Marantz has announced a new, cheaper version of its reference Blu-ray player which goes by the catchy name of the Marantz UD8004.
While it's certainly a more reasonably-priced player than the company's flagship machine, which would set you back £5,000, you will still have to pay through the nose for the UD8004, as it comes to market at £2,299.
Now, rudimentary maths on our part show that the UD8004 costs the equivalent of 10 PlayStation 3s. So, what do you get to warrant such a hefty price tag?
Paying the price
The new UD8004 plays Blu-ray/CD/Super Audio/DVD-Audio, is Profile 2.0 and uses an Anchor Bay ABT2015 processor to upscale DVD content.
There's also three separate audio circuit boards, er, on-board which means that the UD8004 can pipe out impressive audio clarity.
Couple this with built in decoders for Dolby True HD and DTS HD High Definition audio and what you have is a machine with impressive audio nous.
The chassis is made from and aluminium/reinforced resin which not only minimises vibration but means that when you drop the machine at the shock of the price then there shouldn't be too much damage.
The Marantz UD8004 is out now. Go to www.marantz.com for more details.
