Dedicated CD player and amplifier

[iyersn]

I intend to buy a dedicated CD player (and an amplifier) purely for listening to songs and music - in my bedroom.
Would Marantz CD6003 and PM6003 be good? Where are these available in Mumbai and at what price - need it with bill?
I purchased the Denon RCD M38 yesterday for my aged mother for her to listen to Carnatic and Devotional songs (in her room) - I was quite happy with its clarity and performance and that has made me go in for a dedicated CD player. Even my mom liked it and was also able to use it on her own.

Even though I have a music system (refer profile) in my main room, I need some good system which myself and my wife will enjoy listening to in peace. We listen to hindi, marathi, tamil film songs - not of the flashy and boomy type songs. We also like devotional songs.
We have a 7 year old Sony VCD player (3 CD tray and double cassette deck -you can imagine now) with 2 speakers in the bedroom, place on top corners of the room due to space constraints - not been used for quite some time and also not functioning. Its speakers might be good and am not sure if I should spend any amount in getting the Sony system repaired and given to some of my relatives.

My bedroom is quite stuffed - and will necessarily need to keep the speakers at the top corner of the wall.

Kindly advise.

 

[rikhav]

Marantz would be available witb bill / warranty from many dealers. Ones i can think of are Boomarang & Viola

Also you can get them from the grey market.

Which speakers do you intend to pair with them?

Your speaker placment is not idle. Try to atleast place them at ear level, if not very far from the corners

 

[iyersn]

Marantz would be available witb bill / warranty from many dealers. Ones i can think of are Boomarang & Viola

Also you can get them from the grey market.

Which speakers do you intend to pair with them?

Your speaker placment is not idle. Try to atleast place them at ear level, if not very far from the corners

Thanks for your advise. Frankly, I have kept my options on the speakers wide open, but had read that the Dali Lektor go well with these combination. Please suggest if you are aware of any good ones. I agree with your that the speaker position is not ideal, but I dont have an option as of now, please note my bedroom is stuffed and these are the only places in the corner where I can keep them for the time being. Where are these available without bills? Though, I am not keen on going in the grey market unless the price difference is substantial.

 

[Ronnie]

Hi,
If you have any means to source from here in Singapore, you can buy Marantz CD6003 + PM6003 for a total of SGD725-SGD750.

Both these items are priced almost the same rate $380-$390, in most of the shops at The Adelphi... I checked it. yesterday... SA7003 you can get for $540..

Ron

 

[hemantwaghe]

Just my advise - be open to other combinations and trust your ears only.
Once auditioned Atoll amp ( i never heard them before) atoll cd and some semi premium speaker ..and to my untrained ear it sounded far better than Camridge audio and quad combination.
If you read international publication some modern PREMIUM pioneer cdps are highly regarded,however their availability here is unknown.

ALSO PLEASE CARRY YOUR OWN MUSIC. Unfortunately older indian music was not properly recorded. So IMHO you do not need "highly revealing" system ,but a system which will conceal recording issues.

Also if you like the idea of putting all your music ( HIGH QUALITY LOSSLESS RIPS) on PC or Laptop and listening through Server or Dac and Amp ,just explore the idea,

If possible please put yoUr results and experience on this site.it will help our members.

HAPPY HUNTING AND HAPPY ( AUDIOPHILE) JOURNEY.

 

[rikhav]

Hemant has give excellent advise for you to follow

Many people like a laid speaker with a Marantz and some have a Marantz + Monitor audio combo. So it depends what you like.

As hemant has pointed out old hindi songs were not recorded well so Marantz + MA wont work.

You can also look at PSB and Paradigm speakers which are also well regarded.

If you cant change your speaker position, I think you should look at front ported speakers

 

[iyersn]

