Marantz PM6004/CD6004 better than Arcam Solo Mini?

Bogester

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Oct 25, 2011
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I'm sure this is a familiar story to many of you: you upgrade one part of your system and then you start thinking 'What if I upgrade this bit, and maybe that bit and...' - before you know it, you've an entirely new system (in your head, at least). In my case, I've just bought some KEF Q300 speakers and hooked them up to my Arcam Solo Mini. The sound is a significant improvement on their predecessors (a pair of Dali Lektor 1s, which were not exactly bad). Now my wife and I are going to be moving to the US shortly and my initial plan was use a step-up transformer for the Arcam Solo Mini and everything should be hunky dory. But now I'm thinking, why not sell the Arcam Solo Mini and get a separate amplifier and CD player when I'm in the US? My first thought (naturally, given their Best Buy status on WHF) was to buy a Marantz PM6004/CD6004 combination when we get to the US (aside: my wife is really NOT impressed with my priorities for when we move: a car and a good sound system!). At this stage I'm really interested to know whether the Marantz combo would represent a significant improvement in sonic terms over the Solo Mini. If anyone has any experiences of the two systems, I'd be interested to hear (any hi-fi vendors out there reading this, I'd really appreciate your opinions on this).

This whole thought process has at least been partly fuelled by the fact that I went up into our loft today to dig out items to sell on eBay. In my loft I dug out a Marantz PM4400 integrated amp I bought about eight years ago but had given up using in favour of the Arcam (due the Arcam's superior WAF). I had to test that the amp still worked before putting it on eBay, so I hooked it up to the newly acquired KEFs and my RP3 TT and, to my slight surprise, the sound was surprisingly good (a bit warmer than the Arcam, with more pronounced bass, which I quite liked, at least on a brief listen). So I thought to myself, if this amp still sounds pretty good then what must its newest descedent (i.e. the PM6004) sound like?

Your thoughts and suggestions are most welocme!

Many thanks
Bogester
 

Johnno2

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Feb 2, 2009
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I once owned a similar amp to the PM4400, it was the PM4200, and I can tell you the PM6004 is superior in every way, build looks and sound, I even find it preferable to a NAD C352 I owned

Unfortunatly I cant comment on how the 6004 amp and CD combo compares with the arcam solo as this is meant to be a great little system, i would have thought it would be more of a change in presentation rather than an upgrade in sound , you would need to listen both side by side, unless someone with experiece of both can help you, good luck
 

Bogester

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Johnno2 said:
I once owned a similar amp to the PM4400, it was the PM4200, and I can tell you the PM6004 is superior in every way, build looks and sound, I even find it preferable to a NAD C352 I owned

Hi Johno2, thanks for your reply. When I tested the PM4400 with the rest of my kit my wife thought that the bass it produced far too prominent and muddy (I didn't test it long enough to make my own mind up, but it was definitely bassier than the Arcam). Is the PM6004 better in this regard than the PM4200 you owned?

Thanks
Bogester
 

Johnno2

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Bogester ,yes, better in every way, plenty of punchy bass (but more controlled) richer mids you can hear instruments set far back in the mix(soundsataging?) and the treble has a nice 'sheen' I tried the loudness button, ok for *very* low background listening to thicken the sound up, but using it for general nomal levels will add some of that muddiness and overbearing bass your wife noticed. Just make sure the loudness is off and this amp sounds great, well, it gets my feet tapping :) Sorry I cant compare it to the arcam but I bet it gives it a run for the money or even betters it, WHF are spot on with this amp awarding product of the year.
 

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