Staying competitive in the audio sector of custom-install increasingly includes staying ahead of the curve on room optimisation. As customers invest more in premium audio and audio-visual spaces, their expectations for acoustic performance rise in parallel. While high-quality speakers, well-engineered amplification and a properly designed installation remain fundamental, the room itself often has the final say in how a system actually sounds. That’s why the arrival of the option to install Dirac Live ART (Active Room Treatment) on selected Marantz processors and AVRs and Denon AVRs is such a significant development for professional installers.
Dirac is utilised across Home Hi-Fi Audio Systems, Home Cinemas and Music Studios. We have installed and calibrated our two main cinemas here at AWE, and the improvements both at Reference Seating Position and in wider seat-to-seat uniformity are substantial. So, let’s find out more about the technology…
Dirac has long been recognised for its industry-leading room-correction technology, with Dirac Live and Dirac Bass Control already available within the Marantz and Denon portfolio. But Dirac Live ART represents a genuine leap forward in what digital optimisation can achieve. Unlike traditional correction methods that treat each speaker in isolation, ART looks at the entire loudspeaker system as one cooperative acoustic engine. Each speaker, and subwoofer becomes part of a coordinated network designed to counteract the room’s resonances and decay characteristics. Rather than simply reducing peaks and smoothing frequency response, ART actively controls the room’s behaviour, targeting the notoriously difficult 20–150Hz region where conventional treatments struggle most.
For installers, this means that a new level of consistency and clarity can now be delivered in rooms that were previously difficult, inconvenient or impractical to treat physically. Open-plan living areas, glass-heavy spaces, unusual seating layouts, and modern interiors with minimal acoustic treatment all benefit dramatically. Where once you needed to negotiate with homeowners about bass traps or diffusers, ART provides a more elegant and invisible method of control – one that clients often find easier to understand and accept.
Marantz supporting this technology is particularly noteworthy. The brand has built its reputation on delivering a refined sound signature which many enthusiasts trust for that very reason. With Dirac ART now available as an upgrade on models including the AV10, AV20, CINEMA 30, CINEMA 40 and CINEMA 50, installers can pair Marantz’s renowned sonic character with some of the most sophisticated room-acoustic optimisation currently available.
Denon AVRs that support ART are the AVC-A1H, AVR-X6800H, AVR-X4800H and the AVR-X3800H. Denon is known for their affordable performance and comprehensive features with a rich and authoritative sound signature that suits a wide range of music and movie lovers.
For customers upgrading existing systems, ART is licensed as an enhancement on top of Dirac Live Room Correction and, where applicable, Dirac Live Bass Control. This not only provides a new revenue opportunity but also gives integrators a compelling reason to revisit past installations and present a meaningful and demonstrable performance upgrade.
From a workflow perspective, ART folds naturally into the established Dirac calibration process. Once the foundational correction and bass management stages are complete, ART unlocks an additional optimisation pass that uses Dirac’s advanced MIMO processing to reduce reverberation and tighten bass across all listening positions. The result is not only greater uniformity but also a newfound sense of precision. Bass lines gain articulation, LFE effects gain definition, and dialogue becomes clearer through a cleaner low-frequency environment.
Of course, as with any advanced technology, managing expectations remains key. Rooms that already benefit from extensive physical treatment may show more subtle improvements, though even then installers often report a refinement in decay behaviour and seat-to-seat consistency. In more challenging living spaces, however, the results can be transformative, and installers now have a powerful new tool to ensure that premium Marantz systems perform at their absolute best.
Ultimately, the introduction of Dirac Live ART positions Marantz and Denon, and by extension, the installers who specify it, at the forefront of what modern immersive audio system calibration can achieve. It strengthens your value proposition, opens new upselling opportunities, and enables you to deliver superior results in a wider range of rooms. For homeowners seeking the best from their cinema systems, ART provides a clear, demonstrable step forward and provides a competitive edge in a market that increasingly rewards acoustic excellence.
If you’d like to learn more, tune in on Thursday 20th November as Sound United hosts a live session with Dirac Audio Systems Engineer Joss Walker and Phil Jones. They’ll discuss Dirac Live ART and its ability to improve clarity and control in Denon and Marantz systems.
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