I have bought my Njoe Tjoeb 4000 second hand and it had already the super clock in it, aswell as the direct power cord and the Tjoeb sjoes, the Tjo Upsampler was build in later by the HifiShop in the Netherlands, so mine is now a reference one with all upgrades.
What can i say? It is a remarkable CD player with a non compromised sound, playing on my Accuphase E405 with the Kef XQ40 speakers and AudioQuest cables it is really beautiful. I have owned a Accuphase DP80L - DC 81L CD player witch cost 20 years ago more than 10.000 euro's. I think this Njoe Tjoeb 4000 is not mutch lesser than the Accuphase. Yes, the standard Marantz housing of Njoe Tjoeb is a whole different story, the build quality is less, and you can often see little on the display (especially when the sun shines), but the music that this cheap CD player makes is outstanding! This is a great machine, if you can find one second hand in a good condition, buy it! O... i also bought a second Marantz CD4000 in good condition for 30 euro's, so i have spare parts for the future,
and the AH! Njoe Tjoeb parts are still available = http://durobblog.com/2012/04/26/value-added-service/

I would simply like to add to the positive reviews already posted regarding this excellent product. I purchased this player several years ago from Upscale Audio and it is truly one fine component. I've gone the upgrade route to include the enhanced feet, power cord and upsampler board as well as some tube dampers. To me the most compelling part of the player's performance is in the midrange--both male and female vocals are presented intimately with a liquid smoothness. I am presently using it in a home office setup with the following components:

Yahama AX-596 amp
Marantz 2020 Tuner
Polk LSI-9 Speakers on Sanus Stands
Nakamichi Speaker Cables


I contacted Kevin Deal once during the upgrade process which I did myself as I had questions about the installation process. Kevin was very helpful and I was able to complete the upgrades in a short amount of time.

If you are looking for an excellent CD < $1,000 this one merits your attention.

Price paid in 2007 (Brussels): € 700,00 (second hand)

Summery:

Recently I put my Njoe Tjoeb 4000 side by side with a comparable Marantz transport, but what a difference in the sound richness! With its two N.O.S. goldpins Telefunken, its special chord and feet, the Njoe Tjoeb sounds particularly full and open, sings easily with some beautiful harmonics and materiality in the midrange of my demanding Tannoy Gold monitors. 10 years after its conception, this model remains an evident value for music lovers and musicians who well know the live music "urgency". Well, in certain circumpstances, the Denon DL-103 of my turntable can battle the Njoe Tjoeb on this criteria. A CD remains a CD... But I don't change this player!

Strenghts: natural rich colored sound with excellent soundstage openess and enregy. Good presence but no listening fatigue.

Weaknesses: none at that price! In the absolute: a little lack of definition (1999 converters' conception...), a bit systematic tube coloration, a cheap presentation.

YADA YADA YADA....Everyone is right...Its awesome...enough said....So many say that at this price point.....its hard to find a better player...I have to agree and disagree. Depends upon the tubes living within it. I think it would be hard to find a better sounding player at any price point. This is a recent epiphany for me having owned this unit for 5 years. Bought this unit off audiogon from an Australian living in Canada...hmmm go figure...it had Sovtek 6922 tubes in it at the time and sounded nice...with these tubes I knew other units might sound better..Got some RCA Jans from Kevin Deal...they're nice too. Having recently retubed my Sunfire Classic tube preamp with Amperex Bugle Boys...I was tickled pink with the B boys improving the Sonic performance of my sytem. Alright..thought I'd try some in this player.....OMG!!! WOW! NICE!!!!!!! The Bugle Boys in this unit are a sonic match made in heaven. Reallyreally. A couple of points tho on the unit I might address is that the players upsampler is a bit fragile. When you socket the pins into place, BE CAREFUL!
Also, I have replaced the upsampler twice now...this last time a pretty little penny.....is this player worth the occaisional upsampler swap? YOU BET! Kevins tubes are a bit pricey tho....I've found my Obewan / Tube Guru and am now getting some interconnects from Da Man...........RCA Analog Xhadows...can't wait!

Like many here, I upgraded from the Tjoeb 99.

That player was a sound bargain that is hard to match. The 4000 is a much better player. It starts with a better donor unit, it uses higher tech, it has several new tweaks that positively affect its presentation, and you can buy a very good upsampling unit that plugs in ahead of the tube output stage. I wouldn't use this as a preamp, since its volume control occurs in the digital realm and by cutting volume you are cutting resolution. I used my '99 quite successfully as its own preamp. But I have a bigger budget now, so I took the plunge a year ago.

There are a lot of transports out there now, and just about everybody gives you the opportunity to play cds in your dvd player and decode them in your processor. If it's really good, you may get great cd sound without having to buy a great cd player.

