Isn’t this a magnificence? The emergence of all-in-one methods on the earth of hi-fi has meant extra lifestyle-friendly fashions in each dimension and appears, and the Marantz Mannequin 40n is a first-rate instance of simply how a lot first impressions matter. Instantly visually interesting, all it’s worthwhile to do is add a pair of audio system to this unit and also you’ve received a tidy hi-fi system.
The Marantz Mannequin 40n was first unveiled in early 2022 with a launch worth of £2199 / $2499 / AU$4499 / €2499. That worth has since come down a couple of hundred for affected person potential patrons within the UK, the place it’s now out there for £1899.
A premium just-add-speakers system equivalent to this Marantz has sturdy competitors from the likes of the Cambridge Audio Evo 75 and Evo 150 and the Naim Uniti Atom, all of that are five-star merchandise. Marantz has earlier type on this class too, with the older and extra reasonably priced Marantz PM7000N (examined at £999 / $999 / AU$1999) wowing us sufficient with its entertaining sound to win a 2021 What Hello-Fi? Award.
Construct
The Marantz Mannequin 40n, nonetheless, is a special proposition. Marantz is eager to reposition itself as a luxurious hi-fi model and that intent is evident within the 40n’s attractive construct and aesthetics.
It’s an elevated, refined step above the PM7000N and the funds 6000-series fashions we’ve seen earlier than, however nonetheless constructed with terrific consideration to high quality. The steel casing and chic fascia are made to a excessive normal. We just like the simplicity of the management dials being all in a row (that are a pleasure to make use of); the refined illumination that glows across the panel; and that beautiful little round show. All of it combines to create an aesthetic unit that we will think about will instil satisfaction of possession in any purchaser. Now we have the silver gold end for evaluate, however you may also get the 40n in black.
We additionally think about many will favor the bigger, informative shows you get on the Cambridge Audio and Naim methods that present album artwork in full color, however we didn’t miss it as a lot as we’d thought on the Marantz. The small porthole show appears to be like good and the enter supply and quantity stage displayed are helpful for at-a-glance studying.
The dimpled impact flanking the extruded entrance panel offers the unit an extra distinctive look, however we discover it to be a plastic-feeling end upon nearer look. It appears a tad incongruous with the remainder of the sturdy steel end.
At its coronary heart lies Class A/B amplification that outputs a good 70 watts of energy per channel (into 8 ohms). Why Class A/B and never Class D, as we’re seeing more and more with methods equivalent to Cambridge’s Evo? Marantz says that whereas it has used Class D in higher-end fashions to good impact, the best way it’s carried out to verify it meets Marantz’s hi-fi heritage requirements (and sheds the onerous or scientific presentation that may be related to Class D) could be far too costly for this mannequin’s worth level. Utilizing Class A/B, due to this fact, retains the traits of analogue sound that’s interesting to many customers, whereas additionally being less expensive at this stage.
Options
A totally-fledged fashionable streaming system such because the Mannequin 40n isn’t wanting methods of listening to music. As soon as related to your own home community (ethernet and wi-fi are each out there), you may have entry to loads of streaming choices at your fingertips. Music streaming companies equivalent to Amazon Music, Deezer, Spotify Join and Tidal, and TuneIn web radio station can be found due to the HEOS platform and app (extra on that later), whereas AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth are on board for simple streaming from cellular units. If you happen to’ll be utilizing wi-fi or Bluetooth frequently, we’d advocate putting in each antennae offered within the field for optimum stability and robust connection.
For these with servers and NAS units crammed to the brim with hi-res digital music recordsdata, the 40n can stream recordsdata from these over the community due to DLNA compatibility. It might deal with playback of as much as 24-bit/192kHz PCM and DSD128 recordsdata. Hardcore DSD followers and people searching for the higher limits of bit decision (over 32-bit, DSD256) would possibly need to look elsewhere, however contemplating the vast majority of our digital music recordsdata are inside the 40n’s limits, we don’t discover this an issue. Curiously, the Mannequin 40n makes use of an ESS Sabre ES9016K2M DAC chip inside, the exact same one additionally used within the Award-winning Cambridge Audio CXA81 amplifier and the Evo 75 system, the latter of which might deal with as much as 32-bit recordsdata.
Marantz Mannequin 40n tech specs
Sources Community streaming, Bluetooth, AirPlay 2, Phono MM
Headphone output? Sure, 6.3mm
Community Wi-fi, ethernet
Inputs Line stage x3, phono, HDMI ARC, optical, coaxial, USB Sort A
Hello-res help 24-bit/192Hz (PCM), DSD128
Energy output 70 watts per channel (into 8 ohms)
Dimensions (hwd) 13 x 44.3 x 43.2cm
Weight 16.7 kg
Finishes x2 (black, silver gold)
Want utilizing bodily inputs as a substitute? Marantz has you coated there too, with three line-level analogue inputs, two digital inputs (one optical, one coaxial) and a USB A port for plugging in sources like a CD participant, exterior streamer, or your laptop computer. There’s an HDMI ARC for hooking the 40n as much as your TV – it’s actually a extra fashionable and sonically interesting method to improve your TV’s sound. A built-in transferring magnet phono stage ensures you’ll be able to join your turntable on to the Marantz. It’s also possible to even pile on additional bass with the subwoofer output.
