MARANTZ’s UD8004 high-definition player is said to include a whole host of technology from the company’s £5,000 flagship universal Blu-ray player, but in a smaller package and at half the price.

The £2,299.90 newcomer, the UD8004, is described as a truly universal Blu-ray/CD/SACD/DVD-Audio player able to offer reference standard CD and Blu-ray playback.

It carries a state-of-the-art Anchor Bay ABT2015 processor and a newly-developed mechanism said to offer extraordinarily accurate disc reading.

The disc tray is made from a polymeric alloy claimed to achieve an ultra-rigid platform that removes all vibration that would degrade picture and sound signals.

The chassis also features an aluminium reinforced resin front panel, a dual-layer top cover and bottom plate to make it rigid.

Audio replay is handled by three separate circuit boards, featuring current feedback technology. Details include 192kHz/24-bit Burr-Brown digital-to-analogue converters and Marantz’s proprietary HDAM-SA2 compact signal amplifiers.

A “pure direct” mode turns off all non-critical circuitry for the best sound.

The machine offers HDMI 1.3a connectivity for 36-bit Deep Color support, Profile 2.0 for BD-Live capability, built-in decoders for Dolby True HD and DTS HD High Definition audio format replay, and 24fps playback.

The player also has an SD/SDHC card slot for the playback of WMA, MP3, AVCHD and JPEG files. It can handle SACD and DVD-Audio as well as Blu-ray, DVD and CD.

Marantz. 02890 279830.

www.marantz.co.uk.