Best candidate to upgrade the Marantz NA8005

[marcop999]

Good evening,

I would like to change my old Marantz NA8005 player and trying to maintain more or less the same tone (therefore a rather wide band on both ends, and mids not excessively pronounced) but with greater detail and soundstage and at the same time I would like it to be musical and not too analytical.

I’m not interested in streaming services but only in the ability to play flac files from a USB disk using only the remote control (without using a smartphone or tablet).

The following options come to mind which I have never listened yet:

1) Marantz SACD30n (it seems perhaps the best choice, but from a tonal point of view it could perhaps have the mids a little more highlighted than mine, but I’m not sure)
2) Marantz CD50n (from a tonal point of view it should be similar to mine, but perhaps the leap in quality is not enough)
3) Denon dnp-2000ne (interesting streamer but could be too analytical and too open on high frequencies, but I’m not sure)
4) Atoll ST300/ST200 (this is also a streamer, which in theory would be what I need, but I have no idea how it sounds compared to mine and compared to the other three)

I exclude the Eversolo because the remote control has limited functions.

I also exclude the Technics sl-g700m2 because its display is too small.

I tried the Cambridge Azur 851n, it wasn’t bad but I found it a little too analytical and furthermore there wasn’t a real leap in quality compared to mine, even if it undoubtedly sounded better.

The idea of using an external DAC also occurred to me, but for reasons of convenience I thought better of it and I prefer a single player also because I don’t have the space.

At the moment I would like to evaluate only these options.

Does anyone know these readers?

Thank you !

 

[antcollinet]

You sound like you want to change to get better sound quality. Is that correct?

You won't get it.

Modern electronics - (especially streamer/DAC and dacs - including your Marantz) have got well beyond the point where their defects are audible. If the Marantz still performs the function you need (Streaming from local files) then there is no point in changing expecting better sound.

If you want to improve your sound quality then you should put your money towards speaker upgrades, or investment in DSP and room equalisation. These are areas which can still impact sound quality.

 

[marcop999]

Thank you for your comment, the speakers was built to me and I have do a crossover upgrade with a massive improvement.

I have also upgrade the cables that they have slightly improved even more.

Just listening to the Cambridge Azur 851n I noticed some improvements and I suppose that for a higher price you can get better

 

[VintageFlanker]

I can't believe this isn't trolling. Not after 7 months membership.

If I get it wrong, apologies, but then you definitely need to spend more time reading the forum...

 

[Chrise36]

Good evening,

I would like to change my old Marantz NA8005 player and trying to maintain more or less the same tone (therefore a rather wide band on both ends, and mids not excessively pronounced) but with greater detail and soundstage and at the same time I would like it to be musical and not too analytical.

I’m not interested in streaming services but only in the ability to play flac files from a USB disk using only the remote control (without using a smartphone or tablet).

The following options come to mind which I have never listened yet:

1) Marantz SACD30n (it seems perhaps the best choice, but from a tonal point of view it could perhaps have the mids a little more highlighted than mine, but I’m not sure)
2) Marantz CD50n (from a tonal point of view it should be similar to mine, but perhaps the leap in quality is not enough)
3) Denon dnp-2000ne (interesting streamer but could be too analytical and too open on high frequencies, but I’m not sure)
4) Atoll ST300/ST200 (this is also a streamer, which in theory would be what I need, but I have no idea how it sounds compared to mine and compared to the other three)

I exclude the Eversolo because the remote control has limited functions.

I also exclude the Technics sl-g700m2 because its display is too small.

I tried the Cambridge Azur 851n, it wasn’t bad but I found it a little too analytical and furthermore there wasn’t a real leap in quality compared to mine, even if it undoubtedly sounded better.

The idea of using an external DAC also occurred to me, but for reasons of convenience I thought better of it and I prefer a single player also because I don’t have the space.

At the moment I would like to evaluate only these options.

Does anyone know these readers?

Thank you !

You can try a different DAC with the digital output of your player. Any comparison must be done the right way.

 

[antcollinet]

and I suppose that for a higher price you can get better

No, you really can't. Not audibly. Not with electronics - unless one device is broken by design. The Marantz is not.

