During a press briefing in mid-May, Marantz rolled out their 20-series Preamp and Power Amp. The two new entrants are a follow up to the brand’s 10-series product that launched in 2023 and help to expand the lineup for media consumers of every range.
To call the AV 20 and AMP 20 a “step down” would be incorrect, because the product still can handle and help produce the type of home theater experience that Marantz consumers have come to expect. Rather, the fit into a spot in the market where a consumer may not need to distribute as much audio as the 10-series is capable of producing.
The biggest difference between the two series, Masimo Director of Training Philip Jones explained during the call, is the number of available channels. The AMP 20 and AV 20 are 12- and 13.4 channel products, respectively. That’s “down” from the 16-channel AMP 10 and 15.4-channel AV 10.
Both the AMP 20 and AV 20 maintain the gorgeous chassis of the 10-series, but in slightly more compact form as well—something that required the engineers behind the product to get a little creative in the design of the on-board chips and other inner workings, Jones explained.
In a first for Marantz, the AV 20 will support Dirac’s extensive room-optimization technologies, Dirac Live Active Room Treatment (ART), which is designed to give the most cohesive and tonally consistent listening experience of any room correcting technology. ART will be made available via a future firmware update.
Elsewhere, the 20-series is intended to be a future-proof and flexible system. To that end the AV 20 touts seven HDMI inputs that support up to 8K/60Hz or 4K/120Hz video. And the various analog and digital inputs allow integrators to be able to adapt the product to nearly any need for their client, from intimate media rooms up to substantial home theater systems. On the AMP 20 side, the product is equally as powerful and versatile, configured with 12 channels that provide up to 200 watts per channel, which can drive multiple speaker configurations and layouts with ease.
Additionally, the 20-series can be mixed and matched with any other Marantz components (like the 10-series) to provide an experience that’s customized and tailored to the specific needs of the consumer.
The Marantz AMP 20 and AV 20 are available now through the Marantz website and at select dealers. Each product carries a $6,000 price tag, though Marantz noted that tariff-related price adjustments could be coming in early June.
