[Review] Marantz CD7

I own a CD-7 now for a year or two.
Never heard any better player than this.
BUT, I modified it with a TentLabs clock upgrade with seperate power supply.
What a difference! Detail and soundstage become so much more real. Especially on classical reocrdings.

I have one major issue, being the transport.
I find it to be a bit noisy and selective on bad cd's.

Now for the million dollar quetsion: which other players could serve as transport donor, when my cd-7 decides to throw in the towel?
I know it is a special version of the VAM1252. But this can't be bought from Marantz as a spare part anymore.
Are there other players which can serve as a donor?
Like using the Philips 304 CDM1 as spare part for your CD-94.

Thanks and kind regards,
A Marantz lover from Holland

 

Welcome to the forum Darryl. You'd have MOre chance of a reply if you posted this in the main hifi forum.

Out of interest, what other kit do you use the cd7 with?

 

Hi,

I use an Electrocompaniet ECI-4 connected to the CD-7 with a set of HMS Sestetto MKII XLR. Speakers are DIY from speakerbuilder.net, the Eros MKII.

 

CD7 still on sale... wouldn't be easier to reconsider asking price a bit and sell it than to type the same ad for years

 

Marantz CD-7

Dear all Hi-Fi Enthusiasts:

I would like to share a very bad experience I have had with all of you and I hope to get your honest oppinion about it.

A few months ago I googled Marantz CD-7, because I had heard so many superlatives about this famous player and I therefore desperately wanted a chance to be the owner of this ancient, but very natural player. Apart from this I had once heard a Philips CD-560 with the normal Philips TDA1541 converters and I remember it to be very smooth, soft and natural in its sound. Anyway one of the links was actually for a CD-7 for sale in Germany and I was just thrilled to actually be able to find this very rare player for sale at all. I have seen two or three up for sale, but did not have the money to buy them at the time. anyway I contacted the owner and he was very nice and offered to take it off the web as well as off his personal sales-list in his shop (He sells PA-Gear down in Frankfurt), since this was his own private player. He even offered to send it up to his shop in Hamburg, Germany, so it was much easier and a much shorter distance for me to travel to get it (I live in Copenhagen, Denmark). Well everything was fine and there was only (for me at least) a minor formality, which had to be cleared with the owner before final sale. That minor formality was that since he had not sent me any photos of the INSIDE of the player, so as to show the inside of the player, thus that the buyer could verify that everything looked and seemed in good and original order, (especially the Philips TDA1541A S2 (Double Crown) converters). The reason for wanting to see the inside, was because IF the unit had been modified or more directly said downgraded, such that for example the Double Crowns had been switched to Single Crowns or even just to the regular TDA1541A's, then you guys know as well as I that not only would the unit not play as well as the original, but should I ever decide to sell it someday, YOU KNOW, that that player wouldn't be worth HALF the price of an original. It would be different if say it was a used new model like for instance the SA-7S1, because then at least it would be possible to modify it back to its original state from Marantz themselves, since they would have all the necessary parts used for this model available on hand or at least in stock. But for this extremely rare model, the CD-7, it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to get a hold of a pair of genuine TDA1541A S2 (Double Crown) converters and not even Philips themselves, I believe, have ANY of these vintage converters in stock. THEREFORE I simply asked it it was possible to either have some tools ready when I arrived in the shop, such that I or the shops staff, could open the lid, such that I could, at least to a certain degree, verify that the converters where there, having printed out some the excellent photos posted on the Philips/Marantz website as a verification-tool. So when I suggested this to the owner, He got COMPLETELY offensive, asking me why I wanted to do this now and what was the reason for all of this. I tried to explain to him why, as I explained to you guys above and that it was nothing personal toward him, but since I payed the full asking price for the item (3000 euros), I believed I was entitled to ask this small favour. He exploted at me saying: "WELL YOU DON'T SPLIT A CAR OPEN AND TAKE EVERYTHING APART, BEFORE YOU BUY, DO YOU???". I REPLIED: "WELL YOU DON'T BUY A FERRARI EITHER, WITHOUT LOOKING UNDER THE HOOD FIRST, DO YOU???" and then he continued to say that this sale could go either to ways.

