Review: Marantz CD5001 OSE

Review: The Marantz CD5001 OSE

Sorry, that it took so long
In this review, I’m going to compare the Marantz to the pc, not to dad’s rotel cdp, not yet, that is…

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Let’s start with what countless others have said about it: “this is not a $350 CDP”.

It definately sounds much better.

And now; for something completely different: a quick non-sound related comparison between the Marantz and the pc. All good news here. The marantz looks stylish, has a very good build quality for it’s price, aluminium front plate, more metal behind that, and it has a certain thing about it that makes it look more high-end. It also looks more subtle, while the pc case is made out of thin aluminium and loads of plastic, it’s not a regular pc case though, this is a NZXT lexa, a $130 pc case that is, and you know what, I don’t care about it anymore, in fact, the pc is off most of the time, because of the annoying blue led on the front, and the fact that it makes noise, which the marantz, doesn’t.
More subtle features I like about the marantz: the fact that there is no ‘on’ light, there’s a red ‘stand-by’ light, but when you turn it on, only the display is giving light. And you can even turn off that display to. This only leaves you with a softer red light to show you that the display is off, which is nice, because at night listening (or other listening in a dark room) the cdp’s light doesn’t distract you. Then unlike many other devices in this price class, the marantz doesn’t have those ‘wobbly’ buttons, which feel like they can come off every moment.

Then, the really important stuff:
Sounds.

There were 2 things I instantly noticed when I played the first cd: 1) There is a lot more bass
2) wow, this sounds much warmer than the pc.


First, the bass thing: there isn’t only more bass than with my pc, but the marantz actually seems to reach the 20 hz as stated in the specs, while the pc soundcard does not, at least not hearable. So there is more (not too much, just more, which can come handy with acoustic suspension speakers) and it reaches lower frequencies than the pc with an overall bigger resolution.
Then, that warmer part. The pc sounded horrible on high frequencies, it wanted to give you detail, but it just couldn’t give it, all became a little too much when a lot of high frequencies were there and then it sounded harsh, really harsh. The marantz, however, sounds much softer and fuller than the pc, all the highs are there, with a lot of detail, but they don’t sound so bright as before, a more relaxed sound.
Then there was this thing that I noticed not much later, all sounds fuller, it was like the pc was filtering some freqs out, I first noticed this with Diana Krall her voice, on the pc it sounded rather thin, and dry, kinda like she had a cold or a cough or so. On the marantz there is more of a body in the music…
Then, as I said before is that the pc was noisy, and since it’s off now while I listen to music, the pc generated noise is also gone (fans, HDD vibrations, …) so now it’s really quiet, because of that you hear more things too, like that very soft breathe from the artist when you’re listening at lower volumes. On a nice recording, you’re much more having the feeling that you are there, the marantz brings you this ‘black/darker background’ a much softer & cleaner feeling than with the pc, also with a bigger soundstage and much better imaging.

Then, listening to some cd’s

I’m going to start with a cd that I literally know out of my head:
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Philip Catherine – Summer night: I love this cd, not only because Philip Catherine is a ‘guitar wizard’, but also because of the very good recording quality. This already sounded good on the pc, but oh my, now there’s much more body to the music, it came alive, much more musical, the bass also pleasantly increased, giving a bigger sound. Also a very good improvement on this cd is Erik Truffaz’s trumpet, which sounded really - harsh & almost painful to my ears on the pc - but now it sounds softer, and more like a trumpet.

Then,
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Steve Kuhn Trio – Live at Birdland: a nice live recording, this is a good example of the ‘darker background’ this cd hasn’t got that much background noises, or anything else disturbing. You hear the band playing, sometimes you hear the people in the hall, nothing else. This also sounds much more natural than on the pc, the double bass sounds really fantastic, not boomy, not to thin, very detailed, so does everything else, the piano sounds well articulated, without becoming harsh in the top end, drums sound very good too here, not exaggerated at all, they are where they are supposed to be.

