Marantz DV6400

Overview: Price: £400 Website: www.marantz.com Size (WxHxD): 44x8x21cm Weight: 2.2kg Audio outputs: two-channel and 5.1 analogue, optical and coaxial digital Video outputs: Phono, Scart, S-VideoRGB (Scart), component Built-in Dolby Digital/DTS decoders Plus points: Plays virtually all disc formats, with superb replay in most, light weight, stylish look Minus points: SACD replay not quite as good as DVD-A or CD, slowish layer change

The first impression of this universal player is how light it is - at 2.2kg it feels more like a toy than a serious contender in the rapidly expanding universal player category. That smart silver fascia presents a clean face to the world however, and its light weight certainly helps when manoeuvring it onto an already crowded rack.

For the true audiophile, it is quite possible that a universal disc player will never be able to handle all types of disc equally well, but in the same way that it was once impossible to get both CD and SACD sound on a single disc, technology moves on, and we are now beginning to get to the stage where universal players are a viable option for most of us.

Disc-wise, there's not much that the DV6400 won't play. It can handle high res formats such as SACD and DVD-Audio, as well as DVD-Video and all the rewrite options. It can even play music on disc encoded as WMA or MP3 files, but not AAC (the format iTunes uses, for instance), so you probably won't be playing the contents of your iPod through it, unless you've been forward-thinking enough to stock it with non-AAC files.

It comes with its own Dolby Digital and DTS decoders and there's also a 'virtual surround' feature if you're not quite ready to take the plunge into multichannel sound. It works, sort of, but as you might expect, it's not really a substitute for the real thing. Basic bass management is also available for the high-res audio formats, which frees you from the need to rely on the decoders in a full home cinema amplifier. It has the usual list of outputs, including composite, S-Video, component and Scart, as well as coaxial and optical, but it won't handle high resolution digital connections like i.Link or HDMI, but then, this is very much a mid-range player.

You may have seen the DV6400 listed as an all-region DVD player. It isn't out of the box - you'll need a hack to break it out of Region 2, but the necessary info should be available on the net or from your dealer (probably for a charge).

Sound and vision

Marantz was making audio products before it got into video, and that emphasis shows in the CD sound, which is smooth, rich and even - a pleasure to listen to in other words. Incidentally, there's an 'Audio EX' option to turn off the video circuitry and the front display so audio performance isn't hampered by any extraneous internal noise.

In general, most universal players, especially at this price point, are likely to be better at one audio format than they are at others, and this is the case here. Fortunately for most of us, the DV6400's forté is CD, which, let's face it, is going to be the most played format for many years to come. DVD-A too was marvellously rich and rewarding, with fine balance across the range and that marvellously airy quality that CD only appears to lack in comparison.

For some reason that was difficult to ascertain, SACD seemed to struggle slightly. It wasn't bad, just not as vibrant and translucent as it can be. Lower frequencies were sometimes slightly bloated and muddy, while the top end occasionally sounded constrained, without the air that is often the gift of the high resolution audio formats. The DV6400 seemed happier with the PCM data contained on CD and DVD-A discs rather than the DSD of SACD.

When playing DVD-Video, the DV6400 proved itself capable of very decent reproduction, especially considering its price. You'll have to do without the very fancy stuff such as PAL progressive scan, but in general, images are clean with good colour depth and rich blacks, low noise and only small amounts of motion artefacts such as border tearing. It would account for itself well in much more expensive company, even better than it does with audio. Layer change could be a bit faster on dual layer discs though.

Verdict:

The DV6400 is by no means at the forefront of universal capability, but to get there you have to pay considerably more cash. It won't really compete with a four-figure player such as Primare's DVD30 or even Marantz's own DV8400, the next rung up the ladder at over £1,000, for example. Similarly, there are cheaper universal players, but not ones which deliver this sort of quality. For a device that plays everything passably and most things extremely well, this one is hard to beat.