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Replacing a tired Marantz CD6000OSE

TheKeibee

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Hello,
my 21 year old Marantz cd player is starting to behave funny: some disks won't play, the tray door won't open half the time. I though that maybe it's time to look for a replacement. And that is where things got a bit complicated.

First I thought of using a cheap DVD player as a replacement. Found a brand now Sony one for around 40€ which has analog out to my SMSL AO-200 desktop amp.

By doing this I realized what I was missing and so I came to these requirements which I find extremely difficult to find in a modern cd player:
1. Silent operation (must): I do not want to hear the disk spinning when looking for 96dB+ SNR audio output. That kind of defeats looking for a quality audio experience.
2. Short time between loading and playing (nice to have): multi-format devices seem to take their time figuring out what an audio cd actually is.
3. A display (must): I like to see what's going on. Many dvd/Blu-ray players are out because of that.
4. Physical buttons (must): Play, pause, stop, next, previous and eject buttons are a minimum requirement.
5. CD Text (must): quite some albums I have collected over the years (I think mainly Sony Music & Columbia) have this feature and I like it a lot.
6. Index support (nice to have): Some classical music releases have it as well as some progressive rock and even rock albums (e.g. Pump by Aerosmith) feature this. I'd like to see the index of the song that's playing. I don't really have the need to control jumping through indices though. I have one cd that ends with a track that has index 0 which makes the player count down from 1 minute to zero in an endless loop. I do hope that new players support this too (in case you're interested: Adrenalin by Ashbury Faith - the 1995 Columbia release with the Lee sticker on it).
7. Unbalanced output (nice to have): Just because the AO-200 has an unbalanced input feature.
8. Compact (nice to have): My desk has limited space, less is more.
9. Sound quality: SNR & channel separation at around CD quality levels (96 dB or better to avoid investing in an extra DAC).

I did quite some research and found out that the combination of user manuals and youtube videos give me only half of the answers. It is really hard to find out how fast these players start or how silently they operate.
So I am looking for the collective experience and knowledge of the ASR community to help me figure out which way to go.

Here's what I have come up with with regards to new products for sale:
1. Atoll CD50/CD80/CD100 (expensive, no index support found, compact)
2. Rotel CD11/CD14/RCD-1572mkII (probably the most sensible option)
3. Tascam SS-CDR250n (expensive but seems to match most requirements, 1 u rack format)

Anything I might have missed? I was surprised that Marantz does not support cd text anymore (https://support-uk.marantz.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1148/~/cd-text)
Seems like cd players are going technologically backwards like cassette decks did in the '90s. And that's a shame for a format that is high quality and has liner notes to read while listening!

Cheers,
TheKeiBee
 

mahdi_mak2000

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RCD-1572mkII is probably the best bang for buck.....sounds great... Balanced and Unbalanced output...looks good too
Marantz ND8006 is a good option too..
 

Joe Smith

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Wonder if the laser unit is still available for the existing Marantz? If so, the door problem is probably fixable...
 

Videopac

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Ever thought on buying a second hand cd player? I mean things like a Marantz CD80, Sony CD-P557ES, Philips CD-880, Grundig CD-9009 (my favourite) are not cheap second hand, but might be better than a new player and you'll certainly have something special.

Edit: didn't read good enough. The cheapest option is to have your current CD6000OSE repaired. The tray not opening properly is most likely a belt issue: the belt might became too loose. Not reading disks might be a laser or a power supply issue close to the laser.

Audiophile cd-players with cd-text are rare. Non-audiophile second hand option could be Sony CD-M99 checks all your boxes, except #7. Yamaha CDX-10 is underestimated but doesn't have CD-Text. Newer: Marantz HD-CD1, everything but balanced out as well.
 
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mahdi_mak2000

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Count Arthur

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You mentioned that you are using this on a desk.

Do you have a PC or a laptop on that desk and have you considered ripping all your CDs to a hard drive?

I had around a thousand CDs and some time ago I ripped them all to a hard drive, uncompressed, and then used a USB DAC and got rid of my CD player. You can now get a superb, state of the art USB DAC for very litte, far less than a good CD player, and large capacitiy hard drives and even SSDs are now fairly innexpensive; a 2TB SSD, enough for 2,000 or more uncompressed CDs, costs well under 200 pounds/dollars.

I use JRiver: https://www.jriver.com/, which rips and catalogues the disks and has a nice interface.

