Marantz CD player

[garethl]

Hi. I currently own a Kenwood DPF-2030 and have seen a Marantz CD6005 on sale for £125. I just wondered if it would be worth snapping up, would there be a decent improvement in quality?

 

[Gray]

....would there be a decent improvement in quality?

Very likely yes.
You could always put the digital output of the Kenwood through a decent DAC.
But a standalone one of those wouldn't cost much less than the £125 you can get the Marantz for.

Presumably your amp hasn't got a built-in DAC.

 

[garethl]

Very likely yes.
You could always put the digital output of the Kenwood through a decent DAC.
But a standalone one of those wouldn't cost much less than the £125 you can get the Marantz for.

Presumably your amp hasn't got a built-in DAC.

The amp’s a Pioneer A10, not sure about a DAC.

 

[ToppingSMSL]

Hi. I currently own a Kenwood DPF-2030 and have seen a Marantz CD6005 on sale for £125. I just wondered if it would be worth snapping up, would there be a decent improvement in quality?

Not in sound quality. Maybe in build quality, I don't know.

 

[Gray]

The amp’s a Pioneer A10, not sure about a DAC.

No, there's no DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter) in that amp.

The Marantz will (almost certainly) sound different to your Kenwood.
Whether you prefer the difference, or think there's enough of it.....that's another story.

 

[ToppingSMSL]

Why would the Marantz sound different to the Kenwood? Very hard to volume match CD players properly....

 

[Messiah]

I still use a Kenwood CD player (DP-3060) and a Marantz CD 6007. However, I have not run them both on the same system to compare how they sound.

I would imagine your CD player must be similar in age to mine - around 30 years old?

Given the age of the Kenwood and the price of the Marantz I would get it purely just in case the Kenwood fails.

 

[Gray]

Why would the Marantz sound different to the Kenwood?

You can explain it to him.... if he finds that it does 😉

 

[Al ears]

Why would the Marantz sound different to the Kenwood? Very hard to volume match CD players properly....

Presumably you are going to tell us why they shouldn't......
Waiting in anticipation.

 

[Stuart83]

I have a Marantz CD 52 MK2 connected to a more vintage second hifi which is 33yrs old only ever needing the common fault of the eject cog replacing after it literally perished.

I've been upgrading, swapping, demoing etc etc like a lot on here for a long time being bitten by the bug thus never staying still too long found the only real noticeable upgrade I could find within bracket was a newer marantz CD 60 after many a demo and having all sorts in-between.

The main impact in sound is given primarily by the speakers then the amp.
Given the other ancillaries like the CDP etc is of a decent good "similar" quality it becomes harder to both find much difference and then improve on without large jumps in price.
Even then I find it's more where system "tweaking" comes into play by making the subtle changes to your overall sound that make a system uniquely to your taste.

I'm not sure if you will hear much difference in sound but I will vouch for Marantz being very good quality.

 

[Jasonovich]

Somebody put me straight 🙂
Kenneth Wood (Ken - Wood) founder of the company back in the sixties I believe. Can someone tell me, the British company that make chef mixers, microwaves the same Kenwood that produce HiFi's?

Yes, I agree with @Messiah, the Kenwood looks solidly made but as it's getting on a bit, might be worth changing it to the Marantz.

Also, Kenwood possibly using older chipsets like Burr-Brown or Cirrus, Texas Instruments etc. the Marantz is likely to be in line with the most recent technology and possibly offer better sound?
Newer not necessarily better but at least, you'll have longevity with the newer CD player.

 

[Gray]

I'm not sure if you will hear much difference in sound

I'm pretty sure he won't hear much difference.
(Never gonna be the sort of differences you get with speakers is it?)
But I'd be surprised if he heard none at all.
Like I said, he may not even consider any difference to be significant.

 

[Entrigo]

Don't know the Kenwood but just sold my Marantz CD6005 which I had had for 11 years. Suffice to say that it's the last component of the set-up I bought 11 years a when I moved into my house that I upgraded - despite me having been affected by severe upgrade-itis for the past two + years . Really decent CDP.

 

[DCarmi]

Somebody put me straight 🙂
Kenneth Wood (Ken - Wood) founder of the company back in the sixties I believe. Can someone tell me, the British company that make chef mixers, microwaves the same Kenwood that produce HiFi's?

They are different companies.

Kenwood (Kenneth Wood) was a UK company making kitchen appliances. They are now part of some foreign conglomerate. I can't remember which. I don't think they manufacture in the UK any more.

Kenwood (Hifi etc) was a Japanese company, bought out by Trio, which then merged with JVC.

 

[nopiano]

They are different companies.

Kenwood (Kenneth Wood) was a UK company making kitchen appliances. They are now part of some foreign conglomerate. I can't remember which. I don't think they manufacture in the UK any more.

Kenwood (Hifi etc) was a Japanese company, bought out by Trio, which then merged with JVC.

I was going to say similarly. Ken Wood hailed from Woking, Surrey, an area where I grew up and worked.

Kenwood I thought was the core Japanese Hifi brand, but to avoid confusion with the mixers they were renamed Trio for import to the UK. But it looks like it wasn’t that simple!

 

[DCarmi]

Kenwood I thought was the core Japanese Hifi brand, but to avoid confusion with the mixers they were renamed Trio for import to the UK. But it looks like it wasn’t that simple!

Your post prompted some research. Wikipedia, unsurprisingly contradicts itself.

However, the Kenwood (JVC) site has a historical timeline , which should be more reliable and it you are indeed nearly correct. 👍

Potted history (Audio):
1946 - Kasuga Radio Co Ltd formed (Branded as Kenwood)
1957 - Changed name to Trio-Kenwood
1963 - Branded as Kenwood USA Corporation in... ermm... the USA
1986 - Renamed as Kenwood Corporation
2007 - Acquired by JVC

Potted history (Kitchen appliances):
1947 - Founded by Kenneth Wood
2001 - Acquired by De’Longhi