I’m a novice, but I want good, balanced, warm sound for classical CDs (nothing else) in my small studio/office. I’m starting from scratch. Crutchfield pointed me towards the following: Marantz CD6007 CD player; Marantz Model 60n Integrated Stereo Amplifier w.HEOS; MartinLogan Foundation B2BK ea bookshelf/stand-mount speaker. Could someone advise me if this is a good combo for the best quality sound at this equipment level or is there anything I should change/upgrade?
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Advice on CD Player, amp and speakers
- Thread starter lin2gail
- Start date
JeremyFife
Major Contributor
Hi, you'll get the best advice if you provide a bit more info.
What's your budget? How small/large is your office and how far from the speakers will you normally sit - and how loud do you like to listen?
What is important to you about the sound? Getting decent bass out of smaller speakers can be tricky, how do you feel about larger speakers or a separate subwoofer (can come later).
There's a fundamental choice between a passive system (like the one you describe: amp and speakers) or active (speakers have the amp built in). Any preference or thoughts - active systems can be better value.
Lastly, you mentioned HEOS - is a streaming option important to you, as well as CD
What's your budget? How small/large is your office and how far from the speakers will you normally sit - and how loud do you like to listen?
What is important to you about the sound? Getting decent bass out of smaller speakers can be tricky, how do you feel about larger speakers or a separate subwoofer (can come later).
There's a fundamental choice between a passive system (like the one you describe: amp and speakers) or active (speakers have the amp built in). Any preference or thoughts - active systems can be better value.
Lastly, you mentioned HEOS - is a streaming option important to you, as well as CD
- Thread Starter
- #3
Thanks for responding. To answer your questions:
Budget is not an issue, but I'm not an audio purist, so to go really fancy at this point, would probably be wasted on me. My goal is to listen to symphonies or single instruments directly from CDs that get as close to the clarity of a live performance, within my space constraints. I want to enjoy listening rather than put up with my current bad Sonos streaming.
My space is about 15' x 16' and the speakers would be 6-7' from where I sit. I rarely use high volume, would only play classical music, and I'm the only one listening.
I don't think I have room for large speakers unless it's something tall and thin with a small footprint - I'd like to explore though, if I could find something that would work. I don't know enough about passive vs active systems. When you say that active systems can be better value, is that cost or performance?
For your last question, streaming is not important to me, just listening to CDs is fine. The equipment listed is what Crutchfield came up with.
Budget is not an issue, but I'm not an audio purist, so to go really fancy at this point, would probably be wasted on me. My goal is to listen to symphonies or single instruments directly from CDs that get as close to the clarity of a live performance, within my space constraints. I want to enjoy listening rather than put up with my current bad Sonos streaming.
My space is about 15' x 16' and the speakers would be 6-7' from where I sit. I rarely use high volume, would only play classical music, and I'm the only one listening.
I don't think I have room for large speakers unless it's something tall and thin with a small footprint - I'd like to explore though, if I could find something that would work. I don't know enough about passive vs active systems. When you say that active systems can be better value, is that cost or performance?
For your last question, streaming is not important to me, just listening to CDs is fine. The equipment listed is what Crutchfield came up with.
Bland_username42069
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You could probably get away with just a mini system from Denon rather than their full size cd and amp
www.denon.com
Mini Systems | Denon - Global
Discover Denon Mini Systems. Prepare to hear sound differently.
www.denon.com
- Any decent CD player with the features you want and a digital output (SPDIF)
- A good preamp/DAC combo tested here with EQ (like RME ADI-2 DAC).
- A pair of active speakers, like Neumann KH150 or KH120II with small stands to get the tweeter at ear height.
- A Umik-1 microphone and free REW, to measure frequency response and create room EQ Filters to flatten peaks below 500 Hz.
Or Yamaha PianoCraft.You could probably get away with just a mini system from Denon rather than their full size cd and amp
Mini Systems | Denon - Global
Discover Denon Mini Systems. Prepare to hear sound differently.
JeremyFife
Major Contributor
I don't think you could get a better sounding system without spending a *lot* more.
The RME also has 'Loudness' which is great for quieter listening. The umic is optional, but worthwhile if you want to tune your system (any system).
Use this as your baseline, or just get it
JeremyFife
Major Contributor
Meant to say, there's nothing wrong with that Marantz CD player as a transport (using the digital output) https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/marantz-cd6007-review-cd-player.56386/
Above discussion gets a bit technical, but confirms that it's a good transport.
There are, of course, other options.
Above discussion gets a bit technical, but confirms that it's a good transport.
There are, of course, other options.
The Marantz CD player and Marantz integrated amp are both fine - but also both far more than you need to spend. There's no need to spend anywhere near $650 on a CD player unless you just really like the look and feel. Same with the $1600 integrated amp.
Speakers, room acoustics, and EQ are where sound differences are important, so focus on those.
For speakers, narrow down a size (towers? large bookshelf? small bookshelf? use of a subwoofer or not?) and a budget, and then we can help with suggestions.
Speakers, room acoustics, and EQ are where sound differences are important, so focus on those.
For speakers, narrow down a size (towers? large bookshelf? small bookshelf? use of a subwoofer or not?) and a budget, and then we can help with suggestions.
Well, adding a sub like the KH750DSP could be a game changer, but above that combo it gets difficult ...
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