Ok folks, I'll keep this short (well, I'll try). The AH!Tjoeb 99 JUST SINGS! The only equivalent sound that I have heard was from a Meridian player (can't remember the model number) that was part of a system perhaps costing a fortune (the B&W Nautilus speakers, Mark Levinson amps/preamps, etc.) in a really high class hi-fi showroom in Tokyo.
I got my Tjoeb 99 on Thursday evening and have been listening to it ever since. My immediate reaction is that my speakers have come alive -- the whole thing sounds so much more musical. The bass is fuller, the treble and midrange are not as shrill as my previous machine (a Sony CDP-XA55ES that I paid about $800 in Japan about three months ago). The music is much more warmer/richer/fuller (whatever you want to call it) and not as fatiguing as before. Anyway, I am still "breaking in" the machine -- stayed up till almost 3 am the last couple of nights just listening to my old CDs. It seems my house had a lot of guests the last couple of nights -- specifically, Diana Krall, Al Jarreau, Shirley Horn, Dianne Reeves, Holly Cole, Ella Fitzerald,... I kept picnhing myself to make sure they weren't there in the room with me.

Well, you get the message. Even if you don't, get the AH!Tjoeb 99 and give it a listen yourself. YOU WON'T REGRET IT, PERIOD. Believe me when I say that our friends from the Netherlands have really got something good here.

One more comment: the service from Herman van den Dungen at Hifiwinkel at Eindhoven is absolutely first-rate -- 10 plus stars for the service and the meticuluous care with which he followed/tracked my shipment. Thanks for all the help Herman, and your machine is a BEAUTY. A couple of minor irritations (though it has nothing to do with the music) -- the build quality of the Marantz looks and feels cheap (wonder how long it will last) and the clicking sound between the tracks is quite audible even if placed inside a audio cabinet. BUT, the output sure is magical...

Associated Equipment:

Amp - Carver A-760X
Preamp/Processor - Denon AVC-A1D (called the AVR 5700 DTS in the US, but without the receiver)
Speakers: NHT 2.5is (main - soon to be replaced by the 3.3s), 1.5s (rear) and Audio Center 1 (center)
CD Player - Sony CDP-XA55ES (sorry); make that a AH!Tjoeb 99 now - (btw, anybody interested in buying a 3 month old XA-55ES)?
Cables: Monster interconnects, Tara Labs Omni Prism Speaker wire (the weak link in the system right now, will replace with Nordost Red Dawn or Nordost SPM Reference interconnects and speaker wires soon).

Overall, five stars (wish I could give more) without any reservation.

P.S.: Herman, where do I send the beers? (Herman knows what I'm talking about)!

GET TJOEBED and HAPPY LISTENING!

For two months now I own the Tjoeb 99. I bought it together with a Krell 300i. It's an understatement to say that it's a enormous improvement compared to my old 'stuff'.
What can be addressed to the Tjoeb 99 is hard to say because I purchased both components at the same time. Still I can say something. Assuming the Krell to be good and therefore passing everything through neutrally, the Tjoeb '99 is the main factor for what can be heared. Well, that is a lot.

My musical interest mainly goes to classical. The first thing that comes in mind is musicallity and natural sound: the sound has depth, instruments are well-located in the soundstage and even depending on the recording (not on the CD-player) you can hear the environment where the recording is done.

It's a discovery while going through my CD collection: with Haydn's cello-concerts you suddenly hear the difference between the solist and the orchestra. Listening to organ music shows the position of the different positivs very well. You'll hear the backpositiv very easy in front of the headwork. After two months of regular listening I am still amazed: how beautiful a music-recording can be!

I own a Tjoeb'99 since the 10th of April. I was looking for a budget CD player after being "fed up" by my unreliable Micromega Stage 2 (which I still think is a pity). Both Ferry and Frank suggested trying a Tjoeb'99, a standard Marantz, treated by Frank.
Somewhat sceptical I plugged the player into my system (Audiolab 8000 C+P, Transparent Plus range cabling, Sonus Faber Signum). What you recognize immediately is the openness and the deep bass the player is producing. The midrange is a little laid back and higher frequencies are sharp. It was clear that the player still had to be played-in. In the weeks to follow I kept the Tjoeb '99 playing as much as possible, and had to get used in the meantime to the "on" "off" clicking between the tracks. After three weeks I took the CD "Baby" by Yello and played the songs "Ocean Club" and "On the run". The first track made me sit rightup in my chair. The way the room was filled with the sound of brass (sometimes electronic) instruments, the snapping of the fingers and the touching voice of the "story teller", everything felt so real so "live". Then "On the run", a song known as "demo track". The power of percussion, the speed and the changing in dynamics, nothing could embarrass the CD player. Could it be that I had a real jewel in my system?? Let's take another step. I put the CD "Door" of Slagerij van Kampen in the machine and started to listen. This percussion group is filled with dynamics, changes in speed and unexpected movements. I enjoyed the ease with which the player -in combination with the rest of the system- played the different songs. The intensity of the bass, detail in the higher frequencies, even the neighbours wondered what was happening. A number of CD's followed. Titanic II with "An Irish party in Third Class" really gave you the idea of being in a dark room on a ship. "Vaarwel" of Frank Boeyen could be heard in every detail, including the dry sound of the base drum. Even "Amused to death" by Roger Waters, a CD recorded in Q sound and often used as reference CD for High End systems, got warm, spacey and almost unrealistic if you closed your eyes. I can tell you that I went to bed very late...

