Sweet Surround

MARANTZ HAS been a premium audio brand for more than 65 years, so it makes sense that the company’s A/V receivers focus squarely on audio performance, rather than racking up loads of home theater bells and whistles only a few will use. But while it’s clear that Marantz’s offerings tip the scale a bit more toward music enthusiasts than the custom installation scene, the new SR6014 isn’t some stripped-down product aimed at hair shirt-wearing audiophiles. Instead, it’s a bang-up-to-date home theater receiver that ticks off all the boxes for most-wanted surround sound features.

With some key A/V receiver manufacturers falling under the same ownership umbrella—Marantz and Denon are both part of Sound United, while Onkyo acquired Pioneer’s home entertainment wing in 2015—you might expect that the offerings from each brand would start to look pretty similar under the skin. While we have seen some evidence of consolidation, it’s also clear that each brand continues to maintain its identity by focusing on different design goals. With the SR6014, for example, basic multi-zone and custom installation features are provided, but Marantz’s decades-long emphasis on audio quality