Made in Japan

[admin_exported]

hi all,

i am about to buy a dedicated CD player, which is either Marantz CD 6003 or CD 6004. I believe sound quality is about the same. Was thinking to buy CD5004 but when I auditioned CD 5004 vs CD 6004 last week, the 6004 clearly won.

CD6003 is manufactured in China. Whilst CD 6004 is manufactured in Japan. Does it make any difference in construction quality? (the price difference for 6004 is 33% more expensive than 6003). Does the increased quality justify the price premium? Or Marantz has similar quality regardless of the country of manufacture?

I am willing to pay the premium if the durability also increased, so perhaps I can have 10 years of trouble free CD player, but I have no clue. Would appreciate any comments.

thanks,

 

[matthewpiano]

Makes absolutely no difference IMO. The CD6004 is more expensive because it has replaced the CD6003 not because it is better made.

 

[plastic penguin]

Agreed: Most components, regardless of manufacturer, are produced in either Japan or China. No doubt Leema, Roksan, Arcam, Creek etc. use items made in these countries.

 

[Inter_Voice]

If I were you I will buy an old player Marantz CD63 MKii SI Signature rather than CD6003 or 6004.

CD63 Signature is still one of the best players which can be easily modded if you know a bit of DIY. If you look at the Bay the normal price is about £200 but if you are lucky enough you may be able to get one at around £150. Just be patient and shop around.

See similar comments in this WHF thread:

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/marantz-cd-63-mk11kiupgraded-to-level-1-vs-marantz-cd6003

 

[Inter_Voice]

Just forgot to mention that Marantz CD63 MKii SI Signature comes with copper chassis and were all made in Japan. Replacement parts are relatively easy to find in case some problems come up.

In this thread you can find almost 2000 pages of discussions on how you can mod the CD63 !!

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/54009-marantz-cd63-cd67-mods-list-1817.html

 

[Anonymous]

errr thanks for the comment but I dont live in Britain. I live in South East Asia (can't do Ebay) and also have (almost) zero knowledge on electronics.

 

[Inter_Voice]

errr thanks for the comment but I dont live in Britain. I live in South East Asia (can't do Ebay) and also have (almost) zero knowledge on electronics.

 

[Anonymous]

I have to agree. A recap and a superclock will make the CD 63mK II KI hard to beat!

 

[matthewpiano]

The OP has made it clear that durability is of the utmost importance to him and yet he is being told to buy a 15+ year old CD player that in stock form is certainly no better than the current models he is proposing. Transports don't go on forever (as I'm just finding out again) and he has subsequently told us that he has no DIY skills for this type of thing.

My advice would be to stick with either the 6003 or 6004. The 6004 is better sounding but it isn't a huge difference so it just comes down to how much you want to spend.

 

[Inter_Voice]

I have to agree. A recap and a superclock will make the CD 63mK II KI hard to beat!

A friend of mine got one CD63 MKii SI Signature which he had changed a lot of capacitors with better quality and larger ones, installed a stand alone master clock, changed the opamps with better quality, making better the power supply and put damping sheets all over the player etc. I have compared it with my OPPO 83 SE Nuforce Edition (and modded) IMHO his modded CD63 sounds better than mine, in particular on vocals, unbelieveable !!! I am now seriously considering modding one for my own use as it doesn't cost a lot of money .

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Matthewpiano

by the way, i am new to this forum so not that familiar with the lingo. What "OP" means?

 

[matthewpiano]

Thanks Matthewpiano

by the way, i am new to this forum so not that familiar with the lingo. What "OP" means?

Sorry - Original Poster. Welcome to the forums by the way.

 

[shropshire lad]

I don't know about the quality of modern Marantz cd players , but my CD52 is more than 20 years old and still going fine , so I would be very surprised if you didn't easily get 10 years out of the ones you are thinking about .

I am also aware that it won't go on for that much longer and had been toying with the idea of getting a CD63 and having it modded by Fidelity Audio . But I don't know if it would be cost effective against buying something newer .

However , having said all that , I suspect that what Matthewpiano says makes the most sense .

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks

i just realised that I am not that new but very seldom post questions. Only when I got upgradetitis or some other audio questions.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know about the quality of modern Marantz cd players , but my CD52 is more than 20 years old and still going fine , so I would be very surprised if you didn't easily get 10 years out of the ones you are thinking about .

