Marantz CD/SACD <$500 Used?

vcwatkins

I haven't had time to rip any SACD's, so I thought I might look for a used player with decent musicality to replace an Oppo for a little while. Is there a Marantz CD/SACD player that:

• plays CD's at least as well as a Jolida JD100 or similar level
• plays SACD's (at least 2-channel)
• can be found for $500 used or less

I'll have a Chord Qute (DSD) DAC to use if needed.

Thanks for any advice,
Craig

erniejade

The Jolida was one of my favorite players. When I started getting into sacd, i got a used denon so I could hear the sacd difference. While it sounded good on the old denon all in one player, the jolida still beat the snot out of it playing the redbook layer on that same cd. From there, I went up the chain and got a Pioneer Elite PD9. Again while a good sounding player, the Jolida ( early 2000's series before the name / factory thing happened) still sounded better on the redbook layer of the same sacd.

I should explain a bit right here. The pioneer was a great player but, the emotional / musicality of the Jolida using EI gold pin tubes was special. Several years ago, Newrival, one of his friends and I did a cd player test. I brought the Pioneer, my jolida, newrival had another newer version of the jolida, and his musical fidelity cd/ preamp combo ( redbook not sacd) . There was a difference between the 2 jolida's and we switched the tubes out so it would have the same tubes. Mine sounded better. I am not sure if it was because mine was well broken in, or the dynamat case but, all 3 of us heard the difference. The top 2 on this was the Jolida and the Musical Fidelity. The musical fidelity was a bit crisper where the jolida had more bloom so at this point it was just personal preference.

FF to a year later, I got a deal on a Cayin scd50T. That gave me a lot of what the Jolida had but sacd as well. If you can pick one up cheap, go for it. Same with Musical Fidelity. I am not sure what Musical Fidelity SACD players run price wise but, it doesn't hurt to look!!

Not my Cayin but this is a gut shot of the build quality.

vcwatkins

This is VERY helpful. I very much regret selling my Jolida (same era as yours). I'll look into your suggestions.

Many thanks!
Craig

skrol

Some of the Denon and Marantz players have identical innards. For example the Denon DBP-1611UD and Marantz UD5005 are the same player, just cosmetic differences.

vcwatkins

Gotcha, thanks @skrol !