Cheap, variable output

Too warm, poor detail, lack of transparency, flat sound stage

Marantz 63KI sounds very Mid-Fi. It does not have much detail and transparency. This fact is even more pronounced when I play Jazz CDs. I am very disappointed with its sound. The sound stage seems flat. Marantz is very warm and coloring compare to my old Rotel.

The worst is that the unit broke down after one year of moderate use. I took it to Marantz authorized repair shop. They told me that there was a problem with the laser unit and the repair cost ~US$150. I did not think it's worth that much and decided not to repair it.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel

good details, vocals and smooth

a tad congested and bass not as real (high end)

a good value cd player i have been using for more than 1 year, its a ganerally good cd player to match amps and speakers 2-3 times its price but the player needed more true bass and separation while a good clearing up of complex passages.

started with sonus faber concertino, and marantz pm 17
good music, romantic, smooth and a tad laid back

changed to Nautilus 805, and marantx pm 17
better detail, less smooth and slightly congested at complex passages

tweaked the cd player with LC Clock XO, and AD825 opamps
with better regulators, replaced standard mians cables with thicker industrial cables and voila

started with AD825 opamps and regulators
resulted in slighlty better separations, vocals a tad smoother but not as exciting as before, resolution slightly improved... overall a warmer kind of music but i begin to hear some harshness previously not heard

add LC Clock XO, with thicker gauges mains cables
resulted in better music pace, clearer treble (aha it came back), vocals sounded better cleaner, separation a tad better, and resolution increased even more (heard more ding dongs clearer now) and the most "improved"?

its the bass, the bass sounded more real and not just the usal bong bong you would hear... years of listening and auditioning finally brought me to understand that its the bass thats always the hardest to reproduce ie the terms "real".. get any cd player and you can hear clarity but clarity not details...

voila
Charles


there are better cd players but not at this price and not worthwhile until SACD gets on...

Similar Products Used:

heard arcam, sony, cd-17, cd-19,cd63se etc etc