Marantz 30 Series Review | MODEL 30 Integrated Amp & SACD 30n Network Player

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Marantz wanted these two new components to embody modern musical luxury while maintaining all of the classic Marantz characteristics. The MODEL 30 and SACD 30n are certainly striking to the eye with their smaller faceplate floating on top of a larger textured box that almost looks like carbon fiber. This is certainly a modern look, but they kept the Marantz logo large, and on the top along with the classic symmetry all of the early Marantz amplifiers were known for where each side of the unit had an identical layout of switches and knobs. We also love the small portal on the integrated amp that harkens back to their 1960 Model 9 tube power amp. In fact, it almost looks identical!

If you know much about audio, you probably realize an integrated amplifier is a combination of a stereo preamp and stereo power amp all rolled into one box where they usually share a power supply. The MODEL 30 is technically an integrated amplifier as well, but the way Marantz put the unit together inside the box you could basically pull it apart and create two separate components from the pieces inside. Yes, there is a totally separate power supply for the preamp which sits in the middle and another for the power amp section.

The entire internal layout was designed to allow the unit to have the performance benefits of separate components. The critical preamp board is on the far right side with the separate phono preamp board underneath it. A large toroidal power transformer in the center of the unit is totally dedicated to the preamp boards. You’ll find the power supply for the amplifier on the far left with the actual amp section directly connected to the speaker terminals in the center rear. As the audio geeks we are, we love the look of the insides of this new integrated amp which totally strove for the shortest possible signal paths in each section. Input-wise, the MODEL 30 is all about analog. There are no digital circuits inside to keep things simple and pure. Marantz spent a lot of time fine-tuning the phone preamp that even got its own separate circuit board. This is not an afterthought, add on phono preamp, but a very serious one with the option for either a moving coil or moving magnet.

So what about digital sources and/or a CD player and streamer? Well, that is where the MODEL 30n comes in! This is one super cool piece of gear with everything you need for both the old and new digital world. As a matter of fact, if you only cared about digital, it can even act as a full function preamp so all you need is a power amp for a complete digital system. Marantz used their own CD/SACD mechanism for the drive. When the drive is not in use, every part of the power supply related to the drive shuts down for a cleaner digital stage for the other inputs.

Digital inputs cover two Toslink, one coax, a USB for computer audio, and an ethernet or wireless connection for streaming. Voice control from all the majors is included, as is Airplay 2. Bluetooth is also present so your friends can come over and stream music from their smartphones. For your favorite streaming sources or music on your network, the Heos app takes over. We have mixed feelings on this and really wish Marantz had made the unit more compatible with Roon than just Airplay. Heos does offer a pretty decent interface, and in our testing, works fine as long as you do not try to group multiple units together. Heos will get you Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, Amazon, Apple Music, Deezer, Tune In, Soundcloud, and Sirius XM. Finishing out the rear you’ll have another USB input for an attached USB music drive and there are bothToslink and coax digital outs. But the cool part is the fact that it has both fixed and variable analog outputs. This allows it to be used as a fully functioning digital preamp or in fixed mode and connected to the companion MODEL 30 amp or an amp or preamp you already own.

While these units are by no means inexpensive, for what they offer in terms of design, build quality, and performance, they are actually quite a bargain. We love the look and feel of these and expect them to find their way into the homes of many music lovers. If you are looking for a sweet sounding all-in-one integrated amp that can drive just about any speaker, the MODEL 30 Integrated certainly should be on your list. The added bonus is how great it will look on your shelf! For those of you wanting to add everything digital or just put together a complete digital front-end, the SACD 30n sure checks off a lot of boxes for its price!