Once again, our staff at Pointed Magazine is dedicated to bringing its readers the hottest products for the Year 2002, and our staff has found another must have product, Marantz SR 9200 receiver.

Just as we have done all of our testing so far, we have taken the product to the limit to find out if this is a product well worth spending money for.

Occasionally doing editorials, we come across a superior product, one that rises above the rest, which is precisely what we have found with the Marantz SR-9200. Our staff realizes that there are many competitors in the A/V world with the SR-9200, but the Marantz receiver review we are about to bring our readers excels in every category.

Marantz has received many awards for its fine products in the past. They have established themselves as a leader with many fine products in all home theatre categories. From plasma televisions to DVD player and of course receivers, Marantz has produced high end products for the high end consumer and certainly has done so with the receiver we going to feature in this review

For those who have been looking for a boost in their tired sounding home theatre, then the SR-9200 receiver by Marantz will give you sound like you have never heard before.

One of the first things you will like about this receiver is how easy it is to lift it out of the box. You would think for all that is included in this monster, it would weigh twice the weight that it does, but this receiver was easily lifted into place and ready to power all seven of our speakers in our testing area.

Obviously most consumers are not going to purchase a receiver based on weight, but it is nice to know that quality that is inside reflects the total weight of the unit itself.

After setting up the receiver and connecting it to our B&W Nautilus Speaker system, we were able to look at the quality of one of the first features of this receiver, the THX Ultra Certified feature of the receiver. The SR-9200 delivers 140 watts of power to each of the seven main channels. The power amp section features an advanced premium high storage power supply capacitors and fully discrete output stages housed in cast aluminum heat sinks. The THX is the best that you could expect from any reciever and is stronger than many of its competitors that have THX capability.

In case you do not own that many DVD's that have THX capability, there are many other features of the SR-9200 receiver that will deliver sound that you will not find in any other models similar to this one.

If you have experienced the THX sound capabilities, then you will want to try the other six decoding features of the SR-9200. Each one of the six decoding methods are as strong as the THX surround. The SR-9200 has DTS-ES, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro-Logic II, HCCD, Circle Surround and the Multi Channel Direct Inputs.

The first feature of the receiver you will enjoy is its HDCD decoding. It is one of the seven decoders, which has the capacity to deliver the full sonic benefits of HDCD-encoded CD's from a standard non HDCD CD player when connected to the SR-9200 via the player's digital output. We tested two different CD's and a DVD using this technology and the results were amazing. The sound was so clear and offered the listeners the best sound they could have in a small area with this technology.

After you have seen all of the amazing features the SR-9200 has waiting for you, there are some things that will sell you on purchasing this model for your next home theatre. The most promising feature of the SR-9200 that sold our staff was the capability and ease of connections. For people that are looking for all of the best high end connections money can buy this is the one. You would have to go to the Federal Depository to find more gold then Marantz includes in its gold plated In/Out connections on the rear of the receiver.

The best feature that we liked after testing the reciever were the five digital audio inputs and the four with optical jacks give owners the choice to hook up any devices through a number of methods. Whether you choose to put a laser disc player, CD player, DVD player or even MD players, the digital outputs can handle whatever type of music option you give it.

If you like all of the features the receiver has to offer, then you will welcome all of the goodies that come along with it. What we are referring to is the RC3200A backlit remote. This makes the SR-9200 a complete package. Just think about some of the other cheesy remotes that come with high end receivers. This blows the competition away. Complete with 1mb of Non-Volatile flash memory, 12 direct back-lit direct access buttons, macro and beep timers. These are just some of the functions on screen that you will need to control the device. With all this available, you want to turn on the receiver just to play with the remote.

With the RC3200A, you can operate anything just by having the remote use its own learning power. Forget about your television and other remotes, this one controls your own home theatre destiny. Complete with controls of every function of the SR9200 and even what you have set up in another room, the RC3200A, does things that you never imagined.

The remote works flawlessly with the SR9200. We performed a test and 9 out of 11 times it functioned whatever we touched it to do in different parts of the room and 6 of those times we were not even near the receiver and it still did what we touched it to do.

The SR 9200 is dynamically smooth in its presentation. Additionally it is, harmonious and accurate both in dedicated two channel listening environments as well as home theater applications. This is a piece of notable craftsmanship. The SR 9200 is a must have product for the audio purist and fanatic looking for the ultimate gratification in home audio.

For additional information on ordering Marantz Products, please visit www.marantz.com or call 630-741-0300