Marantz gets gold for hi-fi flagship

Marantz is so proud of its new flagship hi-fi that it's thrown all modesty to the wind, given it a gold finish and stuck it with a Legendary name tag just so it has a lot to live up to.

The Legendary Series certainly looks like it will on paper. The system is a no-compromises reference design comprising just four components - an SACD player, a preamplifier and two mono-block power amps. Yet it stands three feet tall and weighs a staggering 19 stone.

The system is capable of picking up the faintest audio signal, Marantz says, with a frequency range of 3Hz to 150KHz. It also has tremendous power, belting out a staggering 2,500W per channel.

The company has also gone to extreme lengths to cut out extraneous electronic noise. The power supplies, for example, have built-in silicon steel shielding plates, and are wrapped in an alumnium shell that is then copper plated.

Best ever sound... for £22K

As you'd expect the audio signal path has also been kept as short and as simple as possible, while audiophile grade components have been used to throughout to deliver what Marantz says is its "best ever sound."

The Marantz Legendary Series is available now. Prices break down like this:

• SA-7S1 SACD player £5,000
• SC-7S2 preamplifier £5,000
• MA-9S2 mono-block power amplifiers - £6,000 each