More jazz!
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Diana Krall – When I look in your eyes: 3-dimensional soundfield!!! The sound is everywhere, also a great musicality, great detail, she doesn’t sound like she was having a cold, neither does her voice become ‘shouty’ when you turn up the volume (quite hard) like it did on the pc. Her voice just opens up really good here, without limitations, not bright not muffled. The cd sounds like it was recorded somewhere big (not that this necessarily is the case, but it sounds like it was recorded in a big room) and that’s being shown really good, which is with every cd now, they all sound more realistic.

And then some other genres:

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Corinne Bailey Rae
A recording done on the new way, not bad though, she haves a really soft voice, and the punch from the bass is well articulated, overall a nice cd, and the marantz plays it really nice (there are some cd’s which are recorded badly that sound terrible, but that’s because they’re bad recorded), the organ also creates a ‘magical’ sense on this cd, not used to much, not too less, giving a really relaxing touch…

And, another album I literally know out of my head
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(Orlando) Cachaito Lopez – Cachaito
I could recommend this cd to everyone who likes Cuban (jazz-ish) music, they play with their soul into the music, you can almost feel the artists. There is a little noise on this cd but I don’t care about it, it’s magical.

And it only became more magical than it was on the pc, I can hear every last thing on this cd now, without being disturbed. It’s just wonderful…

And it’s also wonderful that I haven’t bought this cdp earlier (I should have) it’s a huge improvement, I won’t look back…
However, it leaves me with a question:

.
.
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How should a higher class marantz cd/sacd player sound? :ihih:

(to be complete: system used: mine: the double Advent system, Denon PMA 700AE integrated amp, Luxman PD-282 with Denon DL-103 to a pro-ject phonobox II, Marantz CD5001 OSE, Kimber PBJ (for marantz), QED Qunex 3 (for phonobox))

Now keep them spinning!
Bert.

Hey Bert,

Thanks for the highly personalized review of the Marantz. Obviously it's working out well for you and you make it sound quite tantalizing. Nothing like when a plan comes together.

BTW, Cachaito Lopez had flown off my radar, so as usual, thanks for a solid rec on the tunes. I shall keep my eyes peeled.

Peace

Bert glad you are enjoying the Marantz. I enjoyed your review and photos. The CD5001 is amazing for the money. I often wonder how much I would have to spend to hear an overall improvement in sound quality.

I've noticed a big improvement in everything compared to my pc...
(I've been spinning massive attack's - mezzanine for quite a while now, and I must say that it is one darn good album :))

and I'll compare the marantz to dad's rotel this summer or so, and then let you guys know the result...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

Very nice review.

Mezzanine is one of my regular auditioning CDs - it's a hoot to go into Magnolia at BB and watch the sales reps freak out when I crank it up on their most expensive rigs.

P.S. What kind of sound card are you using on the PC side? Also what type of cable are you using out of the PC?

yeah, the mezzanine cd rocks, inertia creeps & dissolved girl in particular :)

I use a Creative Audigy 2 ZS card for my pc (it's good for what it's made for: gaming, it works really good with my pc soundsystem), cable used is from bandridge, but I also tried some monster I had laying around, they're both not audiophile cables, but they are still OFC, have decent connections and are better than the standard cheapo IC's...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

Very cool basite,

Too bad we dont get to play with OSE here in US. Sounds like it's a huge upgrade from a PC unit.

Also, I think it's about time I listen to this Massive Attack instead of people talking about it.

Have fun my friend,

JRA

thanks,
btw, the first time I heard the Mezzanine album was on a pair of wilson audio Maxx speakers, driven by mac 501's :)
it was the shop owner himself who played (cranked) it, since then, I've always wanted that cd, and now I got it, it's being played alot...

and yes, it was a huge upgrade from the PC, and I will have fun fo sure :cornut:

Keep them spinning,
Bert.