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Marantz CINEMA Series 2: Elevated Performance, Upgraded Experience

Home theater receivers offer great value, as all the components you need are in one chassis. Power amps, preamps for video switching and home theater processing; Audio switching to your streamer or CD player; it’s all in one box. Marantz is now upgrading 3 popular models: Cinema 50, 60 and 70 become Series 2 models. Why is Marantz so popular? What are the upgrades from last year? How do these three compare? Let’s find out!

Saul Marantz, a musician and engineer, a fellow in the Audio Engineering Society, founded Marantz in the early 1950’s. One of the earliest products was the Model One tube preamplifier, which looks cool enough that it could be sold today. Marantz has been making great sound for hearly 80 years.  

Why are Marantz A/V receivers popular? For starters, Marantz design language is great. In a world of plain black box receivers, the clean look and back-lit front panel of a Marantz receiver is elegant, projecting quality before you even turn it on.

A big advantage is Marantz reliability, especially their video switching. Our clients love the durability and hassle-free nature of Marantz Home Theater. Also, there are many HDMI video switching options. With 6 HDMI inputs, plus eArc connection for your great TV sound, all supporting 8k/60 Hz, you can easily connect your BluRay player, Apple TV, your Play-Station gaming console, etc. 

Next, the sound! Marantz Sound Masters tune these receivers with their proprietary amplification – HDAM, or Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Modules. They’re not standard, off the shelf op amps, but rather proprietary, custom-built discrete circuit boards. You get a sound quality that people often describe as both detailed and warm. Sometimes we use the term “warm” to mean “rich bass”, but that can also mean “muddy”. The Marantz sound is instead good bass, along with a clear midrange and treble.

Marantz set-up is pretty easy as well. The on-screen display shows your options for speaker connections, placement, and more, and the instructions are step by step. The Audyssey room calibration is also simple, as Cinema Series 2 receivers include a simple tripod and microphone. The on-screen menus prompt you through what to do next.  

Another point in Marantz receivers favor is that HEOS is built in, so you can add HEOS capable wireless speakers, and have a whole house hi-fi system without needing to run wires. That makes your music hassle-free.

Let’s discuss the upgrades from the originals that are common to the 3 Series 2 models. They feature an upgraded 32-bit, 8 channel DAC for superb audio performance. Audiophiles sometimes invest thousands in a quality DAC, because it’s so important for turning digital info into great sounding music. The 32-bit DAC is a big part of the improved Series 2. 

How about gaming support? These receivers are not just for home theater and 2 channel music. They feature 1440p @ 120 Hz video pass-through for gaming. You can expect a smoother, high-refresh rate game experience. Your display won’t lag behind the action, which will make gamers smile. 

Dirac Live room correction upgradeability is now offered as an option across all three. Dirac Live upgradeability wasn’t offered as an option on the original 60 and 70. In some rooms it offers a slight upgrade in clarity and bass performance. In more difficult rooms, it brings huge improvement. 

The channel level monitoring feature is very helpful in set-up. You can use the option menu via remote control to help you see which speakers are actually playing, and you can easily disable this feature when you’re done. 

There are some additional Cinema 50 Series 2 features not shared with the models 60 and 70, such as the channel expander. That enables your height speakers to play a synthesized version of Dolby Atmos, simulating signals for height information, even when Dolby Atmos material is not actually present on the movie soundtrack. 

Left, center and right channel speaker bi-amping; if you are not using some amp channels, you can route them to the L/C/R, independently bi-amping bass and midrange / treble for clearer dialog and bass. This works well with high quality, power-hungry L/C/R speakers vs the often less power hungry in-wall or in ceiling speakers used for side, rear and Atmos height channels.   

Marantz upgraded many internal parts in Cinema 50 Series 2, primarily for jitter reduction. With an uneven delay in data packet arrival times, you get an uneven video experience – now less of an issue on Cinema 50 Series 2.  

What are the differences between Cinema 50 Series 2, and 60 Series 2? Cinema 50 Series 2 has more channels. It is a 9.4 channel receiver, so up to 9 speaker channels: typically LCR in the front; a pair of side speakers; add two rear speakers; now add a pair of height speakers, for nine total channels. You also have 4 subwoofer channels, not two as in Cinema 60.

Cinema 50 Series 2 also has outputs for 2 more channels of processing. If you add a separate stereo amp, you have 11.4 channels. Cinema 60 Series 2 is 7.2 channels; no height channels, and twin subs, not 4. Cinema 50 also has more power, @ 110 WPC into two channels, where Cinema 60 offers 200 watts per channel into two channels.  

That are the differences between Cinema 60 Series 2 and Cinema 70 S2? First, Cinema 70 Series 2 ships mid-September 2026, about a month behind the 50 and 60 Series 2. Second, Cinema 70 is a slim-line receiver, with a compact chassis. For some folks that slimmer chassis and less-intrusive appearance is a big benefit. 

However, along with the smaller chassis, there is less room for a large toroidal transformer and extra output devices – thus, less power at 50 watts per channel vs 100 watts per channel in Cinema 60 Series 2. That’s plenty for most speakers, but truly inefficient speakers will want more power. 

Summing up, it makes us happy when a very popular product is upgraded to a new one, with more features and better performance. With the new 32-bit DACs for better sound, Dirac Live room correction option across all 3 models, gaming upgrades and more, Marantz has really stepped up. For more information, go to skybygramophone.com. Thank you for reading this blog post! We hope to see you soon.