I give two short budget cdp's reviews, You give help, please.

Digital Drive

Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it.

A/B'ed Marantz cd7300 and Denon dcd-685.
Music: Stan Getz & Kenny Barron (People time),J.S.Bach (Brandenburg Concertos+Oboe Concertos),Simply Red (Picture book), various Ron Carter,Tracy Chapman, Chemical brothers, French vocal baroque.
Built: The Marantz, no surprise, built like a tank. vs. the denon, I felt the latest, given a firm grip might leave my fingers impressions on the chassis.
On the front thou they look quite alike, jog button, phones socket and display. The Marantz however has a welcome delay when jogging/skipping tracks. Both have fixed AC cord. I did'nt bother with the remotes so I can't comment on those.
Sound: Marantz. The impressions were of a weighty rich tonality, after a while the heavy mid-bass to bass, thou very rich and deep, gave the feeling of chain and balls, holding the tempo down.
The mids were lush and prominent with some trace of coloration and strong timbre, the highs were really fantastic: natural, airy and precise.
Positioning however disappointed with loss of separation and hall/studio true imaging.
Background noise was almost absent, good. Overall I felt the player to be pleasing harmonically but inconsistent and slow.
Denon: The Denon produced a very good soundstage, In the classical pieces, instruments were positioned where they should be, so with other musical segments.
Tonally, Not a typical denon. This one has smoother top end and less artificiality in tone, good sense of timing and pace. To me it sounded more natural, or true than the marantz. The trade offs were higher noise floor, less fluidity and timbre than with the Marantz, also less refined.
On both resolution and clarity fell short when compared to hi-rez player used for comparison.
I will not give verdict if I may, Now I'm concerned with another matter which I posted before and got no reply, so if you please, try and help me with it.
(the early post:)
I'm putting together a system for a beginner friend, I have two options in mind for a cdp, one I did hear: Roksan Kandy III, second hand/demo for 840$, the other I hav'nt, but goes for new: NAD C542, 600$.
May I have your advise ?, my priority is the sound, but my friend's may be otherwise.

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Topic - I give two short budget cdp's reviews, You give help, please. - gads 07:31:29 05/22/05 (0)

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