I've now owned this piece of kit for a decade and most rencently have it paired with a cyrus 8 vs2 and a pair of epos M12s (it started off with an ancient kenwood 6300 amp and MS10is).

I tested the amp and speakers with the Cyrus CD8 and I have to say that the good old CD63 Mkii KI stands its ground and was a brilliant buy - warm and natural to the point of being effortless without laziness, it takes a piece of music to pieces before reassemlbling it instrument by instrument. Rock literally rocks and all the quiet and drama of classical is there for the taking - if the recordings are good enough, as it will expose weakness. At the time of purchase I tested it extensively against everything else and it whipped them all (i was intending to buy something else but a good salesman let the equipment do the work.)

Given how much they are going for now I am thinking of getting a spare in case this one ever goes but I hope I don't have to as its brilliant - everything else has been replaced a couple of times over.

I would highly recommend this as a second hand buy to anyone thinking of building a classic system for not a great deal of money - it can give decent modern (ie 2008) kit more than a run for its money

Sound, features, price, looks.

Tray is slightly creaky when it ejects, remote is not omni-directional (you have to point it at the unit).

I bought this as a topgap, I was planning on keeping it for less than a week, the time it would take me to get hold of a NAD c520, after selling my CD/MD combo deck. However, when I got it home, and tried it, I was extremly impressed, it is very sharp and has great depth. Linked to my Harmon Kardon PM665 and Eltax Symphony 6.2's, it is very warm, but never harsh. I have played all sorts of music, rock/metal/dance/trance/garage, through it, and I have yet to be disappointed by its sound.

The sound of this player is simply stunning! The first day after purchasingI had been listening to it for about five hours and simply couldn't stop.
The impression was that I was listening to many records for the first time.
I heard so many sounds, accents and timbres, which I haven't heard before at all. ABBA, Laid Back, Joe Dassin and The Beatles sounded just great. I admit, that there are players on the market sounding even better than this one, but each of them costs thousands of dollars, the price I simply can't afford. But, definitely, this player is a class above all that mass market stuff, such as Sony, Technics, etc.

The only flaw (not connected to sound quality) is its headphone output. Since
I have an old & noisy amp, I prefer to use headphones for listening. This
player has a digital volume control between 0 and -30 dB, which means, that
the volume is controlled by processing the digital data stream before it reaches
DAC, to avoid compromising of analogue signal path. Even when set to the minimal
-30 dB level, the volume is still too high for many headphones (is use
Philips SBC3398 model, 18-30,000 Hz, 100 Ohms) to listen comfortably. It means that some sort of external volume control is necessary between the
player and the headphones. I was really surprised to discover this flaw in such top-class player! For this reason I can give it only 4 stars until
I buy a new amplifier & speakers. Theh it certainly will be 5!

I just got this player and I have no regrets whatsoever! Before I got it, I listened to quite a few players in the same price range but this was the one that really stood out. There were no disappointments when I got home. The player was a pleasure to listen to. I started noticing things I had never noticed before in my old recordings and I guess it made me want to listen to music more than I had done before. The definition is excellent, the bass tight and the player proved itself great for the acoustic recordings that I listen to. All in all, I give this player my full recommendation.

lots of detail

First off, my system:

Marantz cd63 MKII
Rotel 970BX pre/power amp
Paradigm MiniMonitors

I just got the Rotel amps, and have finally had a chance to do some reasonably serious listening to this system. Overall, I am quite happy with it- Overall sound is somewhat warm, soundstage is quite nice considering the fact that I'm in a crappy room, and imaging is very nice. The cd63 provides a large amount of detail, even when coupled with the cheaper Paradigms.

I believe, however, that the MM's are somewhat unable to cope with the detail, as the highs on certain recordings are irritating and fatiguing. I do not fault the marantz, rather, I think that i have just made a mistake in system matching. I plan on getting some nice floorstanders this summer, and will try to pick something with a more relaxed tweeter. I have heard that using a separate DAC (MSB linc) could quell the shrill highs, but I probably won't look into that until I have purchased the speakers. Also, I have some Kimber 4vs wires in the mail, which should further help me make my decision.

Overall I do like this cd player, and it was WELL worth the $170 upgrade from my crappy sony cd changer.

Great looks, excellent overall sound

None

I have had my Marantz 63KII for nearly a year now, it's the Cd player I was saving for, so when I had the money to buy one i bought one just as the last news ones were being sold off due to model being discontinued. Worth the money i spend. No regrets.

K1 Signature Price UK£499

I bought this player after months of reading about and listening
to, numerous CD players. My system consists of:

CD Player : Marantz K1 Signature with R/C
Amp: Audiolab 8000S(80watts/channel)
Speakers: TDL RTL3's(120watts rate)
Interconnects: Wireworld Atlantis II
Speaker Cable: Cabletalk Talk3(bi-wire)

Straight out of the box this player was something special. It is a heavily tweaked version of the Marantz CD63mkII and has been designed and
engineered by one of Marantz's top engineers.

The Audiolab demands to be used with a player which can extract great
detail from a CD. The KI certainly delivers in this respect. Bass delivery
is truly excellent with the K1/Audiolab able to feed the hungry TDL's
appetite for bass. The midrange and high-end is also very good with
excellent vocal control.

Value for money? I doubt if there is a sub £1000 player on the market
which can compete with the KI overall. It will work well with most amps,
but because of it's forward and ultra revealing nature I would
avoid bright sounding amps or speakers.

I have also listened to it with B&W P4's and it sounds even better.

Best regards, John



I have had it now for nearly two weeks and it just gets better!

If you are looking for a new CD player in this price range check out
the K1 signature.

Musical and Involving

None

I'm one of the rare few who have tried both the Mk2 and KI signature models, and I can tell you that the signature model is more hype than anything else. The premium you pay is totally unjustified. In a side-by-side comparison using a marantz PM 17 integrated and Epos 12 speakers after running in for a month, I couldn't tell the difference between the two players! As a further test, i asked a buddy to help conduct a blind listening test, and both us couldn't tell one player from the other! So unless others have golden ears that is beyond us mere mortals, I say just buy the cheaper model!

Of course, I sold my KI signature player a few months later, managed to get a good deal thanks to all the rave reviews in the magazines.

Having said that, I must comment that both players share similar characteristics, very musical and sweet. It has a good mid-range vocals, with well-extended bass. I agree that it is more than a match for some cd players costing up to $1000.

I'm still enjoying the sould of my marantz 63 mk2 after all these years, and highly recommend it. Go get yourself a second hand set (it's been discontinued), you won't regret it.

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Marantz KI Signature

I have the KI-Signature of this player, bought new at the bargain basement (for Switzerland) price of CHF800 (that's about $US470 at current exchange rates). At this price it's an absolute giveaway, and at its full price it would still be a formidable contender. With my mainly classical collection (emphasis on baroque choral), it performs wonderfully well, giving a warm, detailed sound. Thankfully, unlike the gent in a previous review, the headphone output IS regulable in this model. Highly recommended.