That's not what I use this for. It's in my office with a Musical Fidelity integrated amp and a pair of fully restored KEF 104/2 floorstanders, hooked together with competent cabling that is not out-of-this-world expensive. The system sounds really, really good. Remember there is less than 3000 bucks here. You can do a $3k office system in numerous ways, from simple like this to very elaborate. I find that the simple works great. I've always loved the top-to-bottom greatness of the best from KEF--and the 104/2 is their all-time best. I got these for $300 and got them restored for another $350. They sound like new and look very nice.

The MuFi does what MuFi does. It sounds great and provides enormous control, speed, punch and visceral slam. It is the most expensive part of the system and is worth it. I recommend you pair Ah! with any Musical Fidelity integrated amp. MuFi is reverent about tubes and its components play very nice with other tube gear.

The KEFs debuted at the height of the Marantz/Kenwood/Sansui mega-receiver wattage wars in the 1970s. They were a different breed then, when everybody was pumping JBL, Altec and Klipsch.

Compared to those hi-fi approaches, KEF is a lightweight--meaning champagne instead of beer. The big American speaker boys at Cerwin-Vega and the aforementioned companies would punch you in the gut. KEF could resolve complex musical passages in realistic ways and were not interested in blowing out your windows with overpowering amounts of bass.

There are speakers out there now that can destroy the sound of these KEFs, but you should see their price. Nothing in the $650 price point can compare. People think my stereo is an audiophile system. I tell them I'm an audiophile, but I can't afford audiophile gear, so this is what I have--and I really like it.

How many other $1k CD players are out there that can compete with the Tjoeb 4000? You know, I've looked. I don't think there are any. I've heard some mighty sweet sounds from CD players that would probably sound better than by 4000 in my system. But like speakers that can beat my KEFs, you should see the price. I haven't found anything--not ANYTHING--that can compete on the same price field as this player. I had that '99 for seven years and I'd still have it today if the transport hadn't started getting skippy and the display hadn't started wearing out.

In those seven years I looked for the budget player that would blow away my Tjoeb. There's quite a few tubed front end players coming from Chinese upstarts in the hi-fi world. Listened to some. They sound pretty good. But only their megabuck contenders could compare with my little Marantz-badged Tjoeb. So I stuck with it until I simply had to replace it. I didn't have my heart set on the 4000. I would have bought any player that sounded the best for my budget.

After about a year of searching, I settled on the 4000, and now, these many months later, I'm glad I did. If you like liquid midrange and non-fatiguing sound without the crazy price, here's your player. I'd say look for it in the used market, but that's a fantasy. Go to upscale audio and buy your own.

If possible, and if time permits, I'd like to thread 4 yellow rubberrings around my husbands erect manhood and walk naked through the streets of an high-income neighbourhood. In summer of course, or else the rubberrings might fall off.

Marvelous value for money. Very lively, natural sound with a great sense of space. Upgradebility

Soundquality depending on used tubes and opamps, Upsampler is a bit expensive.

Finally a new review of this great product! I was lucky to buy this Tjoeb for a very nice price, especially since it wasn't used that much cause the former owner used to listen more to his recordplayer. Thats why it was still in unmodified condition when i bought it, apart from the nice tjoeb-shoes.

First i've listened to it at my brothers place in combination with a Sony TA3ES amplifier, Cardas crosslink interlink, Tannoy R2 loudspeakers and Kimber 4TC loudspeaker cable.
Here it was already much better in all areas than the Sony 505ES it replaced. The main thing that i notiched was that the music was much more alive with a greater soundstage en depth and a clearer seperation of sounds and instuments. Also basscontrol improved a lot and sounded tighter.
After a couple of weeks i bought a new pair of NOS Philips E88cc goldpins.(Heerlen, Holand 1964 production, O-getter, for the freaks)
Now things really improved to another level! The hights and the mids became much more detailled but never bright or harsh. The soundstage was even deeper now with even more separation between instruments and sounds. It was a bit like as if the true nature of the player was reveiled from behind a thick, dark coloured curtain! It easily outperforms my heavily modified 1994 Creek CD60.

What i like a lot about the Tjoeb is the concept of using a good basic CD-player with a very good mechanism, the VAM 1204, also used in marantz own CD14, and change all the parts wich have a big influence on the soundquality. Things like the complete analogue outputstage, the powersupply, the mutingcircuit and the clock/crystal are all changed for new and better parts. The only thing the Tjoeb has in common with the original Marantz CD4000 is the outer case, the remotecontrol and the cd-mechanism. Due to this concept an excellent player can be delivered for a very reasonable price.

