at a volume setting of -3, don’t show that the amplifier section’s background noise increased very, very slightly whenever the volume setting contained a “5” (-5, —15, and so on). This interesting but inconsequential increase was never audible beneath program material. I had to push my ears up to the speakers to hear it.

The THX processing produced its desired effects properly. Pink-noise test tones showed that the surround-channel decorrelation, which serves to increase the theater-like sense of envelopment produced by a pair of surround speakers, utilized a pitch-shifting technique whose cycling operated at a faster rate than we have previously noticed. It was only occasionally noticeable as a coloration. The other aspects of THX processing, re-equalization and surround equalization, again worked as they should to reduce soundtrack harshness and match the timbres of front and surround speakers.

Quite noticeable colorations were introduced by the Hall and Matrix modes. While they are presumably intended for enhancing music, I found their virtually unadjustable, too regularly spaced artificial reflections annoying after only a few seconds of listening. So while the SR-96’s remote does have separate buttons allowing an instant change of surround-processing mode, as opposed to the round-robin buttons on the front panel, I found myself using only the Dolby Pro Logic and THX settings besides mono and stereo playback.

Operationally, the SR-96 had remarkably few quirks considering how much was going on inside. The only significant ones I found — and they should hardly be considered disqualifying — were that the volume setting is not always shown in the front-panel display during certain remote-control operations, and the position of the continuously rotating volume knob gives no clue to the setting either. These lapses could produce startling consequences when you switch between different program sources.

The Hall and Matrix modes aside, anyone looking for a single component offering state-of-the-art reproduction of Dolby Surround soundtracks and complete compatibility with present and future Dolby Digital media need look no further than Marantz’s SR-96 receiver.

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