Sweet, good bass,meed and higth. Choerence. etc.etc.etc. Music!!!

Volume setting.

Very good at the price. Now you can find at 500 $. Best with valv amp. Careful about signal cable, better silver types.

Similar Products Used:

NAD, CAMBRIDGE, ARCAM, MYRYAD, MARANTZ cd6000

Fantastic design, very well build quality, fantastic all-metal remote control. CD Text is a fine option. Mids are good.

Sounds cheap, like 400-500 EUR CD player. Bass is weak, no authority, highs lack details, the sound out of it is deeply uninvolving. CD mechanism (as I remeber, it is a next generation of Philips CDM12.3) is a cheap piece of junk.

This one was from my friend, it was 6 months old. Exchanged it for a Sony CDP-XA555ES. What a dissapoitment!!! It doesn't change sound over time (no warm up period, which is good) but sounds too polite, flat and uninvolving, with dry bass and nothing special could be said about highs - no details, they sound harsh etc. Sony CDP-XA555ES beats it in every aspect of music. CD17 has a nice reproduction of voice, that is all. On the other side, the case of this player is beautifully designed and crafted, so it draws attention to it. It could be nice if You would use it as a piece of furniture :) The mechanism is cheap one from the Philips, they should use something of the better quality (for example CDM9Pro or similar). Based on the critics for the previous version of this CD player, Marantz made the best remote control (all metal) I have seen yet. And CD Text is a nice feature. Conclusion: the worst sounding so-called high end CD player I have tested yet. I am not sure if it sounds better than Sony CDP-X333ES (model form 1990., 500 EUR)

Similar Products Used:

Marantz: CD-74, CD-63SE, CD-65; Philips: CD-304/304 MK2, CD-920, CD-721; Sony: CDP-X333ES, CDP-X779ES, CDP-XA555ES; Denon: DCD3300 and many many others

Almoust everything, design and super detailed sound. Wery opened and natural mid-range, wery musical and smooth. Warm and airy sounded player wich had easy to listen.

Maximum running in period 500 hours. This is worth it!

This is undoubtedly one of the best player below the 1500 eur prize range. This is unordinary that the player had it all good sound and nice design. The Marantz cd-17MKII had it all stylish metal finish design and absolutely stunning sound. This is right that before run in period ( minimum 100 hours ) it sounds very muddled and bright. But since the run in is done it started to sound superiorly. Seems like all things are on right place - highs are brilliant clear and natural, mid-range is likewise wery clear and warm, seems like the singer is in your room, bass had it all the higher kick and the deep bass. In summary this player had a realy warm, smooth and musical sound without loosing the clearity and attack. This player is much more better than Arcam cd-72 (wich had wery veiled sound)and Denon ones ( not so warm and airy sound, likewise not so clear ). And the cd-17MKII is ( my taste ) better sounding than Arcam cd-23 and Meridian 508. For these Singapore guys I suggest to buy a good amplifter and good speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Meridian 508-24, Arcam fmj cd-23, Arcam cd-72, Denon DCD-755AR

balance, sound stage

volume setting

Very good cd player.You have to lower the volume setting of the analogue outputs too make this player a real star. Will modify it with a Guido Tent XO2 clock modification.

Similar Products Used:

sony nps 900; philips dvd 963 sa

amazing clarity,detail and involvement

hmmmm have to think about that one. yep,none

well where do i start.the marantz cd17 mk11 is a stunning cd player. i should know, i have owned and used many cd players more than mentioned above.but i have never had a player blow me away like this one does.
yes i does take a long time (at least 100 hrs, it sounded like a dog out of the box!). but when run in it just sounds freakn REAL. bass depth and detail are superb. but it is in the midrange that where the magic happens,so smooth,so clean ,so detailed ,so god damded musical.to give you some idea of what level we are on my last player the rotel rcd 971 was a VERY good machine BUT it was flawed being way to edgy thru the upper mids and also little or no depth .the marantz cd17 is simply a better player(it should be since it costs twice tthat of the rotel).one last thing dont think you can put this thing in any old system and expect nirvana,no way.use only very clean sounding gear.
good luck.

Similar Products Used:

marantz cd94 adcom gcd 575 denon 1015 sony xa5 es

Excellent sound and quality craftsmanship

none

I have owned the Marantz CD-17 Mk II for about 2 months and am very pleased. The reproduced sound is excellent as well as the smooth, elegant design. The unit is solid and made extremely well. The remote allows you to do every function and is very easy to read.