Every Tjoeb owner should change the very poor sounding original Jan Philips ECG88 tubes for something better or you'll miss a lot of the sonic qualities of the player! So if you own a Tjoeb and still use the Jan Philips tubes, go find a matched pair of nice(New Old Stock) tubes. BUT be careful with the expensive, much praised Siemens E288CC tubes! They sound quite bright in the Tjoeb 4000, and like a lot of the Siemens-Halske tubes, they are not as good as often said and certainly not everybodies taste. Try Amperex, Philips SQ and Miniwatt or Mullard.(Ecc88,E88ccE188cc,6DJ8,6922,7308 types). Even the Sovteks can be nice.

The same can be said of the standard opamp which still is in place in my Tjoeb. This Opa 604 from BurrBrown is proven by a dutch audio-engineer to be one of the worse sounding opamps used in audio-gear,oeps! The more expensive BB opa 627 is much better. Hope to change mine for something better very soon! Changing the opamp is very easy cause its placed in a socket. This is not an option when your Tjoeb has the upsamplerboard or you have plans buying one in the future cause the upsampler uses the sockets of standard opamps and has its own dedicated opamp.

Customer Service

Very good. A friend of mine got a second hand Tjoeb '99 and some troubles were solved due to excellent free advise from AH! in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

Similar Products Used:

Sony CDP505Es, modified Creek CD60, Arcam CD72, Marantz CD5000

My system; Sony TA3ES amplifier/Musical fidelity A1, Dynaudio Contour 1.1 with Ocos cable, QED Qunex2 interconnect

Detail, delicacy, slam, smoothness, involvement and better than average soundstage.

Poor display.. flimsy chassis. (Needs ropecaulk and deadening panels.. easy to do.)

I purchased the Ah Njoe Tjoeb 4000 largely because of the high praise it recieves from users on several sites. Over time I have grown to appreciate the subtlety that tubes can provide. It is a fact that tubed equipment can give additional headaches but they provide opportunities to contour the sound for a sort of easy mod too. The Ah Njoe Tjoeb is already a hot rodded commercial player, but with upsamplers, tubes, op-amps etc., the player becomes an audiophile's haven for tweakdom. I have done little to the player, but I have come to appreciate its qualities so much that during a period when the player broke, I found that I could not return to my Sony ES CD player because the sound seemed so lifeless and dull compared to the Ah. The Ah is not short on bass , detail nor extention. However the player does seem to take quite a while to open up when new. The final result for me has been that the Ah is involving, smooth, and detailed, and has punch or slam. It is quite a bargain as audiophile products go, and now has received such wide aclaim that even Stereophile mag has it as a recommended component. It's reputation is well deserved. I tried the original Marantz player on which the Ah is based and let me say that I found the original flat. The evolved Ah is nothing like a stock unit and has led me into learning to hear more as I have spent time with it. Now, Upscale Audio and Kevin Deal are as pleasant to deal with as the the Ah is to own. As I said I did have a problem with the player after the warrantee expired. Kevin treated me as if I paid a few grand for the player. He sent me components to try out so that I could swap them out in order to diagnose the problem. The cost is much less than it would be to send the unit and pay for labor and shipping and insurance. The price I paid to fix my own unit was so little that it was laughable. Big cudos to Kevin, and many thanks.

Similar Products Used:

Just other Cd players. Most of them in the under $1,000 range are not anything to rejoice about.

With the right tubes and the upsampler, truly top-level audiophile sound.

Flimsy cabinet. Cheap CD player look.