Almost certainly what you heard as better was either:

Level differences (if not accurately level matched, tiny level differences will be perceived as quality differences)
Due to listening closely for a difference, so you hear differently.
Or
Placebo/bias effects. (Your belief that cables inproved the sound certainly demonstrates you are susceptible to this. Cables do not influence the sound, as you were advised in replies to your post back in June)

 

[antcollinet]

I can't believe this isn't trolling.

Lets not do that.

We really should be giving the clear benefit of the doubt until clearly demonstrated otherwise.

Let's be a little nicer, especially to newcomers

Hello you all. While I consider our forum to be more friendly than many, it seems that we are quite harsh on new members who post things that go against our consensus view. There is no reason to pound on people hard when they say this and that sounds good to them. Let them have some time here...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[antcollinet]

the speakers was built to me

Just another thought.

If you are happy with your self built speakers, then a really interesting upgrade path would be to move them towards fully active, with active crossovers, DSP, and one amp for each driver.

Lots of potential for sound improvement and lots of fun learning too.

 

[marcop999]

I already know that when it comes to cables it is a conflicting and much debated topic.

What I can say without going into too much detail (for those who want to believe or not) I bought used power and signal cables and ran tests.

I can conclude that I noticed differences in timbre that were not excessive but perceptible (especially more extension in the low range or a more closed sound in the high range) in every cable I tested (including the 5 Euro PC cable).

In the end some of the ones I bought provided the difference I was looking for others did not.

So some I decided to keep and others instead to sell because they sounded for my personal preference worse than the ones I already had.

So no bias or placebo effect and I stress again: cables do not bring huge benefits, but effects that are easily audible in a listening test.

 

[marcop999]

Just another thought.

If you are happy with your self built speakers, then a really interesting upgrade path would be to move them towards fully active, with active crossovers, DSP, and one amp for each driver.

Lots of potential for sound improvement and lots of fun learning too.

Regarding loudspeakers, I have already created a sketchy chart of some hypotheticals that I might build someday. It involves using rather expensive speakers. But before I build them I would first like to make sure that the whole 'system does not have bottlenecks I am referring to the digital player which is now obsolete and in a not particularly high price range.

 

[trl]

I can't believe this isn't trolling. Not after 7 months membership.

If I get it wrong, apologies, but then you definitely need to spend more time reading the forum...

There's an older thread opened by the same author containing: "I would like to replace my cheap cable with something that increases the depth in the bass range". I assume that OP believes that swapping power and signal cables makes an audible difference in the output sound, although I'm not aware of any ASR measurements (not on other forums neither) proving this, unless we're comparing poorly designed RCA cables with standard ones (talking of few bucks here, not a few hundreds).

@marcop999 you may purchase an A/B/X test controller box (something that is similar with the one presented here: https://sound-au.com/abx-tester.htm) and switch between two identical devices that are using different cables and if you can spot a difference then it means that it is also measurable. Then the next reasonable step would be to use a measurement microphone (e.g.: Superlux ECM models or similar ones from other brands) and hook it to an audio interface and do some measurements with REW. You can also buy an USB measurement mic (e.g.: UMIK-1) as well if you don't have an audio interface with phantom power. Some info here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-wiki-for-beginning-audio-measurements.15483/.

L.E.: Good video for beginners of REW measurements here:

 

[JustJones]

VEGA G2.2

Pushing the boundaries of sonic performance, the VEGA G2.2 is our premier streaming DAC. Supporting every audiophile format and resolution up to 32bit 384khz PCM and DSD512, our VEGA G2.2 is everything a high-resolution digital-to-analog convertor should be.

us.auralic.com

 

[marcop999]

I have already mic Beyerdynamic mm1, that I have used to measure the frequency response of my speakers.

To be honest I have never thinked to used the mic to measure a cable, an amplifier or a player becouse generally the difference is mimimal.

Sometimes when I have used REW or other software to measure the speakers it show differences that are not even small, simply repeating the same measurement several times.

When it comes to small differences I trust my ear more.

To give another example, when I modified the crossover and measured the response, it seemed flat and maybe it really was.