1) Either I would open it and If I MADE EVEN THE SLIGTEST SCRATCH IN THE PROCESS OF OPENING IT, THE SHOP WOULD IMMIDIATELY ASK FOR THE 3000 EUROS AND I WOULD AUTOMATICALLY HAVE BOUGHT THE ITEM!!! I then pointed out to him, that if he had read my mail correctly I said that I/WE as in his staff TOGETHER could open it, such that I would not be solely reliable for any damage done in the process, which I as he got more and more hostile obviously changed so that his staff ALONE would open it, so that I would not be reliable at all.

2) the item was opened and if something was found not to be original or not the way it should be, He would STILL not even go down in price at all, he would only not force me to buy the item (Which I obviously would not have done!!!)

I then told him, that I did not like his threatening tone and that I was a paying customer, working my ass off 14 hours a day 7 days a week, just to be able to pay him his asking price, but then I also believed, that I was entitled to check and see, what exactly I was buying. By the way, if the item was as he said it was (that is 100% original), then what was all the fuss about??? Just unscrew those four or six screws of however many it would take to open it, look to confirm that everything was okay (WITHOUT TOUCHING ANYTHING OF COURSE!!!) AND THEN PUT THE LID BACK ON AND THEN EVERYTHING WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE!!! (I have seen photos of it and it seemed in mint condition, only, as I said, I have just not seen any inside photos of the item).

Instead the next day he had written a mail saying that he could not have respect for CRAZY INDIVIDUALS, to qwote him exactly, who wanted to take everything apart and that I could either buy the item as it was or I could not buy it at all, as simple as that. I was simply STUNNED guys!!! I couldn't believe he called me CRAZY!!!!!! He then continued to say that in his 30 or so years of having to do with PA-gear, he had NEVER encountered and individual who asked for this. I then answered him, the thing I just said about the Ferrari and said that if he thought that a guy would buy a used ferrari WITHOUT looking under the hood, before he put the money on the table, then I was sure that people would call him crazy before they called me crazy. I then said lastly that I would go along with not opening it in the store, but that I WOULD open it once I got home and if ANYTHING was not the way it was supposed to be or if anyrthing was wrong or missing and if he then did then not IMMIDIATELY return my money, then I would write to every single forum and web-site I could find and tell the truth about him and his product. This morning then he had written, that He was NOT going to sell his CD-7 to me and that I should NOT contact him ANYMORE. By the way I had just bought the train-tickets the day before and he knew that (100 euros).

My question is to you guys simply: Am I completely out of character here????? Since the CD-7 is a vintage player and since the Double Crowns are almost impossible to find, am I not entitled to verify that everything is genuine inside as well as out?????? Please tell me if I am wrong here, because I cannot tell you how much I had looked forward to getting this player and to me at least, this guy is in my oppinion is a bastard of proportions...Am I wrong here??? Is what I am asking completely Out of the ordinary??? I have asked my local Hi-Fi-dealer, which is the dealer of Audio Note and Marantz among other brands and he doesn't think I am crazy, as a matter of fact he does the same thing all the time he says and he asks the owners THEMSELVES to open their units, so that he doesn't get blamed and becomes liable in the process of opening it.

I am sorry if this message is very long and confusing, but I am really just very very sad, cus' I had just looked so much forward to listening to and aquiering this player. And so obviously since I am not buying his player anymore, then I would like to let it be known that i am STILL looking for a Marantz CD-7 and so if ANYBODY IS SELLING OR KNOWS OF ANYONE WHO IS SELLING THIS PLAYER, THEN PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I HAVE BY THE WAY LISTED A "POST TO WANT IT NOW" ADD ON EBAY WANTING THIS PLAYER, WHICH IS ON THIS WEB-SITE:

http://wantitnow.ebay.co.uk/Marantz-CD-7-High-End-CD-Player_W0QQadidZ160304871885

Thank you everyone for reading this. Hope you can understand my frustration and sadness.

Sincerely Stax DMA-X2.

