plastic penguin said:
Looks good. However, this was back in 2008 when prices on the Marantz might have been cheaper. Current normal price is around £1400-1500, which brings it in line with a basic Gyrodec. Also, since then, Clearaudio have updated the entry-level table with the 'Concept'. These are now readily available at around £900. How the sound compares I couldn't say, but the Concept look a better proposition. Or if you had £1500 to blow the Gyro would be the top of my list.
I did an awful lot of research before I pulled the trigger on the Marantz, there are some excellent reports on the net from actual owners of this tt. Yes, it has it's foibles, everything has. It's based on the CA Emotion, which at the time was their base unit; this entry level is now catered for by the Concept; the Emotion SE is now the next up in line with many attributes carried over from the Emotion. This all points to the Marantz being a decent tt, bulit by Clearaudio, Marantz badging. I wanted something different to the Rega-Project designs.
If I had £1.5-2.5K to spend this would bring a lot of very good tt's into the equation, including the Gyro. One thing you haven't factored in is that I believe the Gyro comes without a cartridge so you would need to add another £300 for a reasonable cartridge, (decent cart comes with the Marantz as standard).
Would I pay £1.5K for the Marantz - probably not, but then why should I when I got one for nearly the same price as the Concept...
What will be interesting is the comparison between my current Pioneer and the Marantz. Many slate the Pioneer but I think it's still a great tt.