Thanks folks.
I bought the Denon RCD-M38 for my mom and liked it so much that I am on the hunt for an amplifier for myself.
I had an audition of the following amplifiers:
a) Cambridge 540 - sounded bright
b) Marantz PM 6002 - sounded quite fine, but was paired with FS speakers, the shop didnt have BS speakers for audition! This shop did not have PM 7003 or PM 8003 for audition, but the owner said that PM 8003 would be available for Rs.40K!! (somewhere in the forum I read it's available for 38k.
c) Marantz PM 7003 - paired with Energy RC10 speakers- sounded ok (little low on the bass). The price quoted for PM 7003 was Rs.40K!!! and for PM8003 was Rs.55K!!! I think this is tooooo much on the higher side. The speakers cost Rs.44K - and are back ported.
d) Denon PMA 710AE (Rs.27k)- paired with KEF IQ30 FS speakers (Rs.31k)- this is front ported - had good depth and bass and clarity - for me sounded to be a winner. The salesman mentioned that this 'transistor based' amplifier tends to get heated and the sound quality detoriates after a couple of hours of playing. He suggested me to go for the PMA-1510AE (Rs.61k) which has Mosfet and where on getting heated, the amplifier sound gets better.
I am not sure of all these explanations and certainly am in no mood to shelve out 61k for an amplifier for my bedroom.
I have asked ProFx for an audition of the compact system DF-107, which will take at least 3-4 days for the demo piece to arrive.
I had been to The Shop, Viola and Alliance4 for the auditioning and was not too highly impressed with the choices available - maybe I should have called up, fixed up what I was looking out for and then gone over there. I had also been at Thump in Atria Mall and ProFx for the Denon.
At present my preference is towards the Denon PMA 710AE.
Are there any fellow members who have had experience of the Denon PMA 710AE and the Marantz PM8003 (also which front ported speakers would go with 8003) who could share their experience and/ or advise.
Also please comment on DRA/ DF-107 compact system (CD player + Amplifier+ Speakers) have radio and usb connectivity (which also connects ipod), but am told that the speakers are Denon (made by Boston) speakers which though good are not in the same league as KEF speakers. (total system cost Rs. 51k) - appears to be a winner if SQ is good!

Please note all the above auditons were on the CDs with the respective shops and I heard instrumental and hindi film songs in the audition.

 

[rikhav]

Had been to Viola / Alliance4 / The Shop just a few days back as a friend wanted to buy a HT

Alll these dealershave not much for demo. Viola has the widest range. There were many Paradigm FS & BS but did not bother to ask which were they

Alliance 4 have shifted to Goregoan and the DN nagar shop is more of a godown. So i guess you should visit their Goregaon shop

THE SHOP is by far the worst hi-fi dealer. The salesman gives a demo as if its a big pain for him, The owner is talking loudly on the phone when the demo is on. Totally unprofessional people

 

[iyersn]

Had been to Viola / Alliance4 / The Shop just a few days back as a friend wanted to buy a HT

Alll these dealershave not much for demo. Viola has the widest range. There were many Paradigm FS & BS but did not bother to ask which were they

Alliance 4 have shifted to Goregoan and the DN nagar shop is more of a godown. So i guess you should visit their Goregaon shop

THE SHOP is by far the worst hi-fi dealer. The salesman gives a demo as if its a big pain for him, The owner is talking loudly on the phone when the demo is on. Totally unprofessional people

I couldnt agree more with you. However, I was not aware of Alliance 4 having shifted to Goregaon. Had been there this Monday. The guys out there also didnt mention it.
I will see if I can make it to their new shop.
I also intend to go to Boomerang, which was closed on Monday in the suburbs.:sad:

 

[trinitron]

Had been to Viola / Alliance4 / The Shop just a few days back as a friend wanted to buy a HT

Alll these dealershave not much for demo. Viola has the widest range. There were many Paradigm FS & BS but did not bother to ask which were they

Alliance 4 have shifted to Goregoan and the DN nagar shop is more of a godown. So i guess you should visit their Goregaon shop

THE SHOP is by far the worst hi-fi dealer. The salesman gives a demo as if its a big pain for him, The owner is talking loudly on the phone when the demo is on. Totally unprofessional people

i went to alliance4 and viola today with my own cds norah jones come away with me and titanic soundtrack here are my views.

alliance 4 - not many speakers to audition. i actually wanted to audition quad and dali BS with marantz which they dont keep anymore so i audition CA CDP+ NAD 325BEE (tone defeat mode) with wharfedale 9.1 and Tannoy F1 custom

1) Wharfedale 9.1 is warm spk with good bass, very good midrange but unbearably colored sound and highs weren't impressive (guitars had no feel).. these speakers are fatigue free! volume was at 12 o'clock very loud still it was not hurting my ears at all.

2) Tannoy F1 has good sound! highs, mids, lows were on equal level there was no coloration i felt. it dosent have bass like warf so its not recommended for some music, vocals were natural gelling well with highs but not with lows. celine dion's my heart will go on gave a lot of fatigue in end part of the song at 12o'clock volume but i liked the sound better than warf.

actually both speakers did not impress me i hope dali or quad will when i visit goregaon and boomerang

VIOLA - i told him to put BS he played it on some canton 65k FS and when i asked him were any SW left on he replied something silly then i myself went near speakers to chk which one was playing it was jamo 606 and some hifi canton on A/B spk setup marantz 6002 amp. funnies part was he played everything on a panasonic blue ray player he said he dont have CDP. room was too small for his FS, he didn't even cared to pull out side firing FS when playing! listening position was so close to speakers, sitting position was like A row in theaters, no carpeting. i hated the positioning. alliance4 had great room atleast.. viola was playing from a pana blue ray player so i was least interested in auditioning..

