The stylish new AVR from Marantz makes its mark in the best home theater amplifier category

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We’ve seen a handful of truly impressive AVRs this year, which really made choosing our favorite models a tricky process.

We reviewed new offerings this year from Denon, JBL, Marantz and (in a surprise comeback) Pioneer, putting each model through its paces during our intensive testing process. Ultimately, two models rose above the competition to become winners in the best AVR category Which hi-fi? Awards 2024.

One of these is a returning model – the Sony TA-AN1000 – which was awarded the “best home theater amplifier under £1500″ title last year. The second is a new model for 2024, the Marantz cinema 30.

The big news this year is that the Marantz cinema 30 claimed the title of “best home theater amplifier over £1500” after fending off competition from the updated (and extremely expensive) JBL Synthesis SDR-38long-running favorite Arcam AVR31and even be Denon AVC-X6800H counterpart.

From the start, we knew the Cinema 30 was a special AVR thanks to its premium and stylish design. The metal chassis felt solid and premium, while the design aspects sprinkled throughout, like the circular display, accent lighting and etched design, sealed the deal. While it was all well and good that the Cinema 30 looked good, it had to (more importantly) sound good. Fortunately, he also delivered good results in this area.

Simply put, the Marantz Cinema 30 hasn’t left our test room since we first took it out of the box, and every member of the team has been invited into the AV test room to try it out – which should tell you how highly we rate it find this AVR. The sound is rich, powerful and smooth, yet refined and controlled in equal measure, making it a truly talented home theater receiver. Spatial audio, namely Dolby Atmosalso comes with massive scale without sacrificing precision, a balance we find other AVRs struggle to achieve.

Plus, the Cinema 30 has a near-flawless feature set, including seven HDMI 2.1 inputs that support signals up to 8K/60Hz VRR, ALL, QMS and HDR in all major supported formats, including HDR10+ And Dolby Vision. It also features 11 channels of amplification, making it an ideal companion for those with a 7.4.4 speaker configuration who don’t want to spend on an additional power amplifier to drive their entire system. It’s even super easy to set up, with the included Audyssey calibration microphone in the box and an on-screen menu system that makes navigation a breeze.

Next we have the now two-time Sony award winner, TA-AN1000. Although we have already received a lot of praise for it, it certainly deserves another compliment. The dynamic and expressive sound is impressive, with plenty of detail and precision, while the easy setup, intuitive user interface and extensive feature set – including Dolby Vision HDR, 4K/120Hz gaming support with VRR and ALLM, and support for a wide range of streaming platforms – the Sony TA-AN1000 remains the best AVR under £1500.

It’s a small list, but both models have really earned their place here thanks to their top-notch home theater sound. However, there can only be one Product of the Year winner, and only time will tell whether Marantz or Sony will reign supreme.

MORE:

Read our full Marantz Cinema 30 review

And our Sony TA-AN1000 review

As well as our list of the best AV receivers