But in the listening test I felt that the high frequencies did not sound as I wanted and therefore I decided to modify the resistance value which improved the situation a lot, but it was not enough, a small modification was still needed. By changing the cables I slightly gained some low range and slightly reduced the high range that the resistor had increased.

 

[marcop999]

VEGA G2.2

Pushing the boundaries of sonic performance, the VEGA G2.2 is our premier streaming DAC. Supporting every audiophile format and resolution up to 32bit 384khz PCM and DSD512, our VEGA G2.2 is everything a high-resolution digital-to-analog convertor should be.

us.auralic.com

It is out of budget.

 

[VintageFlanker]

So no bias or placebo effect

That was not up to you to decide. But nevermind...

I have already created a sketchy chart of some hypotheticals that I might build someday. It involves using rather expensive speakers. But before I build them I would first like to make sure that the whole 'system does not have bottlenecks I am referring to the digital player which is now obsolete and in a not particularly high price range.

Since you seem to be completely sold to the concept of price and performance correlation... Pick the priciest of the list and be done.

1) Marantz SACD30n (it seems perhaps the best choice, but from a tonal point of view it could perhaps have the mids a little more highlighted than mine, but I’m not sure)
2) Marantz CD50n (from a tonal point of view it should be similar to mine, but perhaps the leap in quality is not enough)
3) Denon dnp-2000ne (interesting streamer but could be too analytical and too open on high frequencies, but I’m not sure)
4) Atoll ST300/ST200 (this is also a streamer, which in theory would be what I need, but I have no idea how it sounds compared to mine and compared to the other three

Atoll is clearly the most musical in your list. By far. Atoll are making extremely poorly measuring gears, yet sold at high prices, but you would agree that the musicality and enjoyment are never about numbers (or more likely: x€ is probably more important than xdB ).

Have a nice weekend.

 

[JustJones]

It is out of budget.

To cheap?

 

[marcop999]

Since you seem to be completely sold to the concept of price and performance correlation... Pick the priciest of the list and be done.

This is not true,

I've listened to very expensive players that I didn't like the way they sounded.

It's not just a matter of price, it's a matter of the type of sound and also the price/quality ratio.

My approximate budget is 1500/3000 Euro.

 

[antcollinet]

I already know that when it comes to cables it is a conflicting and much debated topic.

What I can say without going into too much detail (for those who want to believe or not) I bought used power and signal cables and ran tests.

I can conclude that I noticed differences in timbre that were not excessive but perceptible (especially more extension in the low range or a more closed sound in the high range) in every cable I tested (including the 5 Euro PC cable).

In the end some of the ones I bought provided the difference I was looking for others did not.

So some I decided to keep and others instead to sell because they sounded for my personal preference worse than the ones I already had.

So no bias or placebo effect and I stress again: cables do not bring huge benefits, but effects that are easily audible in a listening test.

Cables make no difference to the sound** - audible or otherwise. This is not a conflicting topic. It is simple science and engineering. If you'd tested blind and controlled you'd find the differences would evaporate.

Absolutely cognitive bias (note this is subconscious and has nothing to do with your conscious expectations)


** For speaker cables, a qualification is "once they reach the minimum cross sectional area to get the resistance low enough*. For interconnect IF you have audible noise in your system some cables are better at rejecting that than others. Neither of these qualifiers have anything to do with price.

 

[antcollinet]

Regarding loudspeakers, I have already created a sketchy chart of some hypotheticals that I might build someday. It involves using rather expensive speakers. But before I build them I would first like to make sure that the whole 'system does not have bottlenecks I am referring to the digital player which is now obsolete and in a not particularly high price range.

Your digital player is not a bottleneck. With non broken electronics the bottleneck is always the speakers and how they interact with the room.

And as I've stated above - you can spend as much as you like on a new player and won't make an audible difference. You may perceive a difference due to expectation bias, but it won't be in the soundwaves reaching your ears.

 

[antcollinet]

This is not true,

I've listened to very expensive players that I didn't like the way they sounded.

It's not just a matter of price, it's a matter of the type of sound and also the price/quality ratio.

My approximate budget is 1500/3000 Euro.

I think you are probably in the wrong place to get the sort of advice you want to be given.