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Submitted by
George Stolle
a Audio Enthusiast
from Boston, MA, USADate Reviewed: March 8, 2003
Strengths: Great industrial design. Lots of inputs and outputs. Good sound. Ability to swap out 2 CDs while one CD still playing is a very cool feature.Weaknesses: Lousy engineering. CD player skips and sometimes doesn't play at all, even with grown-up careful use.Bottom Line: I bought my Denon UD M5 in 1998 and for a year or so it was awesome. Then the CDs started to skip, not track well, and finally stopped playing altogether. It still functions fine as a 30-watt receiver with lots of components plugged in. However, if I'd wanted a component setup that's what I would have purchased.
6 months after I bought my UD M5, a friend of mine went out and bought one also. His is in even worse shape than mine, since it's got a CD jammed in it so firmly that the drawer won't open.
Naturally, readers will be thinking "Who are these cavemen beating up their stereos?" That's not it: my friend and I work too hard to be smashing up our semi-pricey stereos. These units are just really fragile and poorly engineered. (Yes, we know about cleaning etc, etc.) We've tried, but it doesn't help.
Both of us are in our late 30's and have each had a lot of equipment, but none of it has been as frustrating and fragile as our UD M5s have been. You can bet that neither one of us will be buying anything else from Denon.
Price Paid:
$600.00
Purchased At: Tweeter
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
wuub
a AudioPhile
from ParisDate Reviewed: July 2, 2002
Strengths: Easy to use.
Averagely good sound.
Independant CD trays.
All the connectix at the back allows you to use it as a good relay for the rest of your equiquementWeaknesses: Without the remote control too many options are inacessible... shameBottom Line: I found the unit in my building's garbage room...
I tried to fix it but no luck... so i got it fix for 60€. Apparently it was the power generator at the back that was damaged...
I tried it with 2 Kenwood Acoustic Speakers and the sound quality is pretty good... But it lacks of customizing sound functions to be qualified as a High standard stereo... but then again i haven't got the remote control with it so it might better than i can tell.
Price Paid:
$60.00
Purchased At: In the garbage
Similar Products Used: Pionner Diva...
Pretty much the same but the Diva is GORGEOUS!!
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Chuckd55
a Audio Enthusiast
from Date Reviewed: May 26, 2002
Strengths: Sounds natural. Not to bright.Weaknesses: Way too boxy sounding.Bottom Line: M5 speakers are VERY boxy and shut-in sounding. Maybe it's the lack of high end. Harmonics are good. Bass is good. Overall timber of instruments is good.
But I would NOT recommend this unit.
Either try the Denon with the bigger M50 speakers or else Yamaha with the bigger polished black speakers (to many model number to remember them all). Also this Yamaha plays really loud for a minisystem and I wouldn't turn volume past 10:00-11:00 o'clock without annoying people in the store. Even the Yamaha with the smaller wood speakers ($399 at Best Buys) would be better than the Denon M5.
Price Paid:
$499.00
Purchased At: J and R
Similar Products Used: Yamaha give best tradeoffs. Also 90 watt Panasonic for $149 at Circuit City worth auditioning. Onkyo with the bigger (10"??)speakers my third choice (sells for about $250 with the single CDP)
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Don
a Casual Listener
from Sydney, NSW, AustraliaDate Reviewed: November 2, 2001
Strengths: heavy bass, alot of inputs, optical input for MD, sub output.midrange. Good for movies.Weaknesses: the speakers (Australian model); remote control is poorly designed. Its very noisy when changing CD.Bottom Line: I was really pissed off with the remote control in the early days. It took me weeks to get used to it, even my partner does not know how to use the remote after more than a years we had it, except for basic funtions.
The sound is good, but not great. It lacks of high range i suppose. The display screen is small and does not show the total tracks of the cd you playing,and does not show ecliped tracks either. Well, but with that amount of money we cant expect much in Australia.
This is my first Denon system and it does not incourage me to try more denon.
Price Paid:
$350.00
Purchased At: local hifi store
Similar Products Used: JVC
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
griffin
a Audio Enthusiast
from dallas, tx, usDate Reviewed: May 21, 2001
Strengths: stout, well put together unit. headphone output is top notch. best sound under $300Weaknesses: not ergonomicly friendly, w/o instruction impossible to program.Bottom Line: First of all, my opinion doesn’t come from volumes of research or electronic wizardry. What it stems from, however, is purely extensive listening.
This unit sounds good, not great. The truth is, I purchased this unit thinking it was going to be substantially better than my old Sony cmt ex1. I was wrong. There is more low end extension and the headphone output is more detailed, but that’s all. The missions make this unit worth the purchase. This piece is definitely an over achiever for a desk unit. When the mission m5’s were hooked to my economy line Sony str de 835 receiver at home, they performed better than anticipated, gaining definition in the midrange. On the other hand, when I hooked my B&W 302’s to the Denon ud-m5, the presentation did get bigger, but the definition throughout the mid and lower frequencies stayed about the same. This led me to believe that if there is indeed, a stronger piece, it would be the speakers. When it’s all back together, the dm-5 does perform well and better than the likes of Aiwa and Sony.
In comparing the dm-5 to the NAD 1-40/jpw set up, I prefer the NAD set up. It has more definition but it is about the same range in frequency. Keep in mind that the difference between the two in price (msrp), is about $300, with the NAD being more. NAD seems more refined, when listening to it. The Dave Matthew's band was on display as if I was listening at home. In contrast to the denon presentation, it is a better than average desk unit.
The headphone output is this units saving grace. It is far better than that of the Sony cmt ex1. The denon effortlessly muscles my Sennheiser 580’s. Actually, when teamed with the Senn’s, The denon sounds even better than my Sony str de 835. For normal headphone listening, I currently use Grado sr125 w/ the Grado ¼ to 1/8 adapter. This combination seems too forward and bright. To remedy this, I plan to upgrade to the senn 600 and use the 580’s with the denon.
As others have stated before me, the changer is loud and the remote is awkward. Since the unit sits on my desk, I really don’t care.
My listening is not that widespread. I basically listen to jazz and hip/hop. Therefore, my opinion may be further obscure than that of main stream listeners.
Recommend this unit, I would. However, only at a discounted price. The $600 msrp is misleading as far as value. My opinion is also different from many more decorated audio writers who have listened to more expensive systems. Perhaps I am being too critical of this unit. It seems like a movie with an abundance of star power but not enough plot.
My star rating of this product is from a $600.
Price Paid:
$300.00
Purchased At: ebay
Similar Products Used: sony cmt ex-1, nad l-40 w/jpw speakers
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