Company History

From humble beginnings, Marantz got their start in the audio business. Unsatisfied with the available equipment, Saul Marantz designed and built his own preamplifier, and unknowingly would start a revolution in audio equipment. With the inconsistent recording techniques in the 50s, many different EQ curves were used in producing records. This led to Saul’s preamplifier including every EQ curve available at the time that could be selected from the front panel. Having this option was a first in the audio world, and after encouragement from his wife and friends, he started producing the Audio Conselette Preamplifier, and the rest is history. Marantz has since been a force in the audio world, with many music lovers choosing Marantz for its warm musical sound and solid build quality.

Design & Build Quality

The Marantz CINEMA 30 is the brand's revolutionary new flagship receiver, focusing on compatibility and customizability. Built at the famed production facility in Shirakawa, Japan, the all-metal front panel keeps things elegant and simple looking with just an input selector, a volume knob, and a small display showing your volume level, source selected, sleep timer status, zone status, and radio tuning frequency. The lower part of the front panel has hinges that open the panel, showing all the front panel controls and a larger display for much more detailed information. A headphone jack and a power button flank the sides of the front panel, which have a cool textured look that Marantz uses for their new product line.

Like the other models in the CINEMA series, we found the user-selectable lighting built into the front panel gives the CINEMA 30 added style while not being too distracting. We think this look gives these new products some character and allows for an upscale, clean appearance not seen in many home theater components. The casework and back panel are built well and very well laid out, giving a quality feel throughout. Compared to the CINEMA 40, its chassis is also now deeper at 17.6 inches compared to 15.8 inches. In addition, the CINEMA 30 weighs in at 42.8 pounds compared to the CINEMA 40’s at 32.3 pounds. And like the other models, Marantz offers the CINEMA 30 in two color options: black and silver gold.

Features & Technology

Sonically Superior

In past AV receiver products, multichannel power was one area where people were sometimes let down. Companies would specify their power ratings to look better than they are. They would do this by testing using only one channel or rating the power at excessive distortion, or using a 1kHz test signal that doesn’t show true full-range power output, which all make their ratings look awesome on paper. Marantz knew they wanted to stand out in this regard as they rate the CINEMA 30 at 140 watts with 2 channels driven at 0.05% THD with a full range signal at 8 ohms and peak power of 250 watts at 6 ohms.

“70% Guarantee”

One of the main elements of Marantz’s promise of more accurate power ratings is its 70% guarantee. This guarantee ensures that the CINEMA 30 will produce 70% of the rated 2-channel output power into five channels. This is the same guarantee that the Marantz SR8015 has, and in testing, that unit far exceeded the 70% guarantee at 5 channels driven, which is a testament to Marantz’s humble and honest power ratings. The CINEMA 30 will produce about 98 watts into 8 ohms into five channels to satisfy the 70% guarantee, but we do expect it to perform slightly better than that, similar to the SR8015. With all that said, what it means for you is that you can be sure that the CINEMA 30 has plenty of power for all but the very largest home theater speaker systems. Should you need more power in the future, there is a full complement of preamp outputs for all 13.4 channels of processing power. These preamp outputs are powered by the HDAM SA-2 preamplifier stage that promises to deliver the warmth and musicality that Marantz is known for.

Marantz can promise these power ratings due to the carefully chosen components in the amplifier section of the CINEMA 30. Much like the SR8015 it replaces, the CINEMA 30 uses an 835VA toroidal transformer and two 22,000uFX power supply capacitors. These feed the needed current to the 11 discrete HDAM class A/B output stage modules in the CINEMA 30. Another unique feature of the CINEMA 30 is copper plating inside the chassis for better isolation and performance characteristics. And on top of it all, all of these components are tuned by Marantz’s Sound Masters in their factory in Japan for the best performance possible.

Maximum Compatibility

Marantz promised full compatibility in their new flagship receiver, and they delivered! You’ll find seven 8K HDMI 2.1 inputs, two independent 8K HDMI outputs, HDMI ARC and eARC support, and one 4K HDMI second zone output. In addition, 8K upscaling, HDR, HLG, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and Dynamic HDR are all supported. Having this level of video input allows full compatibility with almost any video component or technology out there.