Because everything is available and eay to see, I find using a PC and a USB DAC as my music player far more convenient than a CD player and as an added bonus, I tend to listen more widely through my music collection than I did when I had all my CDs on shelves.

iu


I worked my way through my CDs, and ripped them to hard drive, fairly methodically; which was quite time consuming, but you could do it as you go, just rip each CD when you want to listen to it. If I buy a new CD, it takes about 5 minutes to rip it to my PC before listening.
 
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Angsty

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May want to consider the NAD C 358. It does support CD Text.


I have a new 6 disc player and I do have a computer to which to rip discs. I still prefer using my vintage single disc Cambridge Audio CD player over either alternative. I just like the ergonomics of it.
 

Angsty

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May want to consider the NAD C 358. It does support CD Text.


I have a new 6 disc player and I do have a computer to which to rip discs. I still prefer using my vintage single disc Cambridge Audio CD player over either alternative. I just like the ergonomics of it.
Crutchfield also recommends the Yamaha CD-3303 for a bit less cash than the NAD. Also supports CD Text.


Other recommendations:


I’d suggest looking at all links in the recommendations; I certainly learned a thing or two.
 

restorer-john

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Honestly, I wouldn't bother trying to have the 6000OSE repaired. The mechanism and laser assembly are just overall poor quality. They used a Philips VAMxx plastic mech and I personally hate them. I've got a pro Marantz machine here for test bench duty and it has the same loading issues- same mech.

Excellent performance, but let down by the cheap mech.
 

L5730

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Sorry, nothing useful to add from me.
We had one of these. If I recall it would playback finalized CD-RWs. Was quite convenient for a testing mix-CD. That said, we also had the DR6000 recorder. We preferred the sound of the recorder when playing two copies of the same pressed CD simultaneously. Though the slight difference in sound could easily have been attributed to something like a 0.2 dB level difference - we never even got a multimeter and ran a test tone to check voltage output so listening comparisons were worthless and just fun anecdotes.
 

Rasymar

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Hello
I have a marantz cd 84 cd player with a problematic DAC (Decoding) condition so it doesn't output audio. All button functions when playing, pause, FF , REW, Back and others on the display look normal. I have also checked all the JRC 4560 ICs for CD Out and Head Phone out, all are normal. The "mute" and "Kill" sections are also normal. Is there a father who is a digital audio expert who knows about this problem?
I once made a VCD Player using the Mpeg VCD kit by utilizing the Marantz CD-84 CD Player's EFM (RF) output signal and it worked.
Now I want to try to modify the normal EFM (RF) output signal that is converted to an external DAC but I don't know how.
Any digital audio experts know how to modify it
I look forward to a response from you guys here
Thank You.
 

Marc v E

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You mentioned that you are using this on a desk.

Do you have a PC or a laptop on that desk and have you considered ripping all your CDs to a hard drive?

I had around a thousand CDs and some time ago I ripped them all to a hard drive, uncompressed, and then used a USB DAC and got rid of my CD player. You can now get a superb, state of the art USB DAC for very litte, far less than a good CD player, and large capacitiy hard drives and even SSDs are now fairly innexpensive; a 2TB SSD, enough for 2,000 or more uncompressed CDs, costs well under 200 pounds/dollars.

I use JRiver: https://www.jriver.com/, which rips and catalogues the disks and has a nice interface.

Because everything is available and eay to see, I find using a PC and a USB DAC as my music player far more convenient than a CD player and as an added bonus, I tend to listen more widely through my music collection than I did when I had all my CDs on shelves.

iu


I worked my way through my CDs, and ripped them to hard drive, fairly methodically; which was quite time consuming, but you could do it as you go, just rip each CD when you want to listen to it. If I buy a new CD, it takes about 5 minutes to rip it to my PC before listening.
This is what I would do.

Nowadays, we have a very different situation than 21 years ago. Superb dacs are available from 100,- euros/dollars. Silent operation by storing the cds on a NAS (small computer attached to network) or via a silent pc. Artwork and info via pc screen or smartphone.

Imo this is also the reason cd players are disappearing.
 
