we got our hands on the brand new marantz model 40 before its official release so let's do this
the model 40 is billed as an all-inclusive stereo integrated amplifier so when building your system
all you really need to do is add speakers possessing 70 watts per channel this class a b
amplifier is capable of driving low impedance loudspeakers dipping down into 4 ohm territory
it has analog and digital inputs not to mention hdmi with arc making it very easy to connect
the model 40 to a tv you get a subwoofer out with internal bass management which also means
the marantz can serve as the centerpiece of a 2.1 hybrid stereo and home theater setup
along with hdmi support there is a built-in moving magnet phono preamp and the internal dax supports
high-res audio formats including dsd files while the model 40 is rife with physical connection
options it also supports a wide range of wireless ones as well it has support for airplay bluetooth
and wifi though admittedly some of these options are only available through the heos
app the inclusion of heos also means that you can easily integrate the model 40 into an existing
marantz or denon whole home audio system which i appreciate control over the 40 can be handled
one of four ways using the included remote through the heos app via voice commands using
siri alexa google or josh ai and lastly through control 4 if you're an existing control4 customer
if you're thinking the model 40 looks familiar you're not wrong it's more than a little
reminiscent of marantz's existing model 30. i never got the opportunity to demo the model 30
so i cannot say for certain where the two differ suffice to say i think the model 40 is a looker
especially in its black finish in terms of setup the 40 is rather easy to integrate into one system
and get connected to both your physical and wireless devices the inputs and outputs are
clearly labeled in position along the back panel in a way that makes cable management very easy
connecting to bluetooth is easy though admittedly heos is another story now i was sent an early
production unit and the heos integration is well it's very beta does it work yes but it's pretty
buggy on both android and ios devices while i am confident this will get sorted by the time units
ship as it sits right now it isn't ready i tested the marantz with two different sets
of speakers the klh model 5s as well as my trusty klipsch heresy force i always like to pull out the
heresies especially with all-inclusive products like this one i do this because they tend to have
marginally higher noise floors and high efficiency speakers like these can shed light on that fact
i am pleased to report that when connected to high efficiency speakers the model 40 is silent no real
audible hiss from either the tweeter or mid-range drivers when at idle which is very impressive as
for other sources they included my reference turntable setup the audio technica lp 140 with
the ordophon 2m black lvb cartridge as well as our sony x95j connected to the model 40's hdmi input
i know i've already said this but understand one thing i have not heard the marantz model
30 and its hypex source amplifier so i have no idea how the new class a b model 40
compares to the 30. with that giant disclaimer out of the way how does the model 40 sound
but allow me to break it down now starting with the bass first and foremost the only amplifier
that we've had on this channel recently that i believe compares to the model 40 with respect to
its base performance or should i say control is the far costlier macintosh 7200 stereo receiver
the marantz's low end is grippy with terrific depth and control throughout while the model 40
has a mild roundness to its low end tone this slight fattening or accentuation doesn't mean
that the marantz smooths over the detail in subtle textures in the base quite the opposite
as it keeps them on full display something i noticed when listening to two lanes and the
last links truthfully the 40 sounds more powerful down low than its spec sheet would likely lead
you to believe the model 5s are not an outright difficult speaker to drive but it can sometimes
take the right amplifier to ring all of the performance from their large woofers a test the
model 40 passed with flying colors it was the same story for the smaller less bass heavy heresy fours
if you need more bass one can always add a sub in which case i doubt anyone would be left wanting
for more in terms of mid-range the model 40 is ever so slightly romanticized again in the same
vein or style of the macintosh which i adore is it absolutely neutral maybe not entirely but honestly
i don't care because everything i listened to was utterly captivating not to mention easy
on the ears this is an amp that pairs well with the widest range of music genres not to mention