Digital inputs include two coax, two toslink inputs, and USB. Analog inputs are also plenty, as there is a multitude of RCA inputs for CD players and other components and even a component video input for legacy video sources, which even the AV10 doesn’t have. Bluetooth is fully supported, giving you the option to use your headphones for late-night listening or watching movies, as well as voice control from Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri. And finally, it has a phono input for moving magnet cartridge turntables!

Processing Muscle

The Marantz CINEMA 30 has technology built into it that is usually only found in high-end separate processors. With its full array of 32-bit ESS Sabre DAC chips with built-in jitter reduction, these DAC chips feed the latest and most powerful Analog Devices SHARC dual DSP chipset. This complement of processors brings the CINEMA 30 much closer to the performance of Marantz’s flagship AV 10 separate reference processor. This level of processing power allows the CINEMA 30 to process all formats used in digital movies and music today and do so with accuracy and sound quality generally reserved for outboard DACs. Supported formats include DTS HD Master, DTS:X, DTS:X Pro, DTS Neural:X, DTS Virtual:X, and well as Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization, Dolby Atmos Music, and Dolby Surround.

With the onboard processing and HDAM SA-2 preamplifier stage, you can fully customize how many speakers you will use in your system. You can use the 11 powered channels for an 11-channel speaker system, or if you want even more options, use the built-in 13.4 outputs and add a two-channel amplifier for the remaining two channels. Also, if you have a 5 or 7-channel speaker system, you can assign two other channels to bi-amp your main speakers if you wish.

For music lovers, the CINEMA 30 has you covered there as well. The Sabre DACs have full support for FLAC and WAV lossless formats up to 24/192kHz and DSD 2.8 or 5.6 MHz, all with gapless capability, which is important for many users. Marantz also includes its MDAX2 processing algorithm that will make your compressed MP3 files sound fuller and more like uncompressed audio.

For music streamers, the Marantz CINEMA 30 has you covered with support for HEOS multi-room and streaming, Airplay, Spotify Connect, Pandora, SiriusXM radio, and is ROON tested. You can stream from Amazon Music directly from the app or Tidal from the HEOS app as well.

Should I Upgrade?

Marantz SR8015 vs Marantz CINEMA 30

For those with an SR8015 wondering if they should upgrade to the CINEMA 30, we will give you the information to allow you to choose. While the amplifier sections are quite similar and put out the same power, the processing power has been upgraded. Top-of-class 32-bit ESS Sabre DACs are used in the CINEMA 30 over the SR8015’s older chips. These upgraded DACS promise more detail and realism from your music and movies while also supporting more formats. Also, the CINEMA 30 has 4 independent subwoofer outputs that are completely independently controlled, allowing much more flexibility in tuning and setting up multiple subwoofers for the best performance. This is compared to the SR8015’s one subwoofer output. This is a massive upgrade, as most of today’s home theaters run multiple subwoofers, and fine-tuning them individually can greatly improve the overall bass in your room.

In addition, while Audessey MultEQ Room Correction is included in the CINEMA 30 and SR8015, Marantz took the CINEMA 30 to the next level with full Dirac Live support. While adding Dirac Live is an additional cost, the performance gains with Dirac Live are hard to ignore over Audessey. From the more powerful speaker tuning capability to the Dirac Live Bass Control, having this ability will take the CINEMA 30’s performance to the next level. Having the ability to add Dirac Live Room Correction and Bass Control right away or in the future to the CINEMA 30 gives it a huge advantage over the SR8015.

Aesthetically, the CINEMA 30 has also been upgraded with higher-quality exterior panels with much nicer textures for an upscale look.

Marantz CINEMA 40 vs Marantz CINEMA 30

For those looking at both the CINEMA 40 and the new flagship CINEMA 30 and wondering what the difference is, it will come down to the number of channels offered. While the CINEMA 40 provides 9 powered channels and 11.4 total preamp channels, including 4 subwoofer outputs, the CINEMA 30 has 11 powered channels and 13.4 total preamp channels. So, the growth potential is much higher in the CINEMA 30. Also, the CINEMA 40 puts out about 15 less watts of power into 2-channels. In addition, the CINEMA 30 uses a toroidal transformer whereas the CINEMA 40 uses an EI core transformer. The toroidal transformer radiates less noise, allowing the CINEMA 30 to have more detail and higher-resolution sound. There is the copper cladding in the chassis of the CINEMA 30 that the CINEMA 40 does not have, which will also improve performance. The 32-bit ESS Sabre DAC chips in the CINEMA 30 are also slightly higher performance than the CINEMA 40 chips. This will no doubt lower the digital to analog performance of the CINEMA 40, and while the CINEMA 40 is a leader in its price class, the CINEMA 30 is the receiver flagship for a reason. If you are the type of person who cares about the last bit of detail and sound quality in their AVR, then the CINEMA 30 would be a worthy upgrade over the CINEMA 40.

