It’s getting a little difficult these days to sort out a piece of Marantz gear’s place in the overall product family by designation alone, but that’s where my complaints with the company’s current lineup begin and end. Its latest integrated amplifier, for example, is simply called the Model 50 ($1800, all prices USD). Is there anything in that title that indicates a sort of little sibling to the Model 30 ($2999) released in 2020?
Is there anything, for that matter, to point toward the fact that the customer in the market for one or the other of these integrated amps should probably skip the Model 40n network-connected integrated amp–DAC ($2499), which I reviewed and loved in 2022? Nope. Although, I guess you could say that the lack of the word “network” anywhere on the packaging, along with the absence of an emblem for Denon-Marantz’s HEOS music-streaming technology, does give away the plot.
Pop the lid off the box, and the presentation of the Model 50 is indistinguishable from that of the aforementioned Model 40n: same expanded polystyrene padding, which is mercifully formed in four pieces so you can remove the top caps and not have everything crumble into an absolute mess when you try to heave the amp out of the box; same centrally positioned accessories box; same gorgeous air-foam paper wrapping.
A peek inside the accessories box gives another clue to something you already knew if you purchased the Model 50: this is an all-analog integrated amplifier. So there are no Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antennas, nor even carve-outs for them, which points to the fact that, all similarities aside, Marantz tailors its packaging to each individual product. There’s also a quick-start guide and some other pack-ins, none of which you’ll likely look at, but which are there just in case.
With the accessories box removed and the top two pieces of EPS foam lifted out (mostly—there’s always a broken bit of that damnable crap, isn’t there?), you can see that Marantz hasn’t skimped at all on the presentation of this budget-oriented offering. The deliciously thick air-foam paper wrapping is still folded and taped like a gift wrapped by a boutique shop in Tokyo.
With the Model 50 completely out of its container, you can see that it sports exactly the same aesthetic as all of Marantz’s current gear—the same distinctive mix of textures, the same subtle shift in tones, the same stunning symmetry. There isn’t a thing in the world I’d change about it, except perhaps for the feel of the volume control when you give it a twist. It’s not bad; it just doesn’t have that wonderful inertia and sense of effortless heft that the very best volume knobs do. Honestly, though, most people will likely use the remote for volume adjustments, and there are some technically interesting things about the volume control here that I’ll dig into in my full review once I’ve had time to test and verify.
Flipping the unit around for a look-see at its I/O (all RCA except for the speaker connections), you can see the prominent phono input (MM) up top, along with CD, Tuner, Line 1, Line 2, and Recorder inputs, as well as a Recorder out, stereo pre-outs, a subwoofer out (summed mono pre-out), and a stereo input in the event you want to use another preamp and just rely on the Model 50’s output stage.
The real stars of the show—at least in my opinion—have to be those gorgeous Marantz speaker binding posts, the same as those found on the company’s $8999 PM-10 integrated amplifier. What makes them so special? Well, just look at them. It’s hard not to appreciate that sort of design. They’re also irregularly shaped as opposed to perfectly cylindrical, so if you’re doing a bare-wire connection and need to give them a twist to loosen them up, there’s something for your thumb and fingers to get some traction on. They work great with banana plugs, as well.
By the way, the Model 50 isn’t the only piece of Marantz kit I have in-house at the moment. Although I’ll be reviewing it for SoundStage! Access, I also have a loaner of its companion piece, the CD 50n ($1800), for review on SoundStage! Simplifi. I have to say, the duo makes for a lovely stack. Like, seriously, this is what a stack of gear is supposed to look like.
The two pieces really speak for themselves. I want to call your attention to one aspect that photos normally can’t capture: the way the silvery grays and flat grays—and the different textures of Marantz’s design—catch the light from different angles and transform based on the angle of the light. It’s quite lovely, isn’t it?
At any rate, look for reviews of both units coming soon to Access and Simplifi.
. . . Dennis Burger
dennisb@soundstagenetwork.com
