Magnetar

Magnetar is a fairly new, niche audio-video brand that emerged in the early 2020s to serve buyers who still want premium physical-media playback. It appears to be based in Hong Kong, with Magnetar Audio North America handling the U.S. market; the brand’s public-facing leadership includes Rob Jones, who oversees North American operations. Magnetar was created after Oppo exited the universal disc-player market, aiming to fill that gap for serious home-theater users and audiophiles.

The brand is best known for universal media players rather than traditional hi-fi separates. Its core products are the UDP800 and UDP900, along with newer MKII updates, and these machines are designed to play a wide range of formats including 4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, SACD, DVD-A, and networked or stored audio/video files. Magnetar emphasizes high-end video processing, robust build quality, and audiophile-grade audio performance, with support for formats such as Dolby Vision, HDR10+, DSD, FLAC, PCM, Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X.

In the market, Magnetar sits firmly in the high-end, specialist category. It is not a broad consumer brand; instead, it targets cinephiles, audiophiles, custom-install dealers, and collectors with large disc libraries. Its reputation rests on premium construction, broad format support, and long-term commitment to physical media at a time when many competitors have left the category.