[Epicurean]

Well, I wanted a transport other than my computer for my Zhaolu and found this old used Marantz CD63mkII KIS for sale on the web and thought that should be good enough. I received it today and boy was I surprised when I tried out the analog outputs just for fun. I didn't expect it to have anything against the Zhaolu, but what I heard was extremely pleasant and smooth. It might not have the detail and crispiness of the Zhaolu, but the liquidness of the sound is more involving and something in it sounds very real and natural. It seems a bit on the warm side, but even with the HD650s it doesn't bother me at all. As a bonus it is a very nice looking piece of equipment in my opinion. I've no idea how much these cost new, but based on my listening experiences I'd say 100€ for it was a bargain.

 

[memepool]

Yeah you definitely got a bargain there. These cost 450UKP back in 97 and are considered by Ken Ishiwata, the KI in signature, to be amongst the best sounding machines they have ever made.
In fact Marantz UK recently offered a rebuild service for these, to upgrade the casing and all the other components they had to ecconomise on at the time to bring them out at mid market level, to transform it into the top of the range machine that it deserved to be.

 

[lini]

Yup, that's a fine player. I'd suggest some additional clock modding, if you want to make it even better.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Epicurean]

Yeah, I googled around a bit and found lots of information on how to mod it, including an over 500pages long thread over at www.diyaudio.com

 

[anubisgrau]

it would be great if some of the more experienced members would add up what machines from the 90s would be still considered as an excellent contenders, on behalf their laser/transport can be still replaced in a case of need.

 

[memepool]

Marantz are always a good buy. Generally the higher numbers connote better machines apart from the really low numbers below 20 which are reserved for the high end two box ones. The product line changed to four figure at some point in the last 5 years, before that it was CD50 , CD52, CD 54, and up to CD95 for the top of the range. Anything with SE or KIS after the model denoted limited edition models which had been specially tweaked by Ken Ishiwata, their head designer. This usually means a lot of internal copper plating and better quality caps etc.

Apart from Marantz it's the usual supsects like NAD and Rotel with the larger Japanese Manufacturers being more hit and miss with numerous models showing much more variability.

 

[ehlim]

Congratulations!!

I am proud owner of the similar unit too. I have it for 3 years from the resale market & I have replaced the lens 2 years ago.

It's a good CDP by itself & if you decide to upgrade, you can use it as a transport for a good external DAC.

Regards

 

[jrisles]

I have had my unit for about 10yrs now (cost me approx AUS$1500.00 new) & it still sounds fantastic. I was impressed then as much as i am still impressed today. If you google i am sure you will find many archived glowing reviews on this unit. In its day it was one of the best "entry level" CDP's on the market. I am interested to hear about mods though. As i have just purchased (still on its way) a fully modded Zhaolu DAC. So modding this CDP to be used as a transport only sounds appealling. Does anyone know if there is anyone in Australia who can do these mods? Happy New Year to you all.

 

[Epicurean]

I finally did some mods to my CD63 and it turned out really great! I did some of the mods mentioned here, then I replaced the opamps with LM4562s, added a 5V regulator just for the dac chip, bypassed the HDAMs and dc-blocking caps and some minor component replacements. The result is quite spectacular with an incredible increase in sound quality. It doesn't sound anything like the stock model anymore, with much more resolution and bass. The cost of my mods come up to maybe 10€ and the CD63 was 100€ and it sounds far too good for that price. If you own one of these players and haven't modded it yet, DO IT NOW!

 

[lini]

Go Team Midrange Marantz Modders!

Grinnings from Munich!

Manfred / lini