 

Marant CD-7

Hi Ditton:

Do you still have your CD-7 for sale? If not do you know someone who has one?

Sincerely Stax DMA-X2

 

Hi Stax

Hi

I don't think you were wrong to want to check the player out but the better way to do it was just to ask if you could see the inside and not go into details about why other than just to check condition. Opening a Marantz cd 7 is easy and would only have taken a minute or so. I have heard of Dac modules being swapped so it is always worth checking. However I suspect this dealer may have taken offence at your reasons, assuming you were suggesting he may have done this himself. People can be funny and while you did not mean this I feel he thought you did.

The Marantz is a wonderful cdp and I have owned one for about 5 years but iMHO it sounds best hooked up in balanced mode(XLR) and with about a weeks warm up. You can leave it powered up by switching it to a digital input (its a DAC too ) and switching of the display. This keeps the dacs warm and will cause no loss in lazer life.

For anyone who like the idea of this player but can't find one can I suggest the AMR CD77 as an alternative. It has many of the qualities of the CD7 but has better mid range focus and detail, wider and deeper soundstage. Bass is a wee bit warmer and fatter than the cd7 due to the AMR having a valve output stage. However overall it is a much better cdp IMHO. The AMR uses the standard tda1541 dac module but implemented in away that pushes the performance beyond a double crown S2 tda 1541 dac module.

As an aside I would agree the transport mech in the CD 7 is a bit noisy with a bit of a swishing sound when playing. As to disc reading etc I have never had a problem.

Regards D Louth 77

 

Stax dma...

I would have wanted photo's of the interior before any decision, and inspection of the interior on viewing, and of course, a good listen.
The seller thought he was G+D, accept or be dammed, with that attitude, i may have made the journey to view, and if not *Perfect* would have put a sledge hammer into it, but most likely, would have ditched the idea when the first hurdle morphed into a brick wall..

 

Hi D Louth 77 and Spica:

Thanks so much for your support, that is really all I am asking. I know of course that by simply asking this of the owner, he ,ore or less automatically comes under suspicion, but to call me CRAZY as he did??? I just DO NOT think that that is okay. I had in no way shape or form called him any such words and as I said, I was paying his asking price and so I didn't even bargain with him and although the original remote, manual and transportscrews were included, he did not even have the original box, despite that he, according to him anyway, was the original owner and so I believe, as you D Louth 77 also says, that that is certainly not a low price and so this was simply why i wanted to see the inside, because if I am paying so much for a 10 year old player, which with do respect obviously is very well built and has excellent graded parts built into it, but it still does not play anything else than CD's, then I simply just wanted to make sure that I got what I paid for. I agree with Spica completely in that for me it was his extremely rude attitude with me, calling me crazy, just because I want to confirm that what I am buying IS infact exactly what i am buying. If I haven't said it before, then I will say it, just to be on the safe side. I OBVIOUSLY would NEVER do this with a new product like for example a Marantz SA-7S1, 'cus then you would be able to complain to the company and if everything should go wrong, then you could just ask Marantz to restore the player to its original state, but this is exactly the whole climax here, but it is almost impossible to restore this player to its original state, if it has first been modified in any way shape or form, and ESPECIALLY the converters, because Philips do obviously not produce them anymore and what worse is, they DO NOT have anymore of these rare Double Crowns in stock. Yes once in a while, some of them comes on sale or auction on ebay, but you can never be sure, that these are actually original and THATS why I am so maticulous with THIS player especially.

Anyway if any of you guyus or anyone else knows of someone who has this player, please notify me about, ok?

Sincerely Stax and thanks again both of you for spending your time to give your honest oppinion...

 

The CD7 uses two TDA 1541 S2 double crown Twainese version
I have modified my Philips Dac960 first in 1996 with TDA 1541 S1 single crown .. a great improvement over the stock TDA1541 .. and lately with the Super-Fantastic gem TDA 1541 S1 double crown (Holland!) and it sounds not less than Simply Magical
Never heard a CD or a Dac sounding so "natural & analog" like my 960 with TDA1541 S1 double crown Holland on board

 

Hi Everyone:

I would lvery much like to inform all of you that I finally got a hold of a Pristine example of a CD-7 and THIS TIME the owner was very very nice and helpful and had NO problems what-so-ever in taking the lid off, showing me the Double Crowns and they were of course present and everything was in Pristine order.