Both of these include Audessey MultEQ XT32 Room Correction and support to add Dirac Live room correction and bass control.

Performance Testing & Room Correction

We were excited when we received the CINEMA 30 as it represents a true flagship receiver from Marantz. The packaging was well thought out, and unboxing was straightforward, allowing us to install it into our main review system quickly. We appreciate Marantz putting a hinged panel on the front, allowing all but the input and volume controls to be hidden, as most of what we did to set it up was done with the remote and on-screen menus.

We used the same Bowers & Wilkins 703S3 tower speaker system we loved with the CINEMA 40 with the accompanying Bowers & Wilkins center and surround speakers. We followed the same onscreen menus and setup procedures, including running Audessey to get the speakers and subwoofers tuned in.

While we enjoyed this setup and it performed well, we then added Dirac Live room correction and bass control to see how much more we could fine-tune the system. After firing up and running Dirac's powerful suite of tools, the performance gains were really impressive!

At Audio Advice, we are huge fans of room correction, and Dirac is one of the very best there is. While it isn’t needed to get really great performance from any of the CINEMA series receivers, it’s a great option for those who may want to upgrade to it in the future or are looking to squeeze out every drop of performance from their gear.

It’s important you understand exactly how to use Dirac to make sure you are getting the most out of the software. Even if you’ve never used Dirac before, don’t worry; we’ve got you covered! When you purchase from Audio Advice, we will send you our in-depth guide on how to set up and use Dirac Live, along with a custom Audio Advice room curve that our experts have created to ensure your receiver sounds the best it can in your room. Our guide will walk you through the entire process step by step and give some pro tips to make sure you’ve got it set up correctly.

After all the setup was done, we jumped right into some movies. "The Caves" scene in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a great movie scene to test AV Receivers as it has a good amount of action, and the underwater scene is also full of fantastic movie sound effects. The CINEMA 30 had no problem driving the Bowers & Wilkins speakers to room-filling levels and had plenty of amplifier power to spare. We were impressed with the added level of detail and finesse that the better DAC chips and processors allowed us to hear on this track.

Next, we fired up our 4K Bluray of Mad Max Fury Road to test how the CINEMA 30 did with hard-hitting dynamic scenes. This movie showed us what Dirac Live could do in our system. The speakers were perfectly tuned to the room. The sound was spacious while being dynamic and full of realism. The CINEMA 30 had plenty of power for the dynamic scenes while keeping its composure and still giving us the sound that Marantz is known for.

If we had to nitpick anything, we would say that the warm and musical sound that is so inviting with Marantz products can make some dynamic movie scenes sound slightly subdued. However, this was a minor criticism as it only became noticeable on the most dynamic tracks. Having the 4 individual subwoofer outputs tuned with Dirac Live Bass Control gave us clean, dynamic bass that reached low and had a level of frequency balance that used to come only from a very high-end processor. We were amazed at how close the CINEMA 30 actually came to reaching the performance of Marantz’s own AV 10 and AMP 10 separate reference preamp processor and power amplifier.

With two-channel music, the CINEMA 30 had the same great warmth and musicality that is the hallmark of a Marantz product. With the addition of the 32-bit ESS Sabre DACs and Dirac Lives room and speaker tuning ability, realism and detail took a step up, allowing us to hear all of the music's nuances. Imaging and soundstaging, while not on the level of purpose-built high-end two-channel components, was also very good for an AV receiver.

Overall Recommendation

We enjoyed our time with the Marantz CINEMA 30 and think it is a top contender in its price class. With its newly upgraded DACs, large amplifier section, and the addition of Dirac Live with Dirac Live Bass Control, the CINEMA 30 gives users all that they need for a successful theater experience at home. Add to that the full suite of inputs and outputs, allowing anyone with any gear to find use with the CINEMA 30. If you are in the market for a flagship receiver in this price class, we highly recommend you take a look at the Marantz CINEMA 30.

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