Marantz DV9600 (2005)
The Marantz DV9600 was the company's flagship universal player of the mid-2000s. It went on sale in September 2005 at ¥189,000 in Japan (roughly $2,099 in the US market) and came in gold or black. It succeeded the DV9500. Upgraded video and audio circuits and HDMI version 1.1 set it apart from its lower-priced sibling, the DV7600.
The DV9600 was built around a dual-transformer power supply that separated circuits to minimize tracking problems. It handled just about every disc format of the era: Super Audio CD (stereo and multichannel), DVD-Audio, DVD Video, CD, Video CD, SVCD, DVD-R/RW, and MP3/JPEG. For digital transmission it had both I.LINK (IEEE1394) and HDMI. HDMI allowed full digital transfer without AD/DA conversion degradation and supported DTS, Dolby Digital, and multichannel DVD-Audio bitstreams. The video section used a 10-bit scaler IC developed with Anchor Bay Technology. It upconverted via HDMI to 720p, 1080i, or Pure HD (1080p), and used a 216 MHz/14-bit video D/A converter and Analog Devices' Noise Shaped Video technology. An HDMI resolution switch sat right on the front panel - each press cycled the output resolution, and a long press toggled HDMI output on and off. Chroma Error Compensation and a full suite of noise reduction (DNR, CNR, block noise, mosquito noise) finished off the video processing.
On the audio side, the DV9600 used three DACs - one pair for front L/R, one for surround L/R, and one shared by center and subwoofer - plus a separate DAC for headphones. Six channels of equal-quality HDAM circuitry sat on an independent, shielded board, with a 0-impedance copper plate for a stable signal ground. The player decoded Dolby Digital, DTS, DTS 96/24, and MPEG2 internally, and its I.LINK connection could transmit DVD-Audio and multichannel SACD digitally. Paired with Marantz's SR9600 AV receiver, the Jitter Free Transfer System (JFTS) adjusted data read speed based on the receiver's buffer, effectively eliminating jitter. A Lip Sync function corrected audio/video timing gaps up to 200 msec in 10 msec steps. An RS-232C port and a flasher input made it suitable for custom installation systems like Crestron.
Period press was complimentary. TechRadar praised its "role-call of video toys that would make any home cinema buff salivate and a level of audio performance that even the most die-hard music snob will find to their liking." One reviewer quoted on AVS Forum called it "probably the best digital DVD transport (for sending audio and video digital bitstreams) I've seen yet." Stuff.tv later described it as "an award-winner" in its day.
Recorded specifications are limited to what appeared in the Japanese launch materials. The player consumed 35W (0.4W standby), measured 440 × 118 × 384 mm, and weighed 8.9 kg. It came with a wireless remote, video/audio cables, a remote connection cable, and a detachable AC cord. The SACDM-1 laser pickup is shared with Marantz's SA-11S2 and SA-7S1 SACD players, and replacement heads remain available. That helps, since laser failure is the usual suspect in players of this age.
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