Why You Can Trust CNET Marantz DV4003 review: Marantz DV4003
If you're looking to play your existing collection of DVDs and don't want a Blu-ray player, then the Marantz DV4003 is an excellent choice.
With DVD players now costing under 50 bucks, Marantz' new $399 DV4003 may seem expensive, but think long-term and the sums begin to stack in its favour. And it's not only got el-cheapo DVD players to contend with; at this price you could pick up a new-fangled Blu-ray player, so why would you bother even considering a DVD player such as this?
Marantz DV4003
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Design
In keeping with DVD player fashion, this one's a slimline design and the styling fits in with the latest curvaceous Marantz AV product aesthetic. It's solidly built and looks both neat and functional. The display is set off to left-hand side and is a bit too small for our liking; however the player's status is always visible on your TV or monitor display.
Features
Spec-wise it's got the lot, but there's nothing really extraordinary or out of the norm - it'll play most common disc formats including DivX Ultra video, and MP3 and WMA-encoded audio discs. What does make a difference though is the component quality that goes into this player. Audiophile-grade stages, such as the power supply and other hand-picked bits and bobs make this player a bit special. It's what Marantz has done with its CD player designs for years and more recently, its DVD players also.
A decent 12-bit/108MHz video DAC helps take care of the video processing and, as you'd expect, the Marantz will upscale standard definition DVDs to 1080p via its single HDMI output. Being European, it also features a single 21-pin SCART connector; handy if you've a fancy European flat panel TV with the same connection.
A front USB port promises CD ripping to a memory stick or MP3 player, which is a nifty little feature and finally, a decent remote handset completes a really well put together package.
Performance
To make the most of DVD's standard resolution, upscaling the video to 1080p is common DVD player practice, but some do it better than others. Feeding a BenQ W5000 1080p projector via HDMI, the Marantz' onboard video processing produces some great looking images, especially from well produced DVDs such as Star Wars IV: Return of The Sith and Crank. Both films were shot straight to HD and the DV4003 resolved the detail and colourful images really well; at times you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was a Blu-ray playing. Close-ups of Jason Statham's 3-day perma-growth face in Crank oozed fine detail and sharpness. Textures appeared very rich and the player delivered skintones well with a natural looking and balanced realism. Overall, the Marantz' upscaled picture boasted excellent vibrancy and visual punch.
The Star Wars installment, especially the opening battle sequence showed just how well the Marantz handled blacks and depth of image. It looked impressively deep and bold in this regard, with solid contrast that produced both deep blacks and sharp edge definition. The colours of the various spacecraft stood out well in the inky blackness of space and the fast-paced action proved no problem for the Marantz which delivered the rapid movement with ease.
The onboard audio decoding did a suitably spacious sounding job with both Dolby Digital and DTS movie surround soundtracks, plus with music the DV4003 doubled as an excellent CD player, as you'd hope from a Marantz source component. Spinning CDs, the DV4003 made a fine music maker producing tunes of impressive substance and character, especially so for a DVD player. No matter the musical preference, the Marantz produced good clarity and dynamics, matched to genuine punch and rhythmic drive, much like Marantz' standalone CD players.
Plugging a small Sony USB Walkman into the front port, we had to try out the direct-from-CD ripping feature and it worked well, for the most part. You need to access the MP3 Record functions via the player's Setup menu and can rip either single tracks or whole albums. We found a couple of gripes here, namely it took its sweet time ripping, even causing the player to 'freeze' on the odd occasion and the Marantz' menu system is rather prehistoric in its layout and design; resembling that as you'd find on aforementioned el-cheapo, no-name brand DVD players.
Conclusion
Okay, so you're going to get higher definition, better looking pictures plus greater audio dynamics from a Blu-ray player these days, but if you're still playing your vast collection of DVDs (and CDs, for that matter) and don't want to go down the Full HD route, then this Marantz player is an excellent choice. Sure, Blu-ray's well and truly up-and-coming, but DVD's still got plenty of life in it, something that this Marantz player clearly demonstrates.