Now, after 6 weeks, the player is really played in, and I can tell you that the Tjoeb '99 is worth every guilder; even when it would cost double the price.

I have got nothing more to say than: "go and listen to it, dream away on a stream of amazement, musicality and disbelieve."

Frank, Ferry, and all their colleagues launched a product on the market, that will gradually conquer the audio-world. There is one minor point - in fact it came from my girlfriend. She said: Since this player is so cheap, I assume you are going to purchase that Krell Integrated earlier then expected? Indeed, I might...

A very satisfied audio enthusiastic ... and again thanks guys for the "advice".

I'm going to make this short and sweet. Everything I like about the Tjoeb 99 has already been said, so I don't want to repeat too much. Just read all the other reviews. The Tjoeb 99 arrived one week ago, I am very impressed with it. IT SOUNDS GREAT and with every passing days it just gets better. And for the price it can't be beat. I'm even going to buy another one with all the upgradesand place the first one in my bedroom system. Some people have mentioned the clicking sound, but I have found it to be of no concern. It doesn't effect the sound quality and since it is placed inside a cabinet, can't be heard.

Beautiful dynamic and open sound. Compared with my last cd-player, the Marantz CD63KI Signature, an unbelievable improvement. I cannot understand why Marantz is not able or doesn't want to do this themself.

THE TJOEB IS WORTH TEN TIMES THE ASKING PRICE, MY HUSBAND AND I HAVE NEVER ENJOYED AN AUDIO PRODUCT SO MUCH, PURE MUSIC.IF ANYONE WISHES INFORMATION ON THIS GREAT PRODUCT PLEASE E-MAIL DENNIS AT
SAMDJ@GREATLAKES.NET

I have compared the Tjoeb 99 to the Marantz CD80 (my well known player), a Marantz CD 17 and an Arcam 9. The Tjoeb appeared to be the one with the best sound. Finally, I listened to the player where I could hear a sound improvement over my eight year old beast. My experience as an engineer in the IC manufacturing I know a lot has improved in the digital area, but I couldn't hear that back so far. My conclusion is that the analogue part has the highest contribution in sound quality. This sound quality of the Tjoeb matches exactly with the engineering done with the original Marantz; voila. It has a magnificent price/quality ratio too. This is a reason why I don't dare to sell my CD 80 at a fair price. Some final notes: In order to open the cover you have to use a torque 10 screwdriver. Suggestion for the 2000 model is a decreased mechanical relay sound what can be heard at the beginning and end of every track.

At the beginning of 1999 I was looking for a new CD-player. I sniffled in magazines back and forth and finally I travelled to DE HIFISTUDIO in Weerdinge, were I discussed which choice would be the best. Here I met with the Tjoeb 98. After a short listening-session with comparable equipment I have at home, I had to admit that the player was really sounding very good. In the weekend of 20-23 February 1999 I took the Tjoeb 98 home in order to listen to it for a while. From the very beginning it sounded like .... well actually, like nothing! There was only music and nothing else! Voices and instruments performed in a relaxed, natural and easy way. After having enjoyed it for a few days, I brought it back and ordered the improved Tjoeb 99 version. Fortunately I could come back in two days and take the new one home. Since that very moment the Tjoeb 99 is playing music at the same spot and how! There is coherence, involvement and at most musical emotion. Never any listening-fatigue from playing CD's. And that for such a reasonable price! And yes, the greatest compliment for the Tjoeb 99: Since it's playing in our living room, the children have never asked to turn off the music! That used to be different before.

With the assistance of Eef Rotman, the "high-end professor" from Almelo, a number of amazing things in the field of hifi-reproduction happened during the last 6 months in my home. But I was totally flabbergasted when he introduced the Tjoeb '99 to me. Before I was using vinyl most of the time (90%). But since I fully own the Tjoeb '99, that has changed a lot. Every day I am amazed how rich, full, soft and pure the reproduction is with this player.
I really wonder, wich kind of innovations I am up to, but the Tjoeb '99 looks like to be a buy for a very long period. In the meantime this marvelous machine has been introduced to tall my friends. I wish everybody a lot of success with future developments and thank you very much for this special creation.

After many years of pleasure with my old Marantz CD-75 DX, I decided that the moment arrived to buy a new CD-player. Because I liked it a
lot, I started looking at some Marantz-stuff. From someone I got the
advise, that a very good modified player was offered by De Hifiwinkel
with an unbeatable price/quality ratio. At first sight I was rather
sceptical, because I couldn't imagine that such a large difference
between digital sounds could exist. After purchasing the Tjoeb I had to
adjust my opinion quite a bit.

At playing the first CD, the sound appeared to be much more sparkling
than I had ever heard before. The depth and clearness of the music was
so much more than I was used to. After having compared the sound several
times with the one from my previous player, it appeared that this Tjoeb
has been a great buy.

As minor points I noticed, that the noise-level is quite higher than
that of my previous player. But at a normal listening level (so not at
high volume with quiet passages) it didn't bother me at all. Only the
relay-click between tracks can be a little disturbing, but maybe one day
they find a solution for that too.

Conclusion: an excellent cd-player for a very affordable price!