Marantz has launched a svelte new AV amplifier, the NR1501.

Intended to be combined with Marantz’s BD5004 Blu-ray player the NR1501 is exceptionally slim, taking up about half the space of an amp with a similar spec. Sitting just 10cm high, it looks more like a hi-fi stereo amp than a seven-channel surround sound powerhouse. It offers 7 x 50 watts of power and can decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio. Around the back it has four HDMI 1.3 inputs as well as a single HDMI out.

A separate audio board stops potential noise from the video sections affecting sound quality and there’s easy set-up too with Marantz’s MRAC auto set-up system.

The Marantz NR1501 is on sale now for £450.