Marantz M-CR603 or 503?

[admin_exported]

Hi!

I'm just wondering wether it makes sense to spend the extra money on the 603 over the 503 if I don't want to connect wia Ethernet cable and to play around with some WiFi to Ethernet solutions would cost some 50-70 pounds more.

As far as I could understand, all other specs important for the sound quality are identical.

I have some Dynaudio 2/6 speakers for this unit.

Can you confirm this?

Any comment appreciated.

Regards from Hungary

Laci

 

[Anonymous]

Noone has an opinion about this?

 

[chebby]

Noone has an opinion about this?

If you lived in the UK, I would say "get the M-CR603" because it has DAB and internet radio as well as FM.

(Here in the UK we are going to lose FM radio in a few years time, so having the 'backup' of DAB and internet radio is a bonus.)

The M-CR603 also has a useful digital optical input for connecting suitably equipped Blu-ray players, PS3s or computers.

However, if your FM radio network is not going to be shut down by your government, and you don't want/need any other digital sources, then get the M-CR503 and save the extra money.

 

[krazy_olie]

I just picked up the original 502DAB here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Marantz-M-CR502DAB-CD-Receiver-System-MCR502DAB-/230612507516?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_CDPlayerSeparates&hash=item35b1939b7c#ht_605wt_1180

. for only £200!

There are a number of features missing from this compared to the 603, obviously not networked and limited file support only mp3 and wma no FLAC, OGG etc, also no digital access to the amp, from external sources. However like you I wasn't planning on networking it, not straight away anyway so thought that I could add this functionality later with a squeezebox or sonos (for spotify).
The lack of file format support is the biggest bug really, but the 503 has that problem as well (Marantz should have at least added support for WAV files! I assumed that wav files would work in the usb connection but they don't ).

Just realised you are in Hungary though so not sure how much use that ebay link is worth. I think the 502 outside UK has no DAB, so the 503 is the superior product because of it's ipod dock, but without an ipod it is the same.

Depends on the price difference really, if it's less than 30% more then then the 603 is a far better option with better potential future proofing. Without a network connection there'll be nothing you can listen to on the 603 that you couldn't on the 503/2 though you might just have to burn whatever it is to a cd or stick in on a usb as an mp3. You can add the networked functionality (arguably a more acomplished one at that) though potentially with a loss of sound quality and possibly a greater expense. Seeing as you would want a wireless connection a squeezebox touch at a later stage might be a better bet. I'm just going to spend the saved money on buying music to actually listen to :rofl: .

Hope this helps

 

[krazy_olie]

Without a network the 2 main differences are:
502/503 has no digital input beyond it's cd player and usb.
502/3 only suports mp3 and wma (and cds), so no flac and not even wav!

I managed to get a refurbished 502 a couple days for £200 so seemed like an easy choice although I may come to regret it later! Not entirely sure what i'd plug in to a optical/coax input if it were there though. Lack of FLAC is annoying but 320kb/s mp3 should be fine or any flac files can be burned on to cd so that's more of a conveniece thing than anything else. 503 has an ipod dock so I guess you'd be able to play whatever formats ipods support.

If you can get a much better price on a 502/3 then maybe you could pair it up with a wireless squeezebox or sonos which will arguably have better functionality though no idea if you'd get a reduction in sound quality.

I'm just going to spend my saved money on buying music to actually listen to in the thing