Micromega Stage 3 CD Players

Micromega Stage 3 CD Players 

DESCRIPTION

1-bit bitstream D/A conv., CDM-12.4 laser mech.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 84  
[Jan 12, 2021]
Kynnar


Strength:

An incredibly transparency, combined with a wide soundstage with precise placing of instruments and great treatment of transients; with an effortless, non-fatiguing, natural sound across a range of music (including classical, orchestral, voice, jazz and rock) make this player an incredible deal in audiophile gear. My system pairs it with - Krell KAV-300i: the original 1996 version, converted into a power-amp; Lexicon MC-8: connected via 'raw-input' mode as a pre-amp; Reference 3A Royal Master speakers: previous reference of the Ultra High Fidelity (UHF) magazine; Madison Audio Lab: as power amp / pre-amp interconnect, and speaker cables; Atlas: CD player / pre-amp interconnect; If you can find it, this is an incredible CD player for those long, enjoyable and non-fatiguing listening sessions that make you re-discover your record collection.

Weakness:

Problematic CD loader mechanism - that sometimes closes the CD tray before you can take the CD out, or put a new one in.

Price Paid:
$650
Purchased:
Used  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Feb 25, 2019]
Vladimir


Strength:

With little upgrade I have very serious music with lot details. I did not seen anything good like this new Micromega 3.

Weakness:

I use one of the best DAC ever with Micromega. It is Karans 10K$ DAC.

Purchased:
Used  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Sep 27, 2013]
Tod
Audio Enthusiast

I bought second hand omega 3 for eur 110 !!!! What a deal!!! it is true the buttons should be reparied and open*close mechanism works terribleand looks cheap, but the sound is worth still USD 1500 and more! Nice "vinyl like" sound. Amaising midrange and perfectly balansed soundstage.Just perfect bargain!!!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 10, 2008]
kostasgr
AudioPhile

Strength:

vinyl sound

Weakness:

must run 30min for absolute sound

my stage 3 is perfect.for the money

Similar Products Used:

rotel r61 harman kardon hd970

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jun 28, 2004]
mjcmt
AudioPhile

Strength:

Musical

Weakness:

Lean w/ average detail for model year

This is a very musical player, especially concidering the 1994 year. It is not very good at retrieving micro details that position musicians in there proper place and provide a 3D soundstage. I think the current crop of CDP's have better information retrieval. The sound is a bit dated but the heart of the music does come through and that is why it is so musical. It can be a bit lean but is very clean w/o hash or harshness. It reminds me of the Linn Karik and Majik 1 bit players. Yes the drawer can be problematic, nothing a bit of grease can't cure, not worth complaining about. Remember this is an older unit at an excellent used price if you are a budget hunter. Ther is one oddity to be aware of, the firmware is old so this player want's to try to read the computer information on enhanced cd's by adding an extra track to the cd and trying to play it, yielding a hideous noise. At this point none of the keys operate except the track back space key. It is unnerving when it happens and it will unravel you. I don't know if the stage 6 solved this issue. All in all it is a musical player for the model year but I can't help but think you will do better with a more current CDP year '99 and newer, especially the 24 multibit players.

Similar Products Used:

Linn Karik III, Rotel RCD 975, and Jolida JD 100 CDP's. Used with AE3 DJH tube pre, Linn Klout power, Homegrown speakers similar the Monitor audio silver series.

OVERALL
RATING
3
VALUE
RATING
3
[Feb 07, 2004]
bubbles
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

powerful,sweet,non fatiging,great looks minamilist.

