Experienced readers will be aware that Marantz is effectively owned by Philips, and that, while many Marantz equipment is imported from the Far East, its CD players, in particular, are based on Philips designs, despite their outward look. In actuality, Marantz is given a reasonable amount of leeway in deciding which models to target for […]
Marantz CD45 Review Read More »
Marantz is one of the rare firms that has succeeded in the mainstream while also progressing along the audiophile route. Its ambitions appear to have risen steadily over the last few years, as additional refinements and advancements surface in its Reference range. The SC-5 preamplifier, for example, is available with a battery power supply (of
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The Marantz CD-17 KI Signature is the epitome of the Marantz philosophy: always striving for that little bit more. Last year, I tested the CD-63 KI, the first in a small series of special uprated versions of established Marantz goods overseen by Ken -Ishiwata, Marantz’s design wizard. This entailed taking a simple machine, dismantling it,
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Common sense would have you think that CD players have only improved over time, and that any CD player from 1994 will beat out any player from 1989. Perhaps this is accurate in terms of the transportation sections. And this might even be true for D/A converters… Nonetheless, in my view, there are a few
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When it comes to audiophiles’ critique of CD, Ken lshiwata of Marantz International gave his opinion at the end of the 1980s: “It will take some time for the digital medium to be regarded as an audiophile medium – given the shortcomings of the digital medium, I believe it will take around 5 years…” Back
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In hi-fi, bravery usually refers to the courage to release something that stands out from the crowd. Yamahas with sloped fronts and Michaelson Audio’s Chronos amps come to mind… True bravery, on the other hand, is acknowledging that you made a mistake. Marantz has done the same with the reviled CD-11. It was well received
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Is this high-end model from Marantz is as good as its cheaper siblings? Consider the market for CD players without Marantz. Isn’t it impossible? A key driving force would be lost, much like The Beatles without John Lennon. Marantz has always been a class act, taking use of its parent company’s cutting-edge, straight-from-the-CAD technology. BitStream
Marantz CD10 Review Read More »
The Zu Druid, made in Ogden, Utah, is one of the more intriguing floorstanding loudspeakers I’ve seen. This specific fourth generation model, from 2006, is a fan favorite. The one-and-a-half-way speaker is equipped with a full-range driving unit and a super tweeter that eliminates the need for a crossover. The impedance quoted is 12 ohms
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If you’ve been paying attention over the last few decades, you’ve probably heard of Yamaha’s legendary NS-1000M loudspeaker, which was first released in 1978. It had an unforgettable sound, thanks to highly inventive Beryllium midrange and treble dome drivers that were a tenth of the weight of standard designs, housed in a super-thick sealed cabinet
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Whest Audio’s PS.30RDT was released in 2009 as a near descendant of the company’s flagship MC REF V, and it cost a whopping £2,799 when new. It comes in a single 430x280x72mm box with a Whest MC REF V Hybrid filter and an ultra low noise bipolar opamp DIP8 chip severely biased towards Class A.
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