loudspeakers even connected to the heresy fours the mids never sounded forward i wouldn't classify
the marantz as laid back there is an effortless quality that allows for both instruments
and performers to simply appear without a great deal of editorializing in the form
of an accentuated presence or overt coloration traits like intelligibility and detail are high
on the marantz's list of strengths without any of it sounding the least bit artificial and as for
the highs well they are just about perfect for me airy extended but possessing just a bit more heft
so wind and reed instruments don't come across as flat or two-dimensional singers like beth hart
whose joplin-esque tone can sometimes come across as more sibilant than breathy when reaching into
her upper registers she sounded wholly organic through the marantz in ways that well
moved me emotionally seriously on the track saint teresa the lyric the good die
young that's why i'm getting so old just it gutted me for every nuance locked
within heart's vocals rang true through the 40 and i just i couldn't get enough
even with brighter leaning speakers like the heresies the marantz proved to be the model of
composure but should you want a little more sizzle or perhaps a mellower tone there are tone controls
present on the front so you can pretty much adjust its sound to taste now with respect to soundstage
and dynamics the marantz is not going to rob your speakers of either if anything it may provide
for a bit more focus delineation and absolute definition should your speakers have it to give
the sound stage does not extend forward of your speaker's front baffles but rather sits
right in line and extends well behind with good lateral dispersion side to side dynamics
were unconstrained and sprung forth in a way that always felt natural rather than showy for 70 watt
per channel amplifier it sings with 200 watt per channel confidence making it interesting
even arresting at both low and high volumes other qualities to note the internal phono
preamp is fantastic and of a high enough quality that pairing it with a cartridge like the 2n black
lvb doesn't seem like a mismatch if anything the pairing proved to be among the best we've had
in-house and frankly that i've heard to date the dac is also quite good with a fair
amount of adjustability inside the menus and i love the inclusion of hdmi as watching films
through the model 40 was cinematic af and among my favorite aspects of its performance
so what's not to like well for me the model 40 borders on perfection i've never been the
biggest fan of heos but like the play-fi app i try not to let an app outright spoil my enjoyment of
a piece unless that piece is 100 reliant upon the app which the model 40 is not airplay and
bluetooth they work flawlessly not to mention you can hook up any number of streaming devices to it
again the heos app i had to use during my review was a beta build so while i didn't care for it
i'm confident the bugs will be hammered out aside from that i honestly do not have a complaint when
it comes to the marantz's sound quality so how does it compare to the competition while
i've referenced the macintosh 7200 a few times i doubt the two would ever be cross-shopped giving
the massive delta in price that said the model 40 gives me macintosh 7 200 vibes and while it may
lack the 7200's vintage appeal the marantz more than holds its own sonically so much
so that i'm not entirely sure which one i would pick if money was not an issue as for my former
reference all-in-one the name unity atom i think the model 40 can go toe-to-toe with the atom and
even bests it in many respects the atom is a great piece but it doesn't have all of the same features
and functions of the model 40. it is a little noisy when paired with high efficiency speakers
something the marantz doesn't suffer from and then of course there is the issue of power of which
the model 40 has nearly twice as much oh and the marantz retails for almost a grand less so yeah
compared to the cambridge audio evo 150 it's not even a question for me i'm team marantz model 40
all day and finally with respect to our 2021 product of the year the audio lab 6000a play
the marantz is better but for roughly a thousand dollars less the 6000a still gets my vote as a
potentially more viable option for those of you who may be on a tighter budget the 6000a
play and the 40 have a lot in common but should you be looking at the audio lab and wondering
to yourself how much would you have to spend to get appreciable benefits and better sonic results
the marantz is your answer i feel the same about the audio lab omnia though
if you need a built-in cd player the omnia may be worth considering over the model 40.
