Marantz CD6007 Review (CD Player)

[jareinertson]

Because some of us are looking for an additional NEW CD player (a streaming will not happen in my lifetime where I am at, the old CD players have been rebuilt several times, the parts are getting hard to find, people that can work on them are getting hard to find, etc) and a new one is, well, new.
In my case I will also be looking for a NEW CD player & a NEW (never had one before) SACD player (yes, 2 separate items).
Also, maybe an older one or 2.
Not everyone only has only one home to have gear in (I do the downstairs stereo & the upstairs stereo at my mother's home, and I always have 2 to 3 systems at my own homes (one more or less in the City, one on a river [where cell phones & therefore streaming] have no signal.
The City home is not owned by me but is owned by my family. It is not a place that I like to be (which could be any City). But these days I have to spend a lot of time there, as it is within 12 miles of my mother's home (she is a very active 90, swims, and does other fitness things 3 or 4 times a week). But, I am an only child & was overseas for 17 years (and have a wife, a son & a home [with a stereo], there).
And, finding the better CD players is through knowing which ones are, in FACT, better (old or new).
Knowing the good old ones, maybe you luck up & find one at a thrift store, estate sale and by knowing the way it tested, you may get a very good one inexpensively.
Or maybe not.
Some people know what they have & it will be priced accordingly. In which case a new one is certainly a possible choice, if you need one to last 30 years or so.

You can also consider using a CD transport and a DAC. This gives you complete control on how digital processing occurs based on the DAC you choose.

 

[Down South]

You can also consider using a CD transport and a DAC. This gives you complete control on how digital processing occurs based on the DAC you choose.

Totally agree about cities but it might be an age thing. I lived 50 miles from London, used to visit often especially for music venues/gigs. It could also be that everything was cheap then. I remember in the 90s' that there was an orchestra playing a classical piece I wanted to share with my partner in London. It meant staying overnight but the cost in total would have been around £250, coudn't justify that cost. Cities are too expensive, too much pollution,too much noise. Live in a small town here in France has everything we need and good travel connections to the big city - Toulouse.

 

[EJ3]

You can also consider using a CD transport and a DAC. This gives you complete control on how digital processing occurs based on the DAC you choose.

not interested in more boxes (in this case). I have a competent DAC in my oPPo 205 UDP if I wanted to do it that way.
The object (for me) is to have another NEW sand alone CD player.
I do not understand making a suggestion for something different than what someone wants (unless he suggestion is coming from someone to an obvious newbie that may not know their options)
Perhaps you thought that might be the case. If so, thanks.
(It could be a compliment, kind of like getting your ID checked to enter a night club when you are in your 50's, I guess)

 

[pinger]

not interested in more boxes (in this case). I have a competent DAC in my oPPo 205 UDP if I wanted to do it that way.
The object (for me) is to have another NEW sand alone CD player.
I do not understand making a suggestion for something different than what someone wants (unless he suggestion is coming from someone to an obvious newbie that may not know their options)
Perhaps you thought that might be the case. If so, thanks.
(It could be a compliment, kind of like getting your ID checked to enter a night club when you are in your 50's, I guess)

Yeah and I dont understand why some folks insist on pushing streaming/ripping to HD etc when that is not what is asked. We are all well aware that is an option by now but some of us like the CD format and putting a disc in the player.

 

[DSJR]

I would love to see the Marantz CD63 KI Signature tested like this. Also the CD17 KI Signature.

VERY late reply with apologies. The CD63KI Signature was tested in HiFi News at the time I seem to recall. The chassis seemed jitter-prone I distantly remember from Paul Miller comments and by todays standards, I wonder if the life and sparkle so admired by the popular audio press (less so from the poor sods who had to sell the effin' thing) wouldn't sound rough and unpleasant now. Thirty plus years of memories now however. We sold a good many X-10D valve buffers with them to soften and warm up the musical tones (I know, two wrongs don't make a right here).

The original CD63 before the KI so-called tweaks, was a harmless smoothy in subjective terms. This in the days before I more-fully understood measurements. I got to feel that anything with 'KI Signature' on it was a disaster of a marketing exercise to grab sales from unsuspecting punters. the CD17 though, was perhaps an exception, but it's so long ago and no idea if many still function.

