Marantz unveils high-end UD9004 Blu-ray / SACD player

We can definitely see where this is headed. Hot on the heels of Denon's DVD-A1UD and OPPO's BDP-83 comes yet another Blu-ray player that does just a pinch more than handle audio CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. Unveiled as a prototype over in Munich, the Marantz UD9004 is just one format shy (it's lacking DVD-Audio support) of being a complete "universal" Blu-ray player. Said device, which is slated to get official sometime in 2009, is built upon the $6,500 SA-7S1 SACD player (pictured) and features a 10-bit Silicon Optix chipset, 14-bit video DAC, an SD card reader, RS-232 control interface, support for BD-Live and an Ethernet port. Outside of that, details are nonexistent, but we'll definitely be keeping an ear to the ground for more.