Marantz launching a new mid-range CD player seems more relevant today than it perhaps would have a few years back, in light of the RIAA’s recent report that compact disc sales have risen for the first time in 17 years.
The Marantz CD 60 player goes on sale next month for £749 (AU$1749) and combines CD playback with hi-res USB support in the hope of keeping the format alive in hi-fi component systems.
The CD engineering benefits from Marantz’s latest proprietary HDAM (Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Modules) technology in the analogue output stage. The company says these are superior to off-the-shelf IC chip solutions found in other products and have been further optimised for the CD 60 to flow current more accurately to reduce distortion.
As for USB playback, the front panel USB-A port supports a vast array of digital files such as MP3, WMA, AAC and WAV, FLAC HD, ALAC, AIFF (up to 24-bit/192kHz), and DSD (up to 5.6MHz) from a connected USB storage device.
The CD 60 utilises a new “reference-class” DAC that can be user-manipulated via two DAC filters – Filter 1 delivers a gentle roll-off, and Filter 2 provides a sharper roll-off. Meanwhile, the CD player inherits the company’s HDAM-SA2 headphone amp circuit, which has three gain settings (low, mid and high) for wide compatibility with headphones of varying demands and can be turned off to minimise electrical interference when not in use.
The CD 60 is, Marantz says, “a perfect mate” to the newly announced Model 40n streaming stereo amplifier, with the two boxes covering CD playback, network streaming and physical connections between them.
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