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Angsty

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Hello
I have a marantz cd 84 cd player with a problematic DAC (Decoding) condition so it doesn't output audio. All button functions when playing, pause, FF , REW, Back and others on the display look normal. I have also checked all the JRC 4560 ICs for CD Out and Head Phone out, all are normal. The "mute" and "Kill" sections are also normal. Is there a father who is a digital audio expert who knows about this problem?
I once made a VCD Player using the Mpeg VCD kit by utilizing the Marantz CD-84 CD Player's EFM (RF) output signal and it worked.
Now I want to try to modify the normal EFM (RF) output signal that is converted to an external DAC but I don't know how.
Any digital audio experts know how to modify it
I look forward to a response from you guys here
Thank You.
@Rasymar - Perhaps I am confused by the question, but why not simply use the CD player with an inexpensive external DAC? I use a Schiit Modi DAC with my old Cambridge CD player and I love the combo.
 
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Rasymar

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Hello Angsty
When you use a Schiit Modi DaC, you take the output of a Cambridge CD player from what part to input the Schiit Modi DAC ?
 

Count Arthur

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Hello Angsty
When you use a Schiit Modi DaC, you take the output of a Cambridge CD player from what part to input the Schiit Modi DAC ?

Many CD playes have a Coax or Toslink digital output in addition to the analogue RCA/Phono outputs:

1678112587086.png


This will allow you to connect a CD player directly to a DAC or an amplifier with a digital imput and bypass the CD players internal digital to analogue circuit.

Unfortunately I don't think Angsty's solution will work as it looks like the CD84 doesn't have a digital output: https://liquidaudio.com.au/marantz-cd-84-cd-player-repair-review/

1678112785277.png
 

Willem

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Just use the digital output of any disc player and the sound quality will only depend on the DAC (i.e. these days it will be perfect in almost any case). Personally, I just use a fairly old Bluray player, because my stereo system also provides the quality audio of my television. Opera Blurays are not something to miss out on.
 

theHack

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You mentioned that you are using this on a desk.

Do you have a PC or a laptop on that desk and have you considered ripping all your CDs to a hard drive?

I had around a thousand CDs and some time ago I ripped them all to a hard drive, uncompressed, and then used a USB DAC and got rid of my CD player. You can now get a superb, state of the art USB DAC for very litte, far less than a good CD player, and large capacitiy hard drives and even SSDs are now fairly innexpensive; a 2TB SSD, enough for 2,000 or more uncompressed CDs, costs well under 200 pounds/dollars.

I use JRiver: https://www.jriver.com/, which rips and catalogues the disks and has a nice interface.

Because everything is available and eay to see, I find using a PC and a USB DAC as my music player far more convenient than a CD player and as an added bonus, I tend to listen more widely through my music collection than I did when I had all my CDs on shelves.

iu


I worked my way through my CDs, and ripped them to hard drive, fairly methodically; which was quite time consuming, but you could do it as you go, just rip each CD when you want to listen to it. If I buy a new CD, it takes about 5 minutes to rip it to my PC before listening.
What was the model of CD Rom drive that you used to rip from? Or does that really matter? How long did it take? Don't mean to hijack the thread but this is something I've been considering as I already have a computer but no optical drive
 

Count Arthur

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What was the model of CD Rom drive that you used to rip from? Or does that really matter? How long did it take? Don't mean to hijack the thread but this is something I've been considering as I already have a computer but no optical drive
I don't think the model of CD Rom matters when you rip a CD, you can set JRiver for secure copy, so it will have several re-read attempts to get a good copy:

1678115410426.png


My current internal DVD RW drive is a LiteOn which cost around £20.00, if I remember correctly, but you can get USB external drive if your case doesn't have space for an internal drive; many newer PC cases don't.

It took quite a while, a couple of weeks perhaps, for me to rip all my CDs. I would grab a dozen or so at a time and work my way through the pile while I sat working at my desk.
 

Angsty

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Many CD playes have a Coax or Toslink digital output in addition to the analogue RCA/Phono outputs:

View attachment 269868

This will allow you to connect a CD player directly to a DAC or an amplifier with a digital imput and bypass the CD players internal digital to analogue circuit.

Unfortunately I don't think Angsty's solution will work as it looks like the CD84 doesn't have a digital output: https://liquidaudio.com.au/marantz-cd-84-cd-player-repair-review/

View attachment 269869
I understand now and I should have looked for that before responding.
I have seen older CD players which have been modified to use a modern DAC daughterboard within the enclosure, but that may be more effort and cost than is warranted in this situation.
 
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