Switching between all these sources, and selecting and controlling music playback might be completed utilizing the HEOS app for iOS and Android. HEOS is the multi-room streaming platform and app that’s discovered with varied Denon and Marantz networked merchandise, together with the 40n. It’s a neat, clear interface that does the job, though the structure isn’t fairly as intuitive or as slick as comparable management apps for Naim and Sonos methods that we price extremely.
Significantly puzzling is the best way it performs after you select a tune: as a substitute of constant to play from that tune onwards as each different music service and app does, the HEOS app jumps again to no matter tune or album was taking part in within the earlier queue. A “play from right here” choice could be helpful. The now-playing web page does present album paintings, file kind and sampling charges, and selecting music companies from inside the app is simple sufficient.
We expect it’s a disgrace that the designed-for-all HEOS app isn’t bespoke to the 40n, as lots of the product’s set-up choices can solely be accessed by way of the unit utilizing the included distant management. It’s a sturdy, well-designed handset that matches the primary unit, whereas the app feels curiously sparse and at odds with the luxurious really feel of the bodily merchandise.
The distant permits you to swap inputs, pause/play/skip tracks and delve into the 40n’s fundamental menu settings. This allows you to modify standby mode, and select your TV enter, community and filter choices. The choices might be difficult to learn within the small porthole show because the phrases are minimize off, however they’re easy sufficient to get by.
The Mannequin 40n gives tone controls and two filter choices, however we most popular to maintain the supply direct choice on (which turns off any DSP) for the purest audio sign and clearest efficiency.
Different sensible points we encountered throughout our weeks with the Mannequin 40n had been with Bluetooth pairing, which took for much longer than we’d anticipate in a system like this, and there have been events when the app stopped having the ability to see or show our music server once we had been switching inputs. These hiccups had been few and much between, however they stand out just because we’ve skilled a a lot smoother operation with different methods.
Sound
Regardless of how lengthy it’s taken us to get to the sound high quality part, taking part in music from the Mannequin 40n doesn’t take lengthy in any respect. Whether or not it’s from a server or Tidal, from a related turntable and even AirPlay, each observe we fling on the 40n is dealt with with velocity and beauty.
We use our normal ATC SCM50 reference audio system for our testing, however extra pure pairings for the Mannequin 40n might be plucked from a variety of price-appropriate audio system, from the B&W 606 S2 Anniversary Version to the Wharfedale Diamond 12.3 to the KEF LS50 Meta – choose your poison.
We additionally use the Technics SL-1000R/Vertere Sabre MM turntable to check the phono stage, join our reference Naim ND555/555 PS DR streamer to check its DAC, and use a pair of Grado RS1x headphones to check the 6.3mm headphone output.
By way of all of it, the Mannequin 40n delivers a transparent, highly effective and spacious sound. It’s large and daring: a presentation that’s interesting proper from the start. Agnes Obel’s vocals come by way of with pristine readability, exactly positioned in an enormous soundfield that’s roomy sufficient for the cellos and piano notes in her Aventines album to soar round her. Alt-J’s Breezeblocks flows easily by way of the 40n, with no undue choice given to any frequency. We play tune after tune from our server, from John Williams to Taylor Swift, and the 40n fills our giant listening room with ease.
Play one thing heavier like Disturbed and Slipknot, and the Marantz’s punchy, hefty low finish comes into play. Songs that may get too aggressive or hard-edged are surprisingly snug to hearken to by way of the Marantz. It will not be probably the most clear or rigorously genuine, but it surely does make for a much less fatiguing hear. It’s a presentation that many will like, because it’s very straightforward to dwell with.
It’s the identical story no matter which supply you’re utilizing – vinyl, hi-res streams or whether or not listening by way of headphones – the 40n gives an undemanding hear. This isn’t an analytical beast and we’re tremendous with that, however we want it was extra prepared to dig up textures and nuance, to marshall rhythms with extra precision and accuracy to essentially captivate us. Dynamically, we want it labored a bit more durable to relay the inherent drama and stress inside a chunk of music.
Obel’s ethereal vocals and that cello in The Cursed ought to tear at your coronary heart; it doesn’t right here. The Mannequin 40n performs it secure, smoothing off the perimeters of Eminem’s biting lyrics to enchantment to a greater variety of listeners. Rival methods such because the Evo and Uniti do a greater job of engrossing us within the music; they’re merely extra insightful, musically participating and dynamically thrilling by levels.
Verdict
There’s a lot that the Marantz Mannequin 40n will get proper, however we would like extra. The design, the construct high quality, the benefit of use (bar our niggles with the app) – it’s a beautiful piece of equipment.
The Marantz can also be admirable in its large-scale, wealthy, punchy but relaxed supply, however we had been hoping for shades of that thrilling stability we’ve lengthy heard from the model’s extra funds merchandise, such because the 6000 sequence. These merchandise, a lot of them Award winners through the years, have the talent and nuance to strike the appropriate stability of readability, punch and rigorous musicality to win us over.
If Marantz plans to make a mark two model of the Mannequin 40n, we hope it listens again to a few of these funds stars to carry again that magic to this in any other case very likeable all-in-one streaming system, and make it sound even higher.
SCORES
MORE:
Learn our evaluate of the Naim Uniti Atom
Additionally think about the Cambridge Audio Evo 150
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