Shown at the 2012 High End event here in Munich, and on the way from Marantz, is this high-end network music player set to take the fight to models such as Naim's ND range, the Cyrus Streamline set-up and Linn's DS models.
The €2999 NA-11S1 will launch later in the year as part of a revamp of the company's flagship range, and will bring the company's high-end audio engineering expertise to bear on the playback of music from network and internet music sources, internet radio and portable players.
It'll arrive alongside a new SACD/CD player, the SA-11S3 (above), and PM-11S3 stereo amplifier (below), selling for €3999 apiece: the player has three conventional digital inputs plus a USB in, and can handle content at up to 193kHz.
Marantz is demonstrating the new player and amp at the show alongside the flagship model in the new m-Series speaker line-up from Boston Acoustics, which is also part of the D&M Holdings stable.
These new speakers are the result of considerable work by Marantz brand ambassador Ken Ishiwata (pictured left by Peter Crane with the m350 speaker) and consultant Karl-Heinz Fink.
The entire range will comprise three floorstanding models, a bookshelf design, a centre speaker and dedicated on-wall surround models.
The flagship model will sell for £2300/pr, and the entire range will be available from August.
At the show, Ishiwata is using one of his very typical set-ups, with an extreme toe-in of the speakers designed to take out of the equation the less-than-ideal acoustics of the room in which they're being demonstrated.
Marantz is also set to refresh its home cinema range, with new receivers on the way featuring more widespread network connectivity, and 4K upscaling available on higher-end models.
Pictured below with the UD7006 universal player is the SR5007, set to sell for €799 when it goes on sale in July. It offers Apple AirPlay, direct digital USB connectivity, six HDMI inputs including one front-mounted socket, front channel preouts and an overlay user interface complete with easy set-up instructions and improved input labelling.
We'll have more on all the new Marantz models when we attend the company's European press launch early next month.
