(May 20, 2025) It’s official: Dirac Live Active Room Treatment—better known as ART—is on track to become available on select Denon and Marantz components starting in the second half of this year. For fans of next-gen room correction, this is welcome news. And if you’ve been keeping tabs on Marantz’s just-launched AV 20 and AMP 20 combo, you might’ve noticed that ART is already listed as a planned firmware-enabled upgrade. Today’s announcement simply confirms what many suspected: that this powerful new processing feature will start to trickle across more high-end offerings in the Denon and Marantz lines.
Dirac Live ART is, in a word, ambitious. Introduced in 2023 as a top-tier add-on to the existing Dirac Live platform, ART takes a unique approach to room correction by managing the entire system as a coordinated acoustic unit. Unlike traditional methods that analyze each speaker in isolation, ART leverages MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) processing to synchronize all speakers in real time, minimizing room resonances and tightening low-frequency performance across the board.
In practice, it can help your system sound like it's playing in a well-treated room, even if it isn’t.
What makes this particularly compelling for Denon and Marantz users is that ART represents a level of processing typically reserved for studio environments or costly commercial installs. To date, it's only been found on StormAudio processors and all-in-ones, operating between 20 and 150 Hz—precisely where room modes tend to wreak havoc—and addressing those issues through phase alignment, cross-channel cooperation, and adaptive correction strategies. Instead of having one sub try to fight a peak or null on its own, the system uses all available speakers to help mitigate the issue. Think of it as acoustic teamwork applied in real-time.
Of course, there are prerequisites. Your AVR or processor will need to already support Dirac Live Bass Control—an indicator that its processing architecture can handle the demands of Live ART. And as we've seen with the AV 20, enabling ART is a paid upgrade that will arrive as a firmware update later this year. No word yet on which specific Denon or Marantz models beyond the AV 20 will gain support, but it’s safe to assume newer, high-end units with the appropriate processing horsepower will be among the first to qualify.
Fredric Tapper, Dirac’s Vice President and Head of Business Development, had this to say about today’s announcement: “Dirac Live ART represents the next frontier in smart acoustics, delivering a level of acoustic precision that was once out of reach for most home audio systems. By bringing Dirac Live ART to Denon and Marantz devices, we’re expanding access to our most advanced smart acoustic solution yet—empowering more users to transform their listening rooms into finely tuned sound environments, regardless of layout or speaker placement.”
Dirac also notes that ART is designed to work in a range of environments, including less-than-ideal rooms. Whether you’re working with an asymmetrical layout, unconventional speaker placement, or furniture that limits physical treatment options, the technology is positioned as a game-changer.
If you’re already using a Denon or Marantz component with Dirac Live, this upgrade might be worth planning for. And if you’re considering a jump to the AV 20 or any future model that promises ART compatibility, this is a good time to take note.
We'll continue to monitor rollout timelines and firmware specifics as Dirac Live ART makes its way to compatible gear.
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