Weakness:

open/close button has got tempermental after 8 years

I would ignore the xenophobic comments regarding this player,because this type of comments could make you miss a exellent and rewarding second hand buy.My Micromega has had no problems at all and it is now in its 8th year!!!.It started as a stage 1,it blew into the weeds the marantz cd63se,which was all the rage at the time,the sound was a massive improvement,power,musicality,were there in spades.I then changed it to a stage 2,I only noticed a slight gain in improvements with this upgrade.I then converted the stage 2 into the drive transport,DAC combo.WOW!!! was I knocked out of the ability of this combo,at last cd was beginning to sound respectable.The scale of the player was imense,vocals dead bang in the centre, when you could here all the expressiveness in the voices the emotion the singer was singing with,the soundstage took on a extra dimension,in width,it was stunning,you could listen for hours as the player is smooth warm and nonfatiging,it simply played the tunes full of emotion with a analouge feel. The treble is very smooth and refined,doesnt leave your teeth on edge or the local canine population barking,the midrange is so naural,inviting and excels at vocal reproduction,the bass is deep and times well. I have used this combo with Audiolab amps,and copland,and the sound still impresses,and even today it takes alot of searching to find a better sounding cd player,so to get one cheap as chips on the second hand market makes it a real bargin.

Similar Products Used:

marantz cd63,cd63se,rotel 970.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 03, 2003]
epiphany
AudioPhile

Strength:

Musical, liquid and natural sounding, vinyl-like, smooth, excels at imaging and soundstage depth/width. Not hyper-detailed or forward/bright (which some people may prefer,but I do not).

Weakness:

Reliability, but lubrication not that difficult. Lacks the last bit of treble air.

It seems fairly well known that these micromega players have transport problems related to the lubricant drying out. Because of this these players are seriously cheap and a great deal on the used market. Well, lubricating the transport is fairly easy. Requires a T10 torx bit and some synthetic lubricant (silicon, lithium). Instructions can be found here: http://sites.ecosse.net/chunky/frames/micromega.htm The good thing is that these micromega players are quite excepetional sounding. After futily trying to find an SACD player that sounds good on CD's, I am going to keep this around just for CD playback. It's affordable enough that I don't have to choose between an SACD player with average CD performance or a good CD player with no SACD. For example, the stage 2 is certainly better at CD than the Sony s9000es.

Similar Products Used:

Cal Icon mkII, Cal Alpha/Delta, Sony dvp s9000es, Marantz CD17, myryad, wadia, simaudio

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[May 19, 2003]
Ron Anderson
AudioPhile

Strength:

Great sound and fantastic looks.

Weakness:

None.

This is a stunning CD player, the more I use it the better it sounds. It is one of the few CD players that does not sound harsh. It also looks fantastic. These are tremendous buys on the used market.

Similar Products Used:

I have a McIntosh and 3 Rotels and none of them come close to this player.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 15, 2003]
Vegetableman
Audio Enthusiast

OK.As a follow up I must point out that I have sorted out my problem of the DAC rejecting 10% of my CD collection. I was running the CD player directly through the DAC with a digital connection and then out into my amp.In total frustration i bought some ecosse interconects so tha, when a disc was rejected I could switch the DAC off and play the CD through another amp input, via the usual inter connect cables. Darwin only knows why, but when I added the cables, all my problems stopped. I still listen to CD's via The DAC/Digital output, but by putting the interconnects from the CD into the tuner input of my amp,it has caused the DAC to read every CD.CD'rs everything.VERY odd indeed. If i switch between the DAC and the interconect out puts, you can tell a big difference in quality, so it's not as though I'm hearing the same reproduction via the DAC.This is all very odd, I cant explain it at all.Maybe the fact that I had no 'standard' interconnects plugged into the CD player put the whole thing out of balance.But there you have.Sorted.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 11, 2002]
ian markham
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Detailed, sweet, great with vocals especially female. Not too Hi-fi

Weakness:

Makes poor recordings sound unlistenable

Had heard about this cd player in magazines. Bought it without hearing before. This sound compared to my previous player marantz cd 52mk2 was so much more detailed and 3d. Instruments became lifelike and you can almost touch certain instruments such as organs. Have had no problem with skipping, but if it does it useually means it needs a laser clean or greasing of the transport. I am very happy with the sound. My system is Spendor sp2/2 speakers and an el34 based valve amp.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 84  

(C) Copyright 1996-2018. All Rights Reserved.

audioreview.com and the ConsumerReview Network are business units of Invenda Corporation

Other Web Sites in the ConsumerReview Network:

mtbr.com | roadbikereview.com | carreview.com | photographyreview.com | audioreview.com