Awesome sound, looks

Potential reliability probs. unless upgraded

If you can get one that has been upgraded,the Stage 3 or 6 (basically the same) will produce superb music for all types of listeners.

Further to the problems some have faced with these players, I finally got hold of some decent grease and fixed my machine. It now plays all discs at least as well as my other player (Creek CD60).

If, like I did, you want to know how to fix your player, I've put a rough howto on my site at http://geocities.com/chunkybigfootcom/frameindex_micromega.htm

Good luck!

Regarding Micromega: Only their ability to continue fooling their buyers.

Cheap, poor engineering, flimsy construction, no support whatsoever, arrogance and disdain for their customers, and a host of additional complaints. Avoid Micromega like the French are trying to avoid foot-and-mouth disease.

I submitted a review of a Micromega Drive 1 several years ago after a terrible experience with it and with the company. I periodically come back to these pages to see if people have wised-up on the purchase of this tinny/plastic, cheap, and unreliable piece of audio gear. Well, it seems Micromega is still in business (which for them appears to chiefly consist of duping their customers), and people are still buying their products. I find it amazing that so many of my music-loving bretheren seem to take for granted the inconveniences and bother and psychic stress that the Micromega product line produces. Some of you mention standard amounts of skipping and mechanical problems, and your wide variety of techniques of cleaning and fixes to make the product JUST DO WHAT YOU BOUGHT IT TO DO. One should not have to spend upwards of 1.5 K for the trouble that is described in the posts regarding the Micromega CD transports and players. Sure, its sound may be okay (or okay+), but at what cost (literal and figurative)? There are so many good products out there that provide much better sound, and reliability that is worlds apart from that characteristic of Micromega's. After I unloaded the Drive 1, I exchanged it for a Theta Pearl transport and it has performed flawlessly for over four years. No lubrication, no de-construction of drive mechanisms, no lens cleaning, no unplugging and re-plugging-in, no exotic liquids to get the thing to work, no ablutions and no incantations: Just open the drawer, put the CD in and listen to great sound. Don't assume inconvenience must be part of the audiophile experience. You pay good money, you must expect a similarly good product in return. No excuse will justify Micromega perpetrating its products on its audiophile public. Let Darwinian principles play-out and watch Micromega go the way of the Edsel, the XFL and Disco music. As presently configured and engineered, Micromega CD transports and players do not deserve your hard-earned money.

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My children's $10.00 "Toys R Us" beginner's toy CD player. In fact, even it is better than the Micromega Drive line of CD transports.

I just come across to visit audioreview site and wondering
what reviews on my Micromega Drive 2 + DAC, suprising me
that lots of negative on stage series, and mine Drive 2
transport was same Philips CDM 12.4

I bought the demo set of Micromega at 1997 CES Las Vegas and bring back to Taiwan, it keep playing 1 year without problem and then skipping track at certain section like others has, I did open case adding crease on Laser pickup guiding shaft, it cured somehow but not last longer than 3month. I was tired to open and fix it every 3 month.

I'm seeking help and luckly a friend introduced me a guy
he is really pro in all kind of Laser beam mechanism,
he took about one hour replacing one gear in 12.4 and
somewhat cleanning then it last until now about 3 years,
all I spent was 20 bucks only. shame on those Micromega
distributors technician or should blame CDM 12.4 mechanism
(assembly in Malaysia)?

Musical performance I would give 5 stars on DAC, but dirve
portion 2 star.

I must retract my earlier comment about retiring the stage 2..This is a wonderful player..Even if I replace it I will always keep my stage 2

Lovely rich 'turntabley' sound, looks.

Shoddy design/construction

After reading all the other comments on Micromega Stage players, I have to agree with most that they have a problem with skipping. However, this maybe due to the fact that the French CD player doesn't like my German (Thorens TD166mk6) turntable or English amp (Creek 4240) and speakers (B&W P5s) Frogs, eh? ;)

(I must point out that being Scottish I respect the ancient link between ourselves and the French, The Auld Alliance, and think that most anti-French feeling is English propaganda aimed at diverting attention from the nation that everybody loves to hate most :)

Sonically 5 stars
From an engineering standpoint, null point

If the bloody thing could play without skipping then I would up the final rating to 4.5 stars.