 

[Down South]

Yeah and I dont understand why some folks insist on pushing streaming/ripping to HD etc when that is not what is asked. We are all well aware that is an option by now but some of us like the CD format and putting a disc in the player.

They like their music in the cloud. I like total control of my music. I own my music. I wish I owned total control of my water supply (you can only live for 3 days without water). I wish I had total control of my electricity. Modern life is only possible with electricity - without electricity -you are back in the stone age. Whoever controls your water supply and electricity owns you -think on.

 

[VientoB]

VERY late reply with apologies. The CD63KI Signature was tested in HiFi News at the time I seem to recall. The chassis seemed jitter-prone I distantly remember from Paul Miller comments and by todays standards, I wonder if the life and sparkle so admired by the popular audio press (less so from the poor sods who had to sell the effin' thing) wouldn't sound rough and unpleasant now. Thirty plus years of memories now however. We sold a good many X-10D valve buffers with them to soften and warm up the musical tones (I know, two wrongs don't make a right here).

The original CD63 before the KI so-called tweaks, was a harmless smoothy in subjective terms. This in the days before I more-fully understood measurements. I got to feel that anything with 'KI Signature' on it was a disaster of a marketing exercise to grab sales from unsuspecting punters. the CD17 though, was perhaps an exception, but it's so long ago and no idea if many still function.

What HiFi seems to love the 63 KI. It went on for a few years with them saying it was as good as anything up to £1000

 

[NTTY]

There was room for improvement (1bit of resolution to gain) over the CD63-2, although I doubt the SM5872 had much more to offer. But at least PS leakage and jitter could have been reduced and they were probably related.

 

[pinger]

They like their music in the cloud. I like total control of my music. I own my music. I wish I owned total control of my water supply (you can only live for 3 days without water). I wish I had total control of my electricity. Modern life is only possible with electricity - without electricity -you are back in the stone age. Whoever controls your water supply and electricity owns you -think on.

Very true. My point was that its off topic when someone just wants a CD player recommendation.

 

[Salt]

VERY late reply with apologies. The CD63KI Signature was tested in HiFi News at the time I seem to recall. The chassis seemed jitter-prone I distantly remember from Paul Miller comments and by todays standards, I wonder if the life and sparkle so admired by the popular audio press (less so from the poor sods who had to sell the effin' thing) wouldn't sound rough and unpleasant now. Thirty plus years of memories now however. We sold a good many X-10D valve buffers with them to soften and warm up the musical tones (I know, two wrongs don't make a right here).

The original CD63 before the KI so-called tweaks, was a harmless smoothy in subjective terms. This in the days before I more-fully understood measurements. I got to feel that anything with 'KI Signature' on it was a disaster of a marketing exercise to grab sales from unsuspecting punters. the CD17 though, was perhaps an exception, but it's so long ago and no idea if many still function.

My CD17 KI is still alive.

 

[EJ3]

They like their music in the cloud. I like total control of my music. I own my music. I wish I owned total control of my water supply (you can only live for 3 days without water). I wish I had total control of my electricity. Modern life is only possible with electricity - without electricity -you are back in the stone age. Whoever controls your water supply and electricity owns you -think on.

Why one of my homes is on a fresh water river with a large, eco protected forest both up and downstream of me which I draw my water from into my filtration system.
People ask why the home made beer is yellow: I tell them that is because it is Bear Whizz Beer.

 

[Kremmen]

VERY late reply with apologies. The CD63KI Signature was tested in HiFi News at the time I seem to recall. The chassis seemed jitter-prone I distantly remember from Paul Miller comments and by todays standards, I wonder if the life and sparkle so admired by the popular audio press (less so from the poor sods who had to sell the effin' thing) wouldn't sound rough and unpleasant now. Thirty plus years of memories now however. We sold a good many X-10D valve buffers with them to soften and warm up the musical tones (I know, two wrongs don't make a right here).

The original CD63 before the KI so-called tweaks, was a harmless smoothy in subjective terms. This in the days before I more-fully understood measurements. I got to feel that anything with 'KI Signature' on it was a disaster of a marketing exercise to grab sales from unsuspecting punters. the CD17 though, was perhaps an exception, but it's so long ago and no idea if many still function.

