The present review is aimed to compare two AV receivers - Sony STR-DH790 vs Marantz CINEMA 70s that are meant to satisfy the needs of cinema and music lovers.
Considered AV receivers have the same number of channels 7.2. Regarding power, then STR-DH790 has such a W/Ohm ratio - 90/6 when CINEMA 70s has a power of 50/8, 70/6. The THD is 0.09% for the STR-DH790 but 0.08% for the CINEMA 70s.
Characteristics of digital to analog converter (DAC) are different, 192 KHz/24-bit for STR-DH790 and 192 KHz/32-bit for the CINEMA 70s. Both the STR-DH790 and the CINEMA 70s support Bi-amping. Each of the AV receivers can transmit an audio signal directly to the amplifier and bypasses any DSP processing. Rivals from our review have Bluetooth support. Only the CINEMA 70s supports Spotify.
HDMI signal transmission in standby mode is implemented in each of the devices. The CINEMA 70s can scale the input HDMI signal, unlike the STR-DH790. The HDR standard - Dolby Vision is supported by these receivers.
The Sony STR-DH790 has 4/1 HDMI inputs/outputs versus 6/1 HDMI connectors of the Marantz CINEMA 70s. The HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC) feature supports both devices. HDMI eARC is available in each model. The Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) feature is present in most modern AV receivers and the models in our comparison are no exception. The STR-DH790 supports the protection of digital content of the standard HDCP 2.2, versus HDCP 2.3 in the CINEMA 70s. The CINEMA 70s has a built-in phono stage for connecting a vinyl player. An ECO mode is only available for the CINEMA 70s. Both STR-DH790 and CINEMA 70s can be configured using the Setup assistant.
Both devices have support for Dolby Atmos multichannel audio format. The surround sound technology DTS:X is supported by devices under review.