Dubai HFV (Mini) Meet & Marantz CD 6003 vs. Emotiva ERC-1 CD Player Shootout

[audiodelic]

nice work ... i had guessed it has to be emotiva when you specified clear winner.

We need someone to distribute Emotiva products in India, i bet you'll find many buyers here + the ones you can convince by demoing it next to high priced branded counterparts.... come on dealers take the hint

 

[square_wave]

What was the associated gear used for this test ?

Thanks,
Square.

 

[thekinge]

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting with Dhilip who is known to us as TheKinge. A fan of Elvis Presley, he has all the albums of Elvis and loves to hear his voice every day.

Dhilip is a very nice young man who specialises in IT architecture for the banking industry. He came across HFV as he was searching for some advice on buying a HT as well as audio system. After a few weeks in HFV Dhilip is considered to be an expert amongst his friends !!

Dhilip lives in a nice house in Bur Dubai - something like downtown Dubai. He is very soft spoken young man, married, with a 2 year old boy. Dhilip was kind enough to pick me up yesterday, drive me to his place, audition the Marantz and Emotiva, feed me with some lovely vadas, and then drop me back home.

Thank you, Dhilip, for your hospitality and kindness yesterday.

BTW guys, Dhilip will be writing about the shoot out between Marantz and the Emotiva. There certainly was a winner (in my mind), but I will make you people wait for a bit more till Dhilip makes his post. I will add my comments later.

Cheers

Thank you Venkatcr for your kind words. Most of the senior HFV members know you well, but I was really looking forward to meet you in person and it was a real pleasure meeting you, interacting with you and clearing a lot of my newbie questions.

Though this may be repetitive, I must state that Venkatcr is the most knowledgeble person I have met on Hi-fi and AV. While the questions I had asked may have been answered by him a dozen times in the forum, he was still patient enough to explain them to me again. Look forward to meeting Venkatcr again and other HFV members soon!

Only one correction Venkatcr, Bur Dubai is not downtown Dubai but rather part of the original Dubai Less than 15 years ago, Dubai actually constituted of few main residential and commercial areas. Bur Dubai, Al Karama, Deira, Satwa and Al Wasl consitituted the residential part of Dubai, with part of Deira being commercial. In fact, the Al Fahidi area in Bur Dubai (not far from Al Ain Plaza) has the oldest fort in Dubai which now is called The Dubai Museum. Areas such as Jebel Ali were fully industrial / port areas.

Dubai has been radically transformed in the last 10 years, more so in the last 5 years. Now the new Dubai extends from Jebel Ali all the way to the border of Sharjah, Mirdif included

 

[thekinge]

Apologies to TheKinge. I wanted him to be the main driver of this thread.

Cheers

No problems Venkatcr. I will still write up the full review and post it hopefully by this weekend (since I am also traveling to Chennai tonight).

 

[srikarkav]

Ahhh! The mystery (atleast to me) about the letter 'e' in your screen name is solved now

cheers,
sri

 

[iaudio]

All right Psycho, here goes. The Emotiva, in my opinion, was a clear winner. It has much larger sound stage, a clear positioning of instruments and voices, and what Dhilip called dead centering of the main singer. It also made the speakers disappear completely as it was able to radiate the sound away from the speakers. The Marantz, on the other hand was restricting the sound between the speakers.

The Emotiva has a fully metal solid remote. The only irritant with the Emotiva was the noise it makes when you load and unload a CD. And Dhilip was also saying that it refuses to read one in 10 CD R/Ws. Otherwise in terms of performance it certainly is way above the Marantz.

Apologies to TheKinge. I wanted him to be the main driver of this thread.

Cheers

Thanks Venkat, it seems the Emotive pretty much embodies all one looks for in hifi!

 

[gobble]

All right Psycho, here goes. The Emotiva, in my opinion, was a clear winner. It has much larger sound stage, a clear positioning of instruments and voices, and what Dhilip called dead centering of the main singer. It also made the speakers disappear completely as it was able to radiate the sound away from the speakers. The Marantz, on the other hand was restricting the sound between the speakers.

Aaaah.. hem! Now to throw in some confusing info - the ability to radiate the sound from the speakers - I experienced this with the CD6002 with a change in amplifier from NAD to to a tiny Japanese product called the Magica INT30, just last week. Better harmonics can do that.