i think it should be pretty obvious by now but i absolutely adore this machine i think
marantz has hit a home run with the model 40. it looks great it sounds great has the
right set of features for today's modern music and movie enthusiast it's priced competitively
and should be enough integrated amp for those of you just looking to enjoy your
favorite music at a high level without a great deal of fuss seriously i think i may have just
found the perfect amplifier for me so that's it that is now my review of the brand new marantz
model 40 stereo integrated amplifier now it's time to find out what christy thought of it
well i don't know no don't worry okay i 100 agree with you
oh yeah i know i know oh my goodness i know it's really good yeah and you know i've been pretty
so so in the past when it comes to marantz
but much like the newer 1711 receiver that we reviewed not that long ago i really dig the sound
of this thing i thought the control it brought out of the heresy's bottom end was so impressive
and honestly it made me remember why i love those speakers so much i mean what a fantastic pairing
yeah i thought it did a really really good job with both music and movies i mean you know that
i've been re-watching euphoria on hbo which is extremely soundtrack heavy so i feel like i got
a really good mix of both music and dialogue with that series and both were extremely solid
it worked right out of the box when you can connect something that has hdmi and earc and it
just works i mean no messing around in the menus or anything god i love that there's not enough
of that happening with new gear sorry yeah it's it's it's very impressive and i i have to admit
in terms of ease of use and convenience whether you're a newcomer to the hobby
or a seasoned pro there's something in the model 40 for everybody you can
set it and forget it and just go about your life and it works great you can kind of dive
into the menus a little bit maybe set some digital filters the way you like them but
it is it just has something for everyone yeah totally and it's solidly built i appreciate what
they've done with the design i mean at least they're trying something a little different
now i would really like to see one where the matte black front extends all the way across
i don't love the printed visible design on the ends i mean i appreciate it i just don't like it
for me personally but other than that i'm so here for this thing yeah oh and the remote it's super
nice it looks expensive and i can tell that the designers really thought about the design
carrying over from the unit to the remote so bonus points there yeah only thing that's missing
is artwork i'll love the unity atom oh okay yeah i mean the the screen the screen on the model 40 is
very nice and it's legible from several feet away but it is not large enough nor color for artwork
yeah man that name needs to get on it and come out with a replacement homegirl is feeling left out
okay so i have one last question because it's bound to be asked okay uh what about the blue
sound power node i know it's not a class a b but compare them anyway because oh for sure people are
gonna ask yeah for sure um i didn't include the blue sound power node in the comparison because
exactly what christie said it's not a class a b amp so i was trying to apples and apples but
in terms of feature set you do get a few more features with the marantz model 40 but there's
no denying that the the power node is um smaller less expensive by pretty wide margin and has a
lot of things going for it which i will which i include a the blue os operating system and app
which is superior to heos in my opinion at least now at least right now i mean again i i really
hope that i'm able to kind of revisit the model 40 not for like an official review or anything
but just kind of have it around uh for a little bit longer so that maybe i can enjoy uh heos fully
realized in a month or so when the product comes out but back to the power node um powernow is a
fantastic product it really is it doesn't have the same kind of sonic i don't want to say the
word romanticism because i'm worried some of you are just going to take that word and run with it
but in compared to one another the marantz is got that little bit of old-school charm whereas
the power node is just very exacting still very good i love that little thing but if you are
someone that's like i remember receivers or stereo integrateds of yesteryear but i'm looking for
more modern conveniences with a little bit more refined top end and better bass control instead
of it being kind of murky that's the marantz that really is the marantz whereas the the power node
is is just a precision instrument kind of in comparison but both are great options the power
node obviously saves you a lot of money as does the 6000 a play but if you are sitting there going
okay i don't want to go to macintosh land but i do want better than power node or audio lab marantz
it i i mean that it's it's it is so perfectly positioned yeah it's really good yeah it's
really good i think we finally found something that is able to surpass the name unity adam
it's taken two years yeah i mean the cambridge audio well i know there's a lot of people that
love that piece the evo one 150 or whatever it's called yeah and i think it looks that piece looks
great but it's oh my god this sounds it's so boring now if you like if you like the sound you
know please don't take offense i mean it's every sound is so subjective right in my opinion it's
it's very flat yeah and very laid back which i i i kind of feel like at least on my very limited
experience when it comes to marantz like what was it the nr wait the 1200 yeah i did not like that
ever i didn't i never i thought that was extremely laid back and just not a sound that appealed to me
okay and i feel like that particular unit has more in common with the sound of the cambridge
evo 150 oh okay and this feels like i said earlier like this just feels completely different
i am curious when it comes to the model 40 what kind of caused marantz to go back to class a b
over those hypex sourced amplifiers inside the model 30 because when the model 30 came out again
haven't heard it but they kind of made a big deal about going with that hypex route so i
was actually pleasantly surprised to see class a b here with the model 40. i'm just kind of
curious internally really what what brought that what brought about that change yeah it would be
interesting to know maybe maybe we'll ask them someday yeah didn't think to ask them
yeah i didn't i didn't either um but at the same time i i actually welcome the change because i
think whatever they've done inside the model 40 oh please do it to everything it's really really good
yeah it is so well anything else nope i think we've covered it so that's it that is now our
review of the marantz model 40 stereo integrated amplifier but now it's time for you to tell us
what you thought down in the comments and while you're down there i have a question of the day
for you and that is who do you think has the best all-in-one hi-fi system on the market right now i
know that we've reviewed a lot i know that there are a lot still out there that we haven't heard so
you tell us who makes the best one if you like this video please do give it a thumbs up like
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for us today so remember the only person who has to like the sound of your system is you so happy
listening everybody thank you so much for watching and we're going to see on the next video bye