Marantz NR1402 AV Receiver
When you first unpacks the Marantz NR1402 AV Receiver you could be forgiven for thinking you had been sent a compact audio amp rather than a full blown home theatre receiver. This piece of excellence the now famed Marantz design team managed to pack pretty much everything we’ve come to expect from an AV receiver into half the standard size of its competing units. Over the last few years I’ve commented several times on my liking for the somewhat “future retro” look of a lot of the new Marntz product line in the case of the NR1402 AV Receiver this is perhaps not as prominent as say for example the Marantz SR7005 but it does manage to cram a whole lot of control into a front panel that looks both easy to use and stylistically pleasing, this in no mean feat on an AV unit so small.
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Even though it is compact the NR1402 manages not to scrimp on connections it has a decent smattering of 4 in and 1 out 3d ready HDMI 1.4 ports. Also incuded are 3/1 composite in/outs and 2/1 component i/o’s along with 4 analogue in as well as digital optical and coaxial ins to finish with. Initial setup and room EQing was both easy and quick to perform (Though to be honest the manual can be a little on the obtuse side of things for my liking). But lets be honest what is most important with a unit like this isn’t necessarily it’s specification on paper or even its ease of use but its basic sound characteristics. I’m glad to report that the Marantz NR1402 is on a basic level even without its bells and whistles (Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD decoders and Dynamic EQ) an extremely competent performer. We tested it with our previously reviewed Energy 5.1 Take Classic Home Theater System and found it to be a nice match. The NR1402′s signal (50-watt @ 8 ohms per channel) drove the Energy systems speakers and sub easily and even at near top volume never showed any signs of boomyness or distortion.
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It manages to fill mid sized rooms in a controlled and powerful manner it has very good soundstage when working with fast transitions in action scenes but never feel overly bombastic, the mid range is quite smooth feeling with competent if not overly sparkling top end. Good news for the music lovers amongst you too, the Dolby Pro Logic II makes excellent work of rendering stereo recordings though a 5.1 system as a man with a ludicrous music collection this made me smile. Overall the availbale featureset for tinkering is pretty deep on the Marantz NR1402 allowing the tinkerers amongst you to play with pretty much every aspect of your speaker dynamics and signal EQ you would care to.
If you are after a compact good looking and sonically competent 3d capable mid range reciever you would do yourself a disservace to not put the Marantz NR1402 AV Receiver on you list of “Must Test” components.
Manufacturers Specifications
- NR1402 5.1 Home Theater Receiver
- At a Glance: Slim design with half the height of traditional receivers
- Four HDMI 1.4a inputs for added connectivity and 3D support
- On-Screen Wizard for easy setup
- Supports the latest hi-definition audio formats
- M-XPort allows audio playback from Bluetooth-enabled devices
- three-year warranty
- RRP: $399.99 (Check Amazon For Current Pricing)
March 23, 2012
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Tags: AV Receiver, Marantz, Marantz NR1402, Marantz NR1402 AV Receiver, NR1402 В· Posted in: Receivers
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