Marantz

Saul Marantz started building amplifiers in his Kew Gardens, New York home in 1951 because commercial gear couldn't play his records the way he wanted. 70-plus years later the company hand-assembles its reference components at Shirakawa Audio Works in Japan, where master sound tuners voice every model. HDAM circuits replace off-the-shelf op-amps. The line runs from Cinema series home theater receivers to the Model integrated amps and SACD players. It's engineering with a stated goal, the most musical sound, and you can hear the intent.