None at this price

Very Very good CD-player. You have to use good interconnects to bring out the best of this player. When connected balanced the volume is more sensitive. I would describe this player as very musical en detailed, never causing listening fatigueness. I use it in combination with an Accuphase E-406v Amp, Straightwire Crescendo speakercable, Celestion Kingston speakers and a Yamamura M6000 interconnect. My system is very very musical with these components.

* Cohesive, self-assured, ultra-detailed yet relaxed sound * Build-quality * Cinch and balanced XLR-outputs

* Sounds way better when left on all the time * Display can be dimmed, but not switched off

Strictly speaking, this review is about a Marantz CD-16 D; but, being both visually and technically much closer -if not identical- to the CD-14 than to the original CD-16, you find it right here. At the time of writing, I've only used it for three days; but I feel confident enough to comment on it already. This is only my second-ever CD-player, having used a Denon DCD-1420 for 13 years which is now part of the bedroom-set. I've auditioned the Marantz at the previous owner's, using my own amplifier -Accuphase E-206; check my review on this site- and 'phones, a Stax Lambda/SRD-7 set. It didn't take me long to decide: The gap from a midrange-player from the late '80's to very near state-of-the-art from the late '90's proved to be huge. Once hooked-up in my set, I was initially impressed; but felt the player could/should still be a tad more relaxed in the upper-high range. Leaving the player on for 24 hours solved this: My advice is -as with all audio-equipment, as far as I'm concerned- to leave the player switched on all the time; this evens out the last few harsh edges in difficult recording-material and gives the Marantz an even better coherence and depth of soundstage. Soundstaging is one of its real strengts BTW; you can really pin-point individual instruments with amazing accuracy. Meanwhile, the player never sounds bigger than life; it has a relatively laid-back character in general -but, really, leave the thing switched on! It makes all the difference and probably accounts for the few less favourable reviews I've found on upper-range Marantz': They were probably auditioned "cold". This -or the current CD-14- is an expensive player; but ultimately worth the money -although I prefer pre-owned in general: The price I paid for the Marantz is unlikely to give you the same quality with a new player in this segment. If you're going to hand down the cash for a new CD-14; you have my recommendation. My value-rating is for the list-price; 5 stars for the price I've paid.

Similar Products Used:

Denon DCD-1420

One of the best cd player ever listened. Great image and liquid sound, perfect channel separation, solid presence of
the executors,surely one of the best analogic sources in commerce.J use it with preamplifier audio research vacuum tube, and power amplifier copland csa515. The result is a terrible power and great reproduction of the musical event.coupe de foudre surely.

Very smooth and natural sound. Simple and clean design.

None

I am very pleased with the CD-14 and recommend it highly. I listened to several comparable CD players equal or (much) greater in price and settled on the CD-14.
For the money, I believe this is quite the bargain in the high end of things.
Associated equipment:
Threshold SA/2
Threshold FET10
B&W 801 Series 2
Straightwire Serenade Speaker Cable
Custom Interconnects (more to follow on the interconnects)

Not the newest components, but very stable and capable of producing untold hours of satisfying music pleasure. On the horizon is a new pre-amp (probably a Roland and a pair of B&W 801 Nautilus). Thank you all for your honest and very helpful reviews.

This CD player, is one of the best Marantz ever build. It has thefeature of a balanced output. Now this is a true balanced output,
meaning that it is balanced from the DAC and all the way out.
If you can't use the balanced output, you might consider the CD17KI
istead, it does alot of the same just for less money. However IF you can
use the balanced output, you just have to own this machine.