Will try the 'greasing' trick mentioned elsewhere on this page and report back.

natural,analogue sound.3D sound stage.

none sound wise,maybe remote control not classy enough.

Read with interest about stage players skipping,my own a(stage 2) player has been doing this for the past three years,espcially at end of disk,I thought it was the only one.Any way opened player up and lubricated door runners and (i think more importantly) lubricated lens dolly mechanism with some spray type lubricant,(it's the type with the "straw" type attachment that sticks out of the aerosol nozzel for careful delivery of lubricant)and what do you know,no more skipping thank you for yor help,had to let everyone who owns these wonderful players know.PS make sure you disconnect first and only attempt if you are confident about what you are doing and be careful of the lens.

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none

Detail

Plasticy buttons

Stage 1 :
The first one I got was plagued with problems.The replacement one I got has been fine ever since.Having said that,my friend worked in my local hi-fi shop and a repacement came easy, despite the number of other peple complaining at the time. The sound is good, although the main reason I chose the Stage 1 was to upgrade at a later date. Since Micromega went bust I have not had a chance to upgrade. So here's my plea - if anyone in the UK has a broken upgraded Stage 2/3/5/6 sitting doing nothing, I would be keen to get the upgrade module to give it a try ! I understand its a straight plug and play setup. Please e-mail me if ypu can help. Thanks

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Marantz CD52SE

I bought my Micromega Stage 3 in August 1994. It was still one of the first production models. It played flawlessly for one year, at which point it started skipping on all CDs and at random. I returned it (8 times in all!) to the distributor, who for the first few times told me there was nothing wrong. Then they explained to me that Philips had given the wrong specifications to Micromega about the drive mechanism (CDM 12.4), which caused Micromega to engineer a faulty EPROM (the chip that controls the drive). They changed the EPROM in my machine quite a few times, to no avail. Finally, they agreed to change the drive completely (which, by the look of it, probably cost about $30-50 to make- all plastic, not better than a cheap computer CD-ROM drive), which solved the problem. All this time, the distributor was rather unresponsive and seemed to be more concerned about selling more units than dealing with problems. As Mr. Kinsley mentions above, a company that does not stand behind its products. Recently, the player started to skip again. New trip to the distributor, who then told me that Philips had used the wrong grease on the rails of the drive mechanism (thus, same explanation as for Mr. de Kroon above), which tends to dry up and causes skipping. The change of grease solved the problem promptly, and Micromega decided to offer 1 more year of warranty, in addition to the original one. This is the least they could do. The sound is, however very good, with good resolution and details, non fatiguing in the long term. It is somewhat lacking in punch and dynamics, compared to good multi-bit players. The build quality is pretty flimsy for the price (look on the back: the rear panel does not even reach up to the top cover, so that there an empty space where the dust can go in). All in all, I would give it 2 stars. I will never ever buy Micromega again, and even less a player based on a Philips drive (e.g. Sonic Frontiers, Audio Research, Theta, and many others. Naim also uses them, but they stick to the CDM 9, which much simpler and seems more reliable)

Fantastic sound : smooth and very involving. Timing is first-rate and bass it tight and strong. And yes, I loved that wonderful transparant midrange, adsolutely delightful

Remote control layout is very messy and lack of coaxial out

Other than the mechanical fault of the transport, this player can do no wrong. When playing music, it never put a foot wrong. Timing is impeccable and it is able to string together a musical message that is so seductive that you will want to stay there and listen to the entire disc ..

I guess I am lucky to get a good unit. Mine is still working fine after 3 years and I played music on it for at least 5 hours a day.

I have tried to replace this player before and I have home-auditioned all the players listed above but none, yes I said none even came close. The beauty of this machine is that it is tonally very balanced, there is no emphasis on either end of the frequency, couple with a seductive midrange and great rhythm handling. I can use it to play all sorts of music ranging from Rock, pop, new age, jazz, heavy metal....no problem!!!

I guess it will take a very expensive player to dislodge this guy from my hifi rack.

No doubt, if you can get a prefect working unit without the tracking problem, this player fully deserves a 5 stars rating. There is a great chance this might be the last player you want to own.Mark my words for it!!!

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