So is it the synergy that makes the winning combination here rather than the product itself?

Regards

 

[keith_correa]

I experienced this with the CD6002 with a change in amplifier from NAD to to a tiny Japanese product called the Magica INT30, just last week.

Links to info about this product? More! More! :licklips:

 

[gobble]

Links to info about this product? More! More! :licklips:

http://www.musika.jp/int30.htm

I was auditioning it for another forum member. Will post a brief review when I find the time.

Another thought - It could be that the emotiva has a lower output impedance than the CD6003 hence the better match considering that the input impedance of the AVR may not be very high? What is the published output impedance of the Emotiva CDP? and the input impedance of the pre/power?

Cheers

 

[suri]

Aaaah.. hem! Now to throw in some confusing info - the ability to radiate the sound from the speakers - I experienced this with the CD6002 with a change in amplifier from NAD to to a tiny Japanese product called the Magica INT30, just last week. Better harmonics can do that.

So is it the synergy that makes the winning combination here rather than the product itself?

Regards

GASP! GASP! - You imply that if the cd 6003 is paired with a (match made in heaven) amplifier - it would radiate sound better from the speakers than that upstart emotiva?

but, but -

i have always been under the impression that the ability to create a (believably) large sound-stage was largely a function of the loudspeakers -
then, the source and electronics - and lastly, the room???

 

[gobble]

GASP! GASP! - You imply that if the cd 6003 is paired with a (match made in heaven) amplifier - it would radiate sound better from the speakers than that upstart emotiva?

but, but -

i have always been under the impression that the ability to create a (believably) large sound-stage was largely a function of the loudspeakers -
then, the source and electronics - and lastly, the room???

I didnt say larger sound stage, just the radiate effect. Better upper harmonics ...

Regards

 

[gobble]

All right Psycho, here goes. The Emotiva, in my opinion, was a clear winner. It has much larger sound stage, a clear positioning of instruments and voices, and what Dhilip called dead centering of the main singer. It also made the speakers disappear completely as it was able to radiate the sound away from the speakers. The Marantz, on the other hand was restricting the sound between the speakers.

The Emotiva has a fully metal solid remote. The only irritant with the Emotiva was the noise it makes when you load and unload a CD. And Dhilip was also saying that it refuses to read one in 10 CD R/Ws. Otherwise in terms of performance it certainly is way above the Marantz.

Apologies to TheKinge. I wanted him to be the main driver of this thread.

Cheers

How was the body? vocals? male? female? Thin or no?

Regards

 

[suri]

I didnt say larger sound stage, just the radiate effect. Better upper harmonics ...

Regards

uhuh- ya, oops - but is that kind of thing a desirable thing?

 

[gobble]

uhuh- ya, oops - but is that kind of thing a desirable thing?

To me it sounded very desirable. But in all honesty - I did remember wondering very briefly if the CD I was listening to was a tanpura recital with violin as background accompaniment or the other way around.

Regards

 

[suri]

To me it sounded very desirable. But in all honesty - I did remember wondering very briefly if the CD I was listening to was a tanpura recital with violin as background accompaniment or the other way around.

Regards

hehehehehehe!!!

 

[thekinge]

Ahhh! The mystery (atleast to me) about the letter 'e' in your screen name is solved now

cheers,
sri

Yep, The King Elvis - my handle's a tribute to my favorite singer and first true rock star

 

[suri]

Yep, The King Elvis - my handle's a tribute to my favorite singer and first true rock star

the only one

 

[thekinge]

What was the associated gear used for this test ?

Thanks,
Square.

Amplifier - Onkyo TX-SR876 in pure direct mode
Interconnects - Blue Jeans Cable LC-1 for both CD players
Connection - Marantz was connected to the DVD audio input of the Onkyo and the Emotiva was connected to the CD analog input
Speakers - Wharfedale Diamond 10.7
Size of listening area - 11 feet long by 10.5 feet wide

The listening area is a part of my larger living room and hence not strictly the size of the room where the equipment is setup, i.e., there is space around the listening area.

 

[suri]

Connection - Marantz was connected to the DVD audio input of the Onkyo and the Emotiva was connected to the CD analog input

well - thekinge - the test, and the inference drawn from it, becomes meaningless.

 

[thekinge]

well - thekinge - the test, and the inference drawn from it, becomes meaningless.

why is that so?