I am also aware that it won't go on for that much longer and had been toying with the idea of getting a CD63 and having it modded by Fidelity Audio . But I don't know if it would be cost effective against buying something newer .

However , having said all that , I suspect that what Matthewpiano says makes the most sense .

Wow....ok got it. The reason I posted this question is durability. Since 1990s when I got my first CD, none of my compo or mini hifi or DVD players (Sony, Pioneer, Aiwa etc) last more than 5 or 7 years. The transport or the laser died pretty quick although all other components are ok.

I realised that the Marantz / Denon and other hifi specialised brands offer better construction (at least they are relatively heavy and built like a tank), so I just want to confirm.

Yup, i agree with matthewpiano's comments. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Inter_Voice]

I don't know about the quality of modern Marantz cd players , but my CD52 is more than 20 years old and still going fine , so I would be very surprised if you didn't easily get 10 years out of the ones you are thinking about .

I am also aware that it won't go on for that much longer and had been toying with the idea of getting a CD63 and having it modded by Fidelity Audio . But I don't know if it would be cost effective against buying something newer .

However , having said all that , I suspect that what Matthewpiano says makes the most sense .

I agree that CDP can normally last for more than 10 to 20 years and the problem usually lies with the laser mechanism and the belts. However for CD63 you can change the laser mechanism quite easily and a new one in the Bay costs about £16 while the belts are even cheaper. The construction of CD63 is very simple and everthing can be taken out relatively easily thus it makes modding work very convenient.

As to the actual modification work IMO it is only worthwhile if you can do it yourself otherwise it is not cheap if you ask someone to do it for you. If you don't have good eye sights, steady hands and a little bit of electronic knowledge then just forget about it and buy something over the shelf instead.

 

[lindsayt]

If you're tired of your lasers failing every 8 years you could always just buy a DAC and hook that up to your PC. PC DVD readers are cheap. Hard disk storage is cheap. Decent DAC's are cheap.

 

[david230]

If you're tired of your lasers failing every 8 years you could always just buy a DAC and hook that up to your PC. PC DVD readers are cheap. Hard disk storage is cheap. Decent DAC's are cheap.

I'm one of the lucky ones then I've had my Ki siggy almost 14yrs and still going strong!

It will probably fail next time I go to use it having just said that.

 

[shropshire lad]

If you're tired of your lasers failing every 8 years you could always just buy a DAC and hook that up to your PC. PC DVD readers are cheap. Hard disk storage is cheap. Decent DAC's are cheap.

I'm one of the lucky ones then I've had my Ki siggy almost 14yrs and still going strong!

It will probably fail next time I go to use it having just said that.

Now you've done it , saying that . It is bound to fail . So when it does I'll buy it off you for , say , £30.00 !

 

[Anonymous]

If you're tired of your lasers failing every 8 years you could always just buy a DAC and hook that up to your PC. PC DVD readers are cheap. Hard disk storage is cheap. Decent DAC's are cheap.

well, 8 years of service is quite phenomenal, and rare in my case. From my 11 disc spinners (mostly minis or DVD in a couple of rooms) in the past 2 decades, only my Pioneer did that. Other Japanese brands lasted for around 4 to 5 years. The Korean brands lasted even less than that. But they are mostly DVDs, and attractively priced so its OK for me.

but Marantz will be a huge step up in terms of price so I am even wondering should I buy the Japanese made to ensure reliability. MP indicated no need to do so as 6003 / 6004 are nearly identical. And one of the reason I asked this is because of the NAD CD players, which I was aiming to buy. It is manufactured in China. And NAD's website has various complaints posted by its customers (especially C515 BEE that was on my wish list).

dont get me wrong. I love NAD. I am using NAD C320BEE, now in its 7th year and performs without any faults. But in an amp, all that are moving are electrons, which I dont think would cause any problem. With CD players, there are some moving mechanical components that based on my experience with non hifi products, are quite unreliable.

but anyway, I am pretty much dead set on Marantz. I found little or no complaints from internet browsing, and it looks beautiful

with regards to DAC, I already have MF VDAC but I want to cut the number of boxes / cables until I move to bigger unit.

 

[david230]

Not a chance! No plans to get rid and if it breaks down I'll fix it! £16 for Philips replacement unit I might get a spare in for the hell of it.

Now you've done it , saying that . It is bound to fail . So when it does I'll buy it off you for , say , £30.00 !