I went to Bournemouth to get it and the owner and his wife were both wonderful people. Everything went Excellently and it is like Completely New...Not a single scratch. It came with the Original Box, Remote and Manual. The owner originally had had two
CD-7's, so the remote I got had never been used, since he used the remote from the other CD-7 he had. He has now Bought an SA-7S1 and that is why he is selling it, since he hardly ever uses it now. It Sounds Simply Wonderfully. It is Warm, Very Detailed and so I have heard details on certain CD's, that I had never heard before...It is Just amazing and I am Soooo Thrilled and Happy to it is in my possesion now and that it is MIIIIIINE!!! jaja.

Anyway thnaks so much everyone for your help and comments, You have ALL been very helpful and kind with your honest comments, also if they haven't necessarily agrred with mine.

Sincerely Stax.

 

Well done Stax. Hopefully the bad attitude and rough experiences with the other seller will now become a distant memory, and you can enjoy the music and relax=)

 

Hello Stax,

don't tell the ex-owner he made a very bad decision selling you the C7 because I have had at home the SA7S1 and it has only a tiny bit detail more but it totally lacks the "analog way to sound" of the C7
With the C7 you have bought a splendid CD Machine with a turntable hidden inside
If you find around the net two TD1541 S1 Double Crown (Holland) buy them at any price and changes the two S2 Twainese you have on board.
At this point you have the SA7s1 detail but with the magical sound of the C7

 

Dear Dik Dolan:

Thanks so much for your words and you are completely right...That experience is already forgotten and you know...I am happy I didn't his player, because he didn't even have the original box for it and he wanted 3000 euros, whereas I paid a much more reasonable 2250 pounds for the one I have now then on top of that it is in Pristince Condition and furthermore...It has the Serial-number: 004...in other words one of the very first to come out of the factory and so this is probably more valuable than the other guy's ever were. I have to say though that I probably won't be able to resist mailing that other guy, just to bother him a little bit, but for now I just want to spread my personal happy news...That I am Finally a Marantz CD-7 Owner...And an Extremely happy one at that...

Sincerely Thomas.

 

I used to hear this a lot when I sold limited edition, numbered records and never understood why a lower number would be more valuable - it's no more unique than number 001 or 011 or 100 or whatever....

 

Dear Arlequen:

Thanks so much for your wonderful response and don't worry...I won't tell him jeje...But I will say though that we actually heard some of my personal Reference CD's (Mark Knopfler's "Shang-Ri-La" and "Kill to Get Crimson") on BOTH the CD-7 and the SA-7S1 and I must say they both players play them Excellently, but for me the CD-7 is more than a CD-Player, it is an icon and it is also completely unique in that it is the ONLY CD-Player with TWO Double Crowns implanted and then at the same time to have had the personal touch and care from Ken Ishiwata Himself with Top-Grade Components, No other CD-Player has that and that is just Stunning!!! The only one coming close to it is the Marantz Project D-1 D/A-Converter, which also has two double crowns, but there are 3 reasons why I did not want this DAC after all:

1) First, It has some odd Digital Inputs which kind of remind me of the usual he/she antenna-plugs that you normally put into your television. Although one seller of this Converter, which I almost bought, because I simply couldn't find a CD-7 (Which I obviously would rather have), told me that he had certain "converter-plugs" which converted these strange inputs to normal RCA Phono-plugs, for me though, this still wasn't optimal.

2) Secondly It had only a Fixed AC-outlet and thus no IEC-Standard AC-Plug, which the CD-7 HAS and so you couldn't upgrade your powercables, if you wished to do this (and I did!), unless you had a very expensive "Operation" on the "Animal" so as to have the standard AC-cable removed and the IEC-Plug installed thereafter.