The only adjustment I've had to get used to from my prior Sony ES, is not having a keypad selector on the front of the unit to choose tracks (on the Marantz you have to use the remote for this function).

Overall, I am extremely happy with this product and would recommend it to anyone. I'm connecting the CD-17 Mk II to the Marantz SR-8000 Receiver (which is also excellent) through Monster M850i interconnects. I recently upgraded my speaker wires to the Monster M1.2s from the "original" Monsters. The sound is fantastic.

Similar Products Used:

Sony ES Series

Excellent reproduction. Clarity.

No on/off on remote, but not a big deal

A quality CD player with elegant styling and excellent reproduction. As has been stated, the sound really does improve with an upgrade to quality interconnects. An upgraded power cord, in my opinion, is not necessary but is an option on this unit. For this price range, the CD-17 Mark II is one of if not the best choice.

Similar Products Used:

Rega Planet, NAD

Nice sounds with necessary crisp vocals

Too expensive

The meridian 508-24 is a SO much better, even though it cost $1500 more.
This ain't bad though.

Similar Products Used:

meridian 508-24

Very detailed sound, supurb design.

none

Together with my PM-17 from marantz forms a very good couple.

Built quality, CD-text, (Brand Name?)

"veiled" sound, missing details, too polite, Width of the CDP is a little odd.

These events happened between Aug - Sep 1999.

I bought the Marantz CD-17mkII to replace a budget Yamaha CDP used as trasport with the MSB Link II. Needed/wanted to simplify and go back to a 1 box CDP... save rack space, power cords, interconnects and reduce jitter.

Bought the CD-17mkII without auditioning (mistake) based on the strength of the reviews here and some great reviews from audio mags/e-zines on Marantz CD-17KI and some favourable reviews on the first CD-17.

The CD-17mkII is the entry level into Marantz's Audiopile range of products. With the CD-7 at the top (excl SA-1).

This baby is built like a tank and weighs a "ton". Putting it on my eqipt rack, I noticed that it is slightly wider than the standard products. If you are stacking your seperates, you might want to take this into consideration.

I left it playing CDs for the first few days to "burn-in" the electronics etc. The first time I sat down to listen, the music sounded dull, coloured and it seems like there is a thick curtain between the speakers and me. Hooked up the MSB Link II to assess its trasport capabilities and I must say that there is nothing special to write about.

Left the CD-17mkII spinning CDs for the rest of the week, (averaging 12-14 hours per day), but got the same results.

Spinned somemore CDs the following week before evaluating, alas it still sound muddy with qutie a bit of details missing. Hooking it up to the MSB Link II improved things. Soundstage was deeper, with more details, "air" and vocals sounded better. BUT the problem is that I am getting just as much out from the Link II with my budget Yamaha as a Transport.

My wife who loves its sleek look commented that the music doesn't sound clear, veiled etc. when use as a stand alone CDP.

I had the CD-17mkII for about 3 weeks and clocked about 250 hours "burning-in". (Avg 12 - 14 hours per day).

So before the exchange period is up, I took the CD-17mkII back to the shop and changed it for the Sony X-5000. (+ cash top-up). The Sony X-5000 is a shoe-box player that is only available in Asia. I did an A/B in the shop, comparing the Sony XA-7ES and the X-5000 and the difference is almost non-existant.

The XA-7ES has a little more extension in the highs and a sligtly deeper soundstage than the X-5000. These 2 CDPs are smoother and more detailed than the CD-17mkII. The X-5000 is an excellent transport too!

Not to "Disc" the CD-17mkII but in IMHO, it is only an avg CDP for the price.

In conclusion, I must say that all of us have different taste in music and in the way we want it reproduced. Some like PRaT, others like sweet vocals and a relaxed reproduction. Therefore, the CD-17mkII might just be your ticket. But it is not mine to music nirvana.

By the way, the british audio presses are not too impressed with this product too. 4 stars from What Hi-Fi and Hi-Fi Choice.

Picture of the X-5000.
http://www.sony.com.sg/consumer/consumer/Hifi/CDPlayer/cdp-x5000.html

Similar Products Used:

Sony X-5000, MSB Link II