CD63 Sig

[Fisherking 145]

I progressed from midi systems to seperates in the late 90's due to a small windfall, and have recently upgraded some of my equipment, but tonight Matthew, I am finally listening to & enjoying something that I wanted at the time, but that was beyond my financial capabilities. Courtesy of ebay, I now have a CD63 MkII KI Sig, and have spent the last 3 hours comparing it to my Sony CD player. Initially the differences seemed quite subtle, but as time passes, those subtleties are becoming more obvious, vocals have more clarity and substance, instruments & soundstage more definition, and the Sony is sounding muddled at times in comparison.

In the 90's these players were £300 apart in price, were they £300 apart in performance? Well I'm thinking so, unfortunately I just didn't have that £300 at the time. Now I'm starting to wonder what £500 would get me now, is the Rega Apollo better? As good? Or is it not fit to lace it's boots?

Great forum guys, keep it going.

 

[ESP2009]

The going rate for the KI Sig nowadays is just silly IMHO - it is a steal, pure and simple!

Congrats on availing yourself of a fine piece of 20th century hi-fi. I purchased mine back in the '90s, courtesy only of a small investment coming to fruition at that time. Otherwise I would never have been able to afford it.

I have no intention, at the moment, of changing; the CDP provides everything I think I need.

I asked a similar question of the forum not so long ago, and the advice I got was that I would have to pay way more than £500 to achieve any worthwhile gain. That's not to say that you could find a £500 bargain on the s/h market to knock the KI Sig off its perch.

Of course, it's all a matter of personal taste, but I would say that you should keep the CDP and maybe experiment with ways to extract the very best it can offer.

Enjoy!

 

[matthewpiano]

If your Marantz receiver has pre-outs, think about adding a Marantz integrated to get the best out of the CD63. A PM66SE KI-Signature would make sense and shouldn't cost much.

The '63 is a cracking player, although I don't quite agree with ESP2009 about it being a steal. Most seem to go for around £150, which is good value for the performance offered, but it is still a very old CD player at the end of the day.

 

[Anonymous]

Is there a big difference between the KI signature and the 63SE?

13 or 14 years ago I bought my first hi-fi separates system (still got it but hardly used)

Marantz CD63SE CD Player

Marantz PM55SE Amp

Mordant Short MS25i speakers

all from Richer Sounds for £500.

At the time the CD63SE was a 5-star £350 best CD player you can buy for less than £500 winner.

 

[mikegtar]

I had the CD63SE for about 12 years before it started having problems reading discs and then I replaced it with the CD6002.

It was an excellent player which I bought on the recommendation of the What Hi fi review.

The 63 KI Signature arrived on the market a little later and was more expensive at £500 if my memory serves me correctly. It was a step up in the Marantz range and also got rave reviews.