I own an immaculate Marantz CD63 MkII KI Signature and have had it for about 13 years now. I feed its output into a Yamaha AX596 100 watts per channel amplifier and then to a pair of Castle Howard S2 transmission line speakers.

To my mind, the best music in my collection sounds stunning on this setup. The fact that I bought the Marantz boxed with the manual for £75 is the icing on the cake!

 

[DSJR]

I own an immaculate Marantz CD63 MkII KI Signature and have had it for about 13 years now. I feed its output into a Yamaha AX596 100 watts per channel amplifier and then to a pair of Castle Howard S2 transmission line speakers.

To my mind, the best music in my collection sounds stunning on this setup. The fact that I bought the Marantz boxed with the manual for £75 is the icing on the cake!

The Howard S2 may be a perfect warm-balanced antidote for the CD player. These speakers sounded too 'heavy' in our dem room, but in the 15' x 30' main shop space, they sounded great with a 'big' sound.

£75 boxes is a great price...

 

[Kremmen]

The Howard S2 may be a perfect warm-balanced antidote for the CD player. These speakers sounded too 'heavy' in our dem room, but in the 15' x 30' main shop space, they sounded great with a 'big' sound.

£75 boxes is a great price...

The first thing that struck me about the Howard S2 speakers was what I referred to as the "sweet treble" at the time I bought them. This was before I bought the CD63 MkII KI Signature, but I guess that is what has helped tame the top end people talk about with this CD player.

I only wish I too had a 15' x 30' hi-fi room to let my system breathe though. It's considerably smaller than that!

 

[Down South]

I own an immaculate Marantz CD63 MkII KI Signature and have had it for about 13 years now. I feed its output into a Yamaha AX596 100 watts per channel amplifier and then to a pair of Castle Howard S2 transmission line speakers.

To my mind, the best music in my collection sounds stunning on this setup. The fact that I bought the Marantz boxed with the manual for £75 is the icing on the cake!

Agreed. I've only ever had Marantz CDPs. I bought my first at a car boot sale, The original 63, it had a broken lid, paid 15 pounds (new keyboard doesn't have Sterling symbol). Went to Station Sounds at Worthing Station, West Sussex run by Mike Poynter from a shed on the west bound platform. He sold reconditioned valve amps to buyers all over Europe. He hated CDPs. He had a pristine Marantz which he swapped for the one I bought. It's now sitting in someone's loft in Southhampton. My second was the 63Mk11 KI signature which I also bought second hand. Used it for over 20 years. Bought the 6007 3 years ago. Personal opinion it's the best sounding of the lot. I think that I would have liked to own 17 KI.

 

[NTTY]

Like I said earlier, it is unlikely that the DAC in the KI can deliver much more than in the CD63/2, as I suppose the main limitation is from the DAC chip, especially on intermodulation distortion. When coupled with other elements of high distortion, adding this CD Player could have exposed that to a problematic level ((since they add on top of each other). But it has a 95dB Dynamic Range (unweighted) and behaves well on multitone, so it is likely "transparent" in most cases when playing a CDA.

 

[pinger]

I own an immaculate Marantz CD63 MkII KI Signature and have had it for about 13 years now. I feed its output into a Yamaha AX596 100 watts per channel amplifier and then to a pair of Castle Howard S2 transmission line speakers.

To my mind, the best music in my collection sounds stunning on this setup. The fact that I bought the Marantz boxed with the manual for £75 is the icing on the cake!

Love that display!!! I have the Marantz 6007 and you can barely read the display at its brightest. Same thing with my Denon 600. My NAD player however has a very good readable display. They all sound the same of course

 

[DSJR]

The first thing that struck me about the Howard S2 speakers was what I referred to as the "sweet treble" at the time I bought them. This was before I bought the CD63 MkII KI Signature, but I guess that is what has helped tame the top end people talk about with this CD player.

I only wish I too had a 15' x 30' hi-fi room to let my system breathe though. It's considerably smaller than that!

Eq can do much good these days if needed I feel, as the basic speaker design is great and the veneers used to be lovely I remember. We did much better with the related slightly smaller Harlech model at the time, this in the days before the wonderful things available to us now.