Johnny Farm

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $275.00 from audiomarket

Summary:
Excellent CD Player.

Strengths:
Sound and quality. 5 cd.

Weaknesses:
non yet

Price Paid:  $179.00 from Cambridge Soundworks

Summary:
My Nakamichi MB2s starting having laser problems (occasional skipping) after 8 years, so I decided to buy a new changer. In side by side tests the Marantz is considerably more detailed and open. It's not as warm as the Nak, and less forgiving on bad recordings. All in all, I'm quite pleased with the player. System: Acurus A150 Power amp B&K Pro10mc preamp NHT 2.5 speakers Kimber PBJ (excellent match for this player) Apeture Wire speaker cable

Strengths:
Open, detailed. Good soundstage.

Weaknesses:
Not forgiving on bad recordings.

Similar Products Used:
Nakamichi, Denon, Sony, Luxman, Rotel

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Bay Bloor Radio

Summary:
That price is in Canadian $. Over the past two years I have been steadily modernizing and upgrading my HT components to the point where I now have a decent mid-line system, and an ear to match. The last component to be upgraded was the CD player. After living with an old 1987 Philips single CD player, I decided to get a changer. I had borrowed a friend's Sony changer for a while and liked the convenience of the carousell, and also the improved sound over the Philips. I decided on the Marantz CC3000, partly because of the looks, decent reviews, and the fact that it would match my SR6200 receiver. However, after getting this player and listening to it for a week, I returned it. Compared to the older Sony changer that had analogue Outs only (I forget the model number), the Marantz sounded thin and lifeless on most material (one exception was the Cowboy Junkies' Trinity Session, which sounded fine). Using the CC3000's Coaxial Out to my Marantz SR6200 improved the sound only slightly, but it still lagged way behind the old Sony changer. Looks like I'm getting a new Sony SCD-C222ES to try and recapture that Sony performance, and get SACD capability as well. The price of the CC3000 is attractive, but you get what you pay for.

Strengths:
Nice, fast, quiet carousell mechanism Looks good Lots of usefull features

Weaknesses:
Plastic face plate Thin sounding, lifeless on most material

Similar Products Used:
Sony, Philips CD players

Price Paid:  $288.00 from Commercial Electroni

Summary:
After my Sony CD player started to intermittently act up after 10 years of use, I decided to move up to a Marantz. Or at least I thought I was. From a side by side comparison between the Sony and the Marantz, I can say that the Sony is a better player. The Marantz has superior reproduction of the high frequencies and has a volume control on the remote whereas the Sony does not. That's about it for the Marantz. The Sony has better bass output, greater stereo separation and is vastly more user friendly and reliable than the Marantz. Remember, this is in comparison to a player that is half the price and a decade old. After 3 weeks of play, the Marantz started to rotate from disk to disk non-stop. The only way to end it was to shut off the power. This has happened twice. The display is unlegible from a distance of more than a few feet, the remote is of poor design and even the owner's manual is poorly written. To top it off, the Marantz Tech. support has proven to be quite inconsequential (i.e. no reply from tech. support). This gives one an indication of the support the manufacturer is willing to give to its product.

Strengths:
- Good high frequency reproduction - Volume control on remote

Weaknesses:
- Unreliable quality (carousel rotates non-stop) - User unfriendly (poor display, scans discs during power up and changing discs, no music calendar, no direct disk access, small buttons, etc.) - Inadequate bass output - Stereo separation not up to par with competition. - Extremely poor tech. support (3 yr warranty???) - Manual not as detailed as one would like.

Similar Products Used:
Sony

Price Paid:  $400.00 from A & B Sound

Summary:
I purchased this unit to utilize the multi-disk aspect in order to satisfy my wife's needs. I have it sitting below "my" cd player (Arcam CD72 DiVA) which is a highly acclaimed British player at triple the cost. To my dismay there is so little difference between the two players that to my ears at least that is indistinguishable. Maybe if I sat and really concentrated, played identical tracks on each player, switched back and forth between the two, I "may" find a broader, deeper, airier, (insert audiophile jargon here) but I haven't done that. Now I feel the need to throw more money at the Arcam and bring it upgrade it to the CD92...grrrr My system: Arcam CD72 Marantz cc3000 Bryston 3BST Marantz SR 19 KimberKable 8TC IXOS (high end interconnects) B&W CDM 9NT's/7NT's and centre channel Velodyne subs