I reviewed Tjoeb 4000 CD player on Audio Review shortly after I first bought it about 3 or so years ago, but since then, about 2 years ago, I upgraded with the upsampler, powercord and Tjoeb feet. Also, I have done a lot of tube rolling and I thought I would pass on my experience with various tube types. First, I would say the upsampler transforms this player into a truly audiophile product, greatly increasing the soundstage and providing far better top to bottom sound. Bass and highs are more detailed and the mids really open up. Without the upsampler, it's merely a good sounding CD player, but there are some China imports that are much better sounding at the "basic" 4000 price point. Simply put, the upsampler is a must have upgrade. With respect to the other upgrades, the powercord seemed to bring more immediacy to the sound and a quieter background. I think it's worth the price. The Tjoeb feet on the other hand, are not worth it, doing very little to still the vibrations from the flimsy Marantz-sourced cabinet. Instead of the feet, I would recommend buying Audioquest Sorbothane Gel Big Feet. In fact, what I did was sandwich the CD player between two sets of Sorbothan feet, adjusting the shelves on my stand to put slight pressure on both sides. This really helped. Lastly, the subject of tube rolling. When I bought this player from Kevin Deal of Upscale Audio, he told me that the tubes are a buffer in this player and really peform the function of "flavoring" the sound, but that they do make a difference. With that in mind, note that the types of tubes that will sound good here are not necessarily the same as those that would really sing in your tube pre-amp. I tried the following tubes: Siemens E188CC goldpins (70's vintage, radar select), Siemens & Halske E88CC, Amperex 7308 (US), Amperex 6922 (US), Mullard CV2493, Mullard E188CC, and Sylvania 7308 (60's, D-Getter, goldpin, lab grade). I didn't even give the stock Philips 6922 steel pins a chance, so I have nothing to report on their sound. The Siemens E188CC and Sylvania tubes were too neutral, almost disappearing to the point of just not doing anything for the sound. Bass was very tight with both, though. It was nearly the same thing with the S&H E88CC, tight bass and neutral to the point of not giving any flavor, but I did get a little nicer, smoother, midrange. Both of the Amperex tubes sounded very nice, smooth with a great soundstage, in fact, the best soundstage of all of the tubes. But they were a little on the cool side, lacking warmth and that sweet tube sparkle. (By the way, I could not detect a difference in the sound of the 6922 vs. the 7308 in this circuit. So, if you're inclined to go with Amperex, save some bucks and go with the 6922). Lastly, the Mullards. These are the winners in my book for this particular CD player. They added body and warmth to the sound and had that wonderful Mullard midrange. Bass was not quite as good as with the more neutral tubes, and the soundstage was not as good as the Amperex tubes, but those wonderful mids more than made up for it. I wound up leaving the CV2493's in, but did not find any real difference between the CV2493 and E188CC. In fact, they appear to be the same tube. (If you are swayed by my review that CV2493's are the best, please note that there are at least three different types of this tube, one made in Holland, essentially a Philips E188CC, and two made in England. One of the English-made ones has a great deal of midrange depth, but is a bit light on bass. The one that worked for me, was the one most like the Mullard E188CC). On the rating I am giving this player, please note that I am comparing it with CD players that are generally within its price range, at about $1,000 with the upsampler.

Tweakability, tube rolling, smoothness, "analog sounding", great sound overall

flimsy cabinet, little lack of rythm and pace

I bought the player 2 years ago directly in Eindhoven with upgraded powercord, feet and opamps. I was always annoyed by the "cd-sound", a little harsh, sopranos shouting at me, stradivaris with steel strings etc. I bet you know.Before I had a Marantz 63 ki with even more upgrades, but it was hell! I was not willing and able to spend 5000 bucks to get rid of this.IMO most of all hifi gear is horribly overpriced, but thanks to our chinese friends and all the distributors there and their homepages we can realize, that only a fraction of the price is correct value. So now to Ah!. The price/sound relation is great! It is not really cheap, but worth every cent.Finally I can enjoy music of all kinds, classical, jazz, pop and also the many many bad recorded cd`s.Lets face it: most of them are bad recorded, and so I would need a friendly player, which is detailed and smooth and musical. Exactly like the Ah! It is so good that it deserves very good surrounding, with my 300b amp it is singing glouriously. No harshness, space, resolution, atmosphere instead.Seems to be a great match with tube amps. I don`t want to talk about bass, mids, treble, because right now I`m just listening to music. Its all there, don't worry. If something is still wrong in the system, these questions occur, with this player you can forget about this, especially after installing the upsampler, which is a must! Without it is a good player, with upsampling its a different league! Also the tubes, although they are only a buffer stage,are nice to play with. I ended up with e288cc from valvo (red series), in my ears they are even better than the recommended e288cc from Siemens, very warm, detailed and coherent.The stock philips tubes are bad, sorry. And its possible to upgrade the player even more, and for those who can solder its worthn trying.Its the small yellow ero coupling caps and the wima output caps swallowing much of the dynamics and fine detail. I replaced them with Mundorf tinfoils, there is little space but it works. After this mod the sound was getting much more open, detailed, dynamic(bass!) and subtle. I also shunted all the powersupply caps with small 3900 pf silver mica caps, which brought out even more whomp in the bass and more of all the other goodies. One cheap and easy mod is to put a round thin(3 mm) piece of felt under the big transformer and two smaller ones under the screws of the smaller one. Keep the grounding cable grounded!The result is not small, those transformers vibrate like hell! The whole board is swinging, which makes the reading of the disks more difficult.Of course you will loose warranty, but I did all this after a year. Now I´m absolutely happy with the unit and I`m not looking for something else,maybe there are better players, but for shure they are more expensive. Especially voices are very seductive now, its great with all acoustic instruments and great for classical music lovers.One little weakness is that the rythm and pace is a bit less involving compared to my turntable, but its a linn with loads of pace! So its a player for music lovers who dont care so much for the chassis, who want to spend a reasonable amount of money for a very good performance. Highly recommended!

Similar Products Used:

marantz cd 63 ki signature cambridge d300