Sound, Build, Quiet in changing discs, the ability to change discs during play

No power on from remote, the scaning of discs when you turn it on

I really like the CC-4000, I was looking for a player with HDCD, but found that HDCD is not a big deal and is really just the circuitry of the player. This player plays HDCDs as well as any HDCD player that I have listened to, and I have listened to MANY that were much more expensive than the cc-4000. The changing is very quiet, no noise.
The sound is great! The only thing that bothers me, as far as time goes, is the player scans all 5 discs before it allows you to play a disc to know the lengths of the discs etc. I guess you could go ahead and play a disc but I do not want to interupt the machine.

Similar Products Used:

None

good-looking front panel, carousel rotation speed

small display (cannot see CD # from a distance), remote, shuffle feature, rewind to previous song, volume level, hiss heard thru speakers when it's on, pause does not always stay paused, probably more...

I must say, for a $300 cd player, this is not what I expected. I picked one up at a local dealer going out of business, got it for $225. I assumed it would be a quality, full-feature player seeing as how it has the Marantz name. I was wrong.

The first thing I noticed is that the remote does not have the CD numbers on it to allow you to choose cd #5 instantly without having to rotate through the carousel. And, if you are more than 4 feet away, you cannot tell which number you are on to begin with. Also, the player is slow to respond to the remote as compared to all others I have ever used.

Soon after, I discovered that if you want to rewind to the beginning of the song currently playing, you can't! The damn thing goes to the beginning of the previous song. If you want to go to the beginning of the current song, you have to type the number in on the 0-9 keypad on the remote.

Soon after that, I discovered that it will not stay paused in all situations. Can't remember all situations right now, but I think it starts playing when you skip from one cd to the next.

The shuffle feature only shuffles from cd to cd, you cannot shuffle songs within one cd (Technics allows shuffle within a cd, and from cd to cd).

The buttons on the front panel are in very small print, and the gold color blends into the black cabinet. This is good for aesthetics, but not very functional.

I found today that there is a hiss coming out of my speakers when the damn thing is powered on. I am using the coax output. The hiss is off and on as the carousel rotates at power-up, but when it is done reading the discs, the hiss is always present. It's not my components, because the Technics did not hiss at all while connected, and the hiss comes and goes as the carousel rotates. It's definitely feedback from the cd player. Fortunately, the hiss does not get louder if the volume is turned up, and you cannot hear it when you step a few feet back.

Speaking of volume, this player has a volume adjustment, from zero to 20. Not quite sure why. The irritating thing about it is that it defaults to 20 when it is powered down and back up. I would like to keep it at 10 (mid-point), but I can't.

This unit is beefier than the technics, but seeing as how it's all 1's and 0's being transmitted to the receiver, how much better can it really sound than a cheap-o model?

Based on price and features, I'll take my Technics over the Marantz any day. The $120 Technics actually has an optical output! Maybe I can dump this thing in a garage sale some day.

I am using Marantz MA-700 monoblocks, and am very pleased with their performance so far, so I am not trashing Marantz, just this product...

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Technics ($120 model from Best Buy)

Excellent sound quality, fast disc change time, coaxial digital out, good build quality, plays CD-R/W, 40 track programming, fade and volume work for both analog and digital outs

Display and ergonomics not as good as Sony, no 1 disc mode, no delete memory, no disc naming, some secondary functions only work via front panel

I decided to put a dedicated CD player in my second system so I moved the Sony 515 there to use as a transport and let the EP9ES handle the D/A conversion. When I got the 515 three years ago I chose it for features. It has just about every feature you can imagine (most of which I do actually use), but I didn't worry about sound quality because I knew it would act only as a transport. Well, the quality of the player does matter even when used as a transport. I found this out when I added a DVD player to my system shortly after I purchased the Sony 515, and found myself playing CDs on the DVD player more often than the CD player. So when I decided to buy a new CD changer for my main system, all I really cared about was a coaxial digital out, time edit, and peak search. I thought my needs were simple but as it turns out, this drastically limited my choices.

Since I was pretty happy with the Sony 515, other than not having a coax digital out (optical only) and the slow disc change time in Shuffle Play mode (12-15 sec.), I first looked at the ES line. As an aside, the owner's manual for the EP9ES processor recommends using the coax digital in for CD. In other words Sony knows coax sounds better than optical, yet none of their changers have it! As it turns out, only Marantz and Sherwood Newcastle make 5-disc changers that have everything I wanted. I would have liked to try the Sherwood because it has the delete-track feature, but no dealers in my immediate area sell Sherwood. I didn't want to buy one on line in case I wanted to return it. So Marantz was my only option. I do like Marantz though. I have several other Marantz components in my main system and they all deliver substantial bang-for-the-buck. The CC4000 is no exception.

I knew it would sound better than the Sony just because of its coaxial digital out, but the improvement in sound quality goes far beyond what I expected! Those who say transports don't matter are just plain wrong. The bass is much more defined and extended. This is NOT a subtle difference. Remember, they are both being used as transports so the levels are matched. Also I am using a $45 optical cable vs. a $10 coax "video" cable. The Marantz weighs much more than the Sony and most of the weight is in the right-rear corner (big power-supply, obviously). I think this has a lot to do with the improvement. I was also very impressed with the internal DACs. They sound better than the Current-Pulse DACs in my opinion. They provide just as much detail but without any of the grain that sometimes can be heard through the EP9ES. The Denon AVD-2000's converters have just a bit more treble extension, so I will continue to use it. But I'll put it this way: if I didn't already have (very slightly) better DACs, I could happily live with the sound of the CC4000 as a player.

I don't want to go on and on so I'll let the strengths and weaknesses columns speak for themselves. The CC4000 sounds great and that is after all the most important virtue. For value I have to rate it a 5 because it cost me exactly the same amount ($279) as my Sony did 3 years ago. I did listen to other $300 changers such as the Sony CDP-CA70ES and Denon 370, and found the CC4000 the better sounding player. Over all I feel it deserves a 4. The perfect player for me would have the sound and build quality of the Marantz with the display and features of the Sony. If you are considering this changer I highly recommend you audition one at home, I think you will be impressed.

Similar Products Used:

Sony CDP-CE515, DACs in my Denon AVD-2000 (20 bit Burr Brown) and Sony SDP-EP9ES (Current Pulse) surround pre-amps