3) Thirdly and perhaps most importantly, the Project D-1 was actually made exclusively for the japanese market and so it was ever ONLY a 100-120 Voltage Model and again although you could potentially supply this with a 100-120 to 220-240 voltage-converter, this I have been told, will just not give you an equally optimal sound, as if it had been a 220- 240 Voltage Model from the factory.

So I therefore as a last resort, put in several posts on ebay and on Audiogon, where i SPECIFICALLY asked for a EUROPEAN 220-240 VOLTAGE MODEL. Eventually it was the Audiogon post that made the difference and he also stated that is WAS a 230 Voltage Model, which is exactly the voltage we have here in Denmark now (it used to be 220 V, but since the european standard was entered some 2-3 years ago, it is now 230 V) and so it fits perfectly.

So to come back to start, the SA-7S1 also sounds Excellently and the two are very close to each other, but I still preferred the sound of the CD-7, which was somewhat more present, whereas the SA-7S1 was somewhat more retracted or relaxed. I know now though, that I wouldn't trade my CD-7 for anything, because it is just stunning in every single way, Its Beauty, its Lush and Warm Sound, Its Uniqueness and its History...No other CD-Player in my oppinion Beats it.

Regarding your recommendation of the Philips TDA1541A S1(NOT S2) (Double Crowns) from Holland. You know I always wondered about that, because when you look at the complete converter list:

http://www.marantzphilips.nl/index.asp?strPage=Daclist&strBrand=Various

Then if you look under the Marantz CD-12, then it says exactly that Philips TDA1541A S1 (Double Crowns), but I always thought it was a spelling mistake since, as far as I understand, the S2 Double Crown, wasn't produced until much later and thus after the production of the CD-12 had halted (but exactly at the time of the production of the CD-7), but now YOU tell me, just so there won't arise any confusion, that there WAS actually an S1 (Double Crown) ALSO, which was produced in Holland, WHICH WAS PRODUCED APART FROM THE S2 (Double Crown)??? But I always thought that the whole idea of the designation S1 and S2 WAS that there where unseperably attached to the designation (Single Crown (S1) and Double Crown (S2)) Respectively???
Anyway so does that mean that your S1 (Double Crown) is produced with tolerances in the 1 Permille (1/1000) (Just as the S2 Double Crowns were) instead of the S1 (Single Crown), which was only produced with tolerances (or matching of each other) of 1 percent (1/100)???

Anyway the most important thing is the sound and I understand that you are Extremely impressed with what these S1's are capable of producing in your DAC 960 and I am sure you are right. I myself have a CD-650 in pristine Condition, which I bought for the ridicolous amount of 40 euros and it also sounds very good, although it of course doesn't match the CD-7 by a far.

Anyway hope to hear from you soon, Arlequen and Thanks again so much for your comment. Looking very much forward to hear from you.

Sincerely Stax

 

Hi Everyone:

If anyone wishes to see my CD-7, here are some photos:

http://www.nerds.dk/?page=visgalleri&id=636

Sincerely Stax.

 

S1 Single Crown but Holland Production HSH=Holland 88 year - 05° week - 2 day



S2 Double Crown but Twainese Production RSH=Twain 97 year - 13° week - 2 day



S1 Single Crown but Holland Production HSH 88 year - 05° week - 2 day

Ps: look the crown .. the Holland has large base

My TDA1541 S1 Double Crown Holland Production

 

Hi Arlequen:

Ohhhh Yeees I see what you mean, you are right, there DOES exist an S1 (Double Crown) version!!! I really didn't know that...That is Amazing...Tell me please Arlequen how do these Holandish Double Crowns surpass the Taiwanese Double Crowns??? What do they do better?? Even though they might be better though, I will probably stick to the original implanted from the factory, because I would like to keep the player original, but it does sound very interesting, what you just told me, I must say I didn't know this...Hmmm B'Very Very Interesting...

Thanks so much for your information and for your reply, Arlequen.

Sincerely Stax.

 

The TDA1541 S1 double crown Holland has been the dream of all the Marantz C7 owners..
Just digit TDA1541 on google and you 'll read everything about it
It is a great step above your S2 Twain