[Big Tone]

Ok, the upshot of the whole thing is I finally brought back the Marantz 5001 to the shop, told the guy there about the disappointing audio quality and he promptly swopped it our for a new one.

I brought it home, hooked it up, switched it on and HEY PRESTO! a great sounding machine. So let this be a warning, not all 5001s sound the same ie at least not as they should. But this new machine is quite a performer in the audio stakes. I bought another one (I have a small studio) and it too sounded great. There endeth the lesson!

 

[soloz2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Tone /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok, the upshot of the whole thing is I finally brought back the Marantz 5001 to the shop, told the guy there about the disappointing audio quality and he promptly swopped it our for a new one. I brought it home, hooked it up, switched it on and HEY PRESTO! a great sounding machine. So let this be a warning, not all 5001s sound the same ie at least not as they should. But this new machine is quite a performer in the audio stakes. I bought another one (I have a small studio) and it too sounded great. There endeth the lesson!

this reaffirms what I suspected was happening. Thanks for the update

 

[Big Tone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soloz2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif this reaffirms what I suspected was happening. Thanks for the update

No prob. Sarchi, you may find this helpful.

 

[Towert7]

Thanks for the info everyone!
The 5001 is a consideration in my price range.

 

[FrederikS|TPU]

I got the CD6002 which is basically an improved CD5001 OSE. It sounds really good, incredible resolution, very neutral sounding CDP. I auditioned a couple of CDPs before settling on the CD6002 and it did sound a little better than the CD5001 OSE to my ears. Compared to the CD5001 it sounds a little less harsh and a slight bit more detailed. After approximately 120 hours of listening the CDP sounds very smooth and buttery. A great natural sounding CDP.

Reading all of the posts it leads me to suspect that there are two revisions of the CD5001 one that sounds good and one that does not sound as good. The only way to uncover this is to take the things apart, maybe do a short comparison of the components and print designs.

Another area which I believe has not been addressed is the other equipment that is hooked up to the amp and what interconnects you guys are using. I Guy A is using poor quality interconnects and Guy B is using high quality interconnects that could result in a very different perception of how the CDP sounds.

 

[soloz2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrederikS|TPU /img/forum/go_quote.gif I got the CD6002 which is basically an improved CD5001 OSE. It sounds really good, incredible resolution, very neutral sounding CDP. I auditioned a couple of CDPs before settling on the CD6002 and it did sound a little better than the CD5001 OSE to my ears. Compared to the CD5001 it sounds a little less harsh and a slight bit more detailed. After approximately 120 hours of listening the CDP sounds very smooth and buttery. A great natural sounding CDP. Reading all of the posts it leads me to suspect that there are two revisions of the CD5001 one that sounds good and one that does not sound as good. The only way to uncover this is to take the things apart, maybe do a short comparison of the components and print designs. Another area which I believe has not been addressed is the other equipment that is hooked up to the amp and what interconnects you guys are using. I Guy A is using poor quality interconnects and Guy B is using high quality interconnects that could result in a very different perception of how the CDP sounds.

It's a shame the 6002 isn't available in the US

 

[FrederikS|TPU]

Oh that is too bad. Well if you drop by Denmark feel free to come by for a listen

Heck I will even supply food and drinks because you did such a brilliant job on the HD 595 cable. Got the a Soloz Audio Cardas cable for my HD 595 it is the best cable purchase I have ever made.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I think I have one of the good ones. I have the CD5001 paired up with the DarkVoice 336i, silver plated OFC copper interconnects, and high end tubes, and the sound is exemplary. The analog outputs don't sound bad at all with this amp/tube combo. One of these days I will compare the CD5001 via A/B with the Sony D-5 vintage mini desktop CD player that it replaced. I imagine this player might be a little cold if I paired it up with another amp, but it sounds pretty warm with my Meier HeadFive too.

I've been looking to do a balanced rig, with this CD5001 as transport combined with my Apogee mini-DAC with balanced outputs - and then planned to get high-end CDP to use connected directly to the DarkVoice (like Cambridge 840c, or a modded Music Hall CD25 I saw but it is too deep). But, this one sounds so good that I am not moving up until I really find the deal I can't pass up.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

PS: I've been running this setup for about a month with no complaints.

 

[andyshedd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarchi /img/forum/go_quote.gif That would be interesting, but not at this time of year (for me). I'm not saying the 5001 is terrible, it just doesn't sound "warm and smooth" like the hype I've read. Instead I find it slightly cool and hard. Maybe I expected too much, or my ears are too sensitive to that sound signature. On wowsa audiophile recordings it does sound pretty good. Just not as good as my last two cdp's.

My CD5001 does sound warm and smooth, however to me the sound is somewhat bland. I'm thinking of having it modded to jazz up the sound a bit. I really like Tube Research Labs' work. The are excellent at squeezing out every last ounce of a player's capability.

 

[thelsuman]

I have used the CD5001 for about the last two months, and have no complaints about SQ. Maybe the problems mentioned here are isolated to certain "batches" of the 5001 as suggested above. But then again, I've really only used it as a transport using the digital output to a separate DAC/Amp (except for initial use of the CD5001's HP output, which I found decidedly underwhelming).

 

[Thema]

My 5001 just died

1.5y old, 1y warranty...
Transport seems to work fine, won't recognize any disk tho. I'm keeping it opened up for some more checks, can post detailed photos if anyone is interested.

 

[RickEC]

CD5001 as transport is seemingly reliable, but doesn't sound fantastic. The sound is not focused and lack of dynamic, relatively. CD5001 as CDP is good, but hugely better when used with a Zero DAC. That said, the DAC section is better than many other similarly priced CDPs I believe.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickEC /img/forum/go_quote.gif CD5001 as transport is seemingly reliable, but doesn't sound fantastic. The sound is not focused and lack of dynamic, relatively. CD5001 as CDP is good, but hugely better when used with a Zero DAC. That said, the DAC section is better than many other similarly priced CDPs I believe.

Well, I have much nicer DACs available here now and I still think the CD5001 RCA output sounds very nice for the price, or even if it cost $300-400. My RCA out have many hundreds of hours of use, and I have always enjoyed it.

 

[RickEC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I have much nicer DACs available here now and I still think the CD5001 RCA output sounds very nice for the price, or even if it cost $300-400. My RCA out have many hundreds of hours of use, and I have always enjoyed it.

The most important part is that you enjoy it, especially after auditing alternatives. Our hearings differ, preferences differ, and even the same products can differ due to manufacturing variance (as mentioned somewhere above). I didn't use the RCA of CD5001 above a thousand hours before I plugged in Zero DAC, and didn't look at the RCA outputs since.

CD5001 is my very first CDP, which I bought after many hours of painstaking research. Didn't regret it at all. It is very sturdy and beautiful. It will always be my first CDP!