 

[captrajesh]

Hi Iyersn
I strongly suggest that u take ur own music. U must listant to them in ur system for a couple of days before going for auditioning so that the music is fresh in ur mind & you'll be able to compare mentally

 

[mksharan]

Thanks folks.
I bought the Denon RCD-M38 for my mom and liked it so much that I am on the hunt for an amplifier for myself.

d) Denon PMA 710AE (Rs.27k)- paired with KEF IQ30 FS speakers (Rs.31k)- this is front ported - had good depth and bass and clarity - for me sounded to be a winner. The salesman mentioned that this 'transistor based' amplifier tends to get heated and the sound quality detoriates after a couple of hours of playing. He suggested me to go for the PMA-1510AE (Rs.61k) which has Mosfet and where on getting heated, the amplifier sound gets better.
I am not sure of all these explanations and certainly am in no mood to shelve out 61k for an amplifier for my bedroom.
I

I have a Denon PMA 710AE ampllifier and have been using for about a year and certainly did not find any issues with heating etc.. I have played on many occasions in summer for 3-4 hours at a stretch and certainly did not find such issues. The sound quality, bass response was much better than their entry level player 510 AE.
Regards,
Manoj

 

[murali_n]

Hai Iyersn,

MOSFET is acronym for Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor.

What does the salesman claim?

N.Murali

 

[iyersn]

actually both speakers did not impress me i hope dali or quad will when i visit goregaon and boomerang

VIOLA - i told him to put BS he played it on some canton 65k FS and when i asked him were any SW left on he replied something silly then i myself went near speakers to chk which one was playing it was jamo 606 and some hifi canton on A/B spk setup marantz 6002 amp. funnies part was he played everything on a panasonic blue ray player he said he dont have CDP. room was too small for his FS, he didn't even cared to pull out side firing FS when playing! listening position was so close to speakers, sitting position was like A row in theaters, no carpeting. i hated the positioning. alliance4 had great room atleast.. viola was playing from a pana blue ray player so i was least interested in auditioning..

Viola - The guy out there is not clear at all, the owners were seated in their other shop at Parle, where again the choice is lesser than the shop at Andheri!
Which shop of Alliance4 had you been to - Andheri or Goregaon?

I actually found the ProFx shop in Atria Mall to be the most professional in their approach, having dedicated auditioning rooms.

 

[hemantwaghe]

My alliance 4 SAndheri expereince was good ( BTW a brief audition) it was last week
Allinace 4 goregaon expereince was very good ,it must be around 2-3 months back. The sales guy actually asked me to expereince video demo room ,when I went for audio audition

PS Check atoll amps and some odd branded speakers ,to my untrained ears I found quiet a good combination..

 

[mksharan]

.
d) Denon PMA 710AE (Rs.27k)- paired with KEF IQ30 FS speakers (Rs.31k)- this is front ported - had good depth and bass and clarity - for me sounded to be a .

One more thing I can say in favour of the Denon PMA 710 amplifier is that it has a fairly decent phono input which can handle inputs from moving magnet and ceramic cartridges.
After all one never knows when one will be hit by the vinyl bug.

 

[arun malur]

I also intend to go to Boomerang, which was closed on Monday in the suburbs.:sad:

Also fix up an appointment with Kshitij of Designer Audio, Tardeo AC market for Quad. They have an excellent demo/listening room.

 

[iyersn]

Hai Iyersn,

MOSFET is acronym for Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor.

What does the salesman claim?

N.Murali

Sir,
He claimed that on heating the performance of the amplifier gets better.

 

[iyersn]

I have a Denon PMA 710AE ampllifier and have been using for about a year and certainly did not find any issues with heating etc.. I have played on many occasions in summer for 3-4 hours at a stretch and certainly did not find such issues. The sound quality, bass response was much better than their entry level player 510 AE.
Regards,
Manoj

Thanks Manoj.
Which speakers do you have and how do you find the SQ to be?

 

[trinitron]

Hi Iyersn
I strongly suggest that u take ur own music. U must listant to them in ur system for a couple of days before going for auditioning so that the music is fresh in ur mind & you'll be able to compare mentally

i second that! better go for a demo with songs u listen the most insted of recommendations!

Viola - The guy out there is not clear at all, the owners were seated in their other shop at Parle, where again the choice is lesser than the shop at Andheri!
Which shop of Alliance4 had you been to - Andheri or Goregaon?

that guy dosent knw how to communicate. mr kadam at alliance4 is very helpful!. i went to andheri one where they only have warf, tannoy f1, mission m34i, MS FS. ill visit goregaon soon to audition Quad 11l2 and Dali with marantz and quad. where can i demo quad spk with quad pre+ power? how much pre + power will cost?
I actually found the ProFx shop in Atria Mall to be the most professional in their approach, having dedicated auditioning rooms.[/QUOTE]

which are the setups available there?