Marantz VP-11S1 review

The Marantz VP-11S1 is the Millennium Falcon of hi-def projection. It’s the Aston Martin of home cinematics. It’s the…well, you get the picture: it’s really very good.

Marantz claim that the VP-11S1 can achieve a contrast ratio of 6500:1 and a brightness of 700 ANSI lumens. For the laymen among you, that’s enough pictorial prowess to stop the earth spinning every time you power it up.

For the bankrupt-inducing price tag, you’ll get a native resolution of 1920×1080, optics from Konica Minolta and a heavyweight VXP (Visual Excellence Processor) from Gennum.

Platinum projection 

And as if that wasn’t enough, the VP-11S1 is also packing some of the most complex technology money can buy – namely a Digital Light Processor which uses an ultra high-resolution Digital Micromirror Device. All this is housed in a sturdy aluminium chassis, similar to that of the award-winning VP-12S3 of 2004.

Somewhat surprisingly for a high-spec projector, the VP-11S1 is relatively easy to configure straight out the box. Simple thumbwheel controls for the lens, and a pragmatically arranged remote result in an enjoyable setup rather than painstakingly complex series of baffling calculations.

There are inputs to please even the most exacting technophile, too – two HDMI digital inputs , plus two component, one S-Video, one composite and one VGA.

Review continues after the break…

Back to black

And when you get round to finally powering up this beauty, we recommend you get yourself sitting comfortably, because the projected images are close to the perfect home theatre experience.

The VP-11S1 sprays out a rich, luscious tapestry of colours, and a dynamic variation of tones. The range of blacks is stunning: subtle enough for viewers to discern between a range of dark greys and powerful enough to spill infinite, enveloping blacks onto your living-room wall.

However, while the picture quality is stunning, it’s still not the best we’ve seen. Seeing as any prospective buyer is going to have to be reasonably loaded to afford one, we’d recommend placing an extra £2,000 in the kitty, as for £12,000, you can snare the class-leading SIM2 HT3000.

Having said that, you’d have to have the eyes of a hawk to discern between the two, and if your limit as absolutely £10,000, the Marantz provides a sublime home cinema solution.