[chadbang]

Anyone notice in What Hi-Fi that the Marantz 6000 OSE LE is now being rated at three stars when it was formerly five stars? Very annoying. They say that it's simply been outshined by new products. My question is, does a five star product cease to be a five star product when something new comes out? I suppose it has diminished in stature relative to new products, but somehow that demotion just doesn't seem right. Three stars. I suppose. Anyway, just griping.

 

[DanG]

All I know is that it should have been at three stars from the beginning. From my experiences with it and Dunc's problems, it seems to be an unreliable CD player even though it sounds pretty good.

 

[chadbang]

I didn't know you and Duncan had problems. Mine's been fine, but I've probably only logged 100 hours of play over the last nine months. There are always lemons, however. I remember back in '88 I bought the top-on-the line Denon. It died in eight months. I was pissed. Wasn't cheap either.

On the other hand, it's fine if they downgrade it. I'm currently into a "lo-fi" mode. I'm taking advantage of the open window (for how long I wonder?) on mp3s and listening to more music than I have for years - simply because I can access it free. Anything above my "lo-fi" rig of a dvd player and Boston Acoustic computer speakers and they are unlistenable to me. Painful almost. But staying with lousy equipment hides their flaws and lets me enjoy the music - and I'm consequently digging up stuff from my past that I wouldn't have rebought or listening to music I probably never would have bothered to purchase. Of course, all things must pass and when I get my Thiels....

 

[wasifazim]

Quote:

Originally posted by DanG All I know is that it should have been at three stars from the beginning. From my experiences with it and Dunc's problems, it seems to be an unreliable CD player even though it sounds pretty good.

As I recall, Duncan had a really old CD63 or CD67 (and given how he described it, his problem was simply a cracked panel-mounted RCA), not the newer CD6000..I certainly never had a problem with my old unit; also, What Hi Fi hasn't reduced this unit's ranking because of reliability concerns.

I wouldn't condemn an entire model run based on a couple of opinions.

- Wasif.

 

[DanG]

Not to go too off-topic, but my machine died in a year and a half -- when I called their support line, they couldn't help me figure out the problem on my own at all. The nearest service center was backed up for three to four weeks, and I didn't have my receipt anymore (it was a year and a half!!!).

Anyway, it's not a lemon, it's just not a very solid piece of equipment. My current CD player, while quite more expensive, is built like a damn tank and is six years old. It looks like it's six weeks old...

Maybe that's just the problem with all of those lower-end CD players.

 

[chadbang]

Sure, you get what you pay for. $275 bucks for a cd player is still cheapsville in the scheme of things.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Quote:

Originally posted by chadbang Anyone notice in What Hi-Fi that the Marantz 6000 OSE LE is now being rated at three stars when it was formerly five stars? Very annoying. They say that it's simply been outshined by new products. My question is, does a five star product cease to be a five star product when something new comes out? I suppose it has diminished in stature relative to new products, but somehow that demotion just doesn't seem right. Three stars. I suppose. Anyway, just griping.

When rating something, one compares it to its competitors, and a subjective and changeable rating sysytem comes in to play. When compared to it's competitors 2 years ago, it might have bested all, or nearly all, of its competitors, making it a 5 of 5 star rating. Now, 2 years later, its competitors have improved/updated their products, while the Marantz might still be the same. Doesn't mean the sound quality diminished, but that there are some that are now better when compared to it. It still may sound awesome!! The question is, what products surpassed it so you can look into one of those now to see for yourself!!

Maybe ther's good news: there may be a new Marantz on the horizon soon

 

[edog]

My CD6000OSE died within roughly one and a half years as well. That's pretty disappointing, considering what I paid for it two years ago. I've had cheap ($150) Sony CDPs that have lasted much longer.

I had no problems with its sound quality though. When it was working, it sounded very nice.