Marantz CD6004 vs NAD C 546BEE or DAC

[renjith lal]

I was looking for a dedicated CD player in order to enhance the performance of my present setup.At present I am using panasonic BDP220 blue ray player. I don't have too many audio CD's hence I thought of buying a CD player with USB capability.Since I am having BDP220 I am not sure whether I should go with CD player or a DAC :sad:.

For now shortlisted Marantz CD6004 vs NAD C 546BEE.
Any once compared the Marantz CD6004 vs NAD C 546BEE CD players?
Both have USB capability, I would like to know which one is better?
I have PSB T6 and NAD T757 AVR. I know that NAD and PSB matches well according to lot of people but would like to know which of the above CD player is better according to you guys.

One more question since I have BDP220 will it be better to go with M1 Dac from music fidelity (or any other dac in same range) instead of the above shortlisted CD players.
Sorry for too many questions. Waiting for expert opinions.


Thanks
Renjith

 

[ROBIN LANDANSON]

I was looking for a dedicated CD player in order to enhance the performance of my present setup.At present I am using panasonic BDP220 blue ray player. I don't have too many audio CD's hence I thought of buying a CD player with USB capability.Since I am having BDP220 I am not sure whether I should go with CD player or a DAC :sad:.

For now shortlisted Marantz CD6004 vs NAD C 546BEE.
Any once compared the Marantz CD6004 vs NAD C 546BEE CD players?
Both have USB capability, I would like to know which one is better?
I have PSB T6 and NAD T757 AVR. I know that NAD and PSB matches well according to lot of people but would like to know which of the above CD player is better according to you guys.

One more question since I have BDP220 will it be better to go with M1 Dac from music fidelity (or any other dac in same range) instead of the above shortlisted CD players.
Sorry for too many questions. Waiting for expert opinions.


Thanks
Renjith

Musical fidelity M1 DAC is better than Marantz cd-6004 & Nad 546BEE

 

[koushik]

Dedicated DAC is the way to go if you ask about sound quality.

 

[Shivam]

You should choose depending on the kind of sound you like.

NAD C546BEE has very tight bass and soundstage. The music is foot-tapping.
MF M1 DAC has very sweet vocals and mid-range.

Try to hear them both before deciding.

 

[anm]

I think you would be just fine with DACs in your NAD avr. Use your panasonic as transport over HDMI. I have a created a preset with no crossover / no DSP/ only 2 channels in speaker setup and it gives me best soundstaging etc. Try this, and if possible borrow and compare with someone's CDP. I have tried this with good cdp and good stereo amp and the NAD AVR 785 is very good in stereo SQ.

 

[renjith lal]

Thanks for the reply, it is bit tough to audition all of them together.
I know that it is better to hear and decide, it should have been great if I could compare it at home with my setup.

 

[renjith lal]

I think you would be just fine with DACs in your NAD avr. Use your panasonic as transport over HDMI. I have a created a preset with no crossover / no DSP/ only 2 channels in speaker setup and it gives me best soundstaging etc. Try this, and if possible borrow and compare with someone's CDP. I have tried this with good cdp and good stereo amp and the NAD AVR 785 is very good in stereo SQ.

Thanks anm. I will move towards DAC. Any suggestion other than M1Dac?

One year back there was a group buy offer for M1Dac. Not sure what is the price now for M1 Dac.

 

[renjith lal]

Musical fidelity M1 DAC is better than Marantz cd-6004 & Nad 546BEE

Thanks for the input. Have you compare it side by side?
If so I can confidently look for M1 Dac.
Comparing CD6004 and Nad C 546 which one is better according to you?
I know that peoples tastes will be different for music but still thought of asking.

 

[ROBIN LANDANSON]

Thanks for the input. Have you compare it side by side?
If so I can confidently look for M1 Dac.
Comparing CD6004 and Nad C 546 which one is better according to you?
I know that peoples tastes will be different for music but still thought of asking.

I'd listened last week back to back nad and marantz cd players. In my opinion marantz has sweet and better sound stage than nad. Final decision is yours, bcoz each persons musical taste is different.

 

[anm]

Thanks anm. I will move towards DAC. Any suggestion other than M1Dac?

One year back there was a group buy offer for M1Dac. Not sure what is the price now for M1 Dac.

borrow and try only one of them as I feel they will be minor upgrades over your NAD avr's already quite good dac.

Or if you want to buy the dac, I would say you should also go for dedicated stereo amp.
Edit - or go for a DSD dac. Even better, go for an oppo BDP 105 or 95 as it is optimized for music and has top quality dac.

 

[renjith lal]

borrow and try only one of them as I feel they will be minor upgrades over your NAD avr's already quite good dac.

Or if you want to buy the dac, I would say you should also go for dedicated stereo amp.
Edit - or go for a DSD dac. Even better, go for an oppo BDP 105 or 95 as it is optimized for music and has top quality dac.

I thought CD player/ DAC would give much more improvement than NAD Avr.
I will try to borrow either DAC/CD player and then decide. If improvement is not much then I will go with DAC and stereo amp.
Thanks anm.

 

[renjith lal]

After discussing with lot of guys in forum I felt a standalone dac is a better option,bought Cambridge audio dac magic plus.Got it yesterday late evening. Need to connect and check the performance.

Based on discussion with some tech guys and CA website I came to know that DAC magic plus is using the same dac used in cambridge audio stream magic and better filters are used in dac magic plus. Since I had apple tv/Panasonic blue ray player I felt dac magic plus is a better for me and I bought the same.

Thanks for all answers and support.

Thanks,
Renjith

 

[shanmune]

After discussing with lot of guys in forum I felt a standalone dac is a better option,bought Cambridge audio dac magic plus.Got it yesterday late evening. Need to connect and check the performance.

Based on discussion with some tech guys and CA website I came to know that DAC magic plus is using the same dac used in cambridge audio stream magic and better filters are used in dac magic plus. Since I had apple tv/Panasonic blue ray player I felt dac magic plus is a better for me and I bought the same.

Thanks for all answers and support.

Thanks,
Renjith

Hi Renjith,
So did you get a chance to see the performance of CA magic plus along with your AVR ? Also, can you also post the price and the shop ? Thanks !!!

 

[renjith lal]

Hi shanmune,

Nope. I got it on sunday evening and I have not connected it yet. Got tied up with work.
I got a stereo amp(used one). I will connect with AVR and check the performance.
I bought it from Audio planet koramangala.Price I have PMed you.

 

[abgohain]

Hi Renjith,
Would love to hear your views on the DAC setup, I am also looking at a similar setup and wondering which way to go.. thanks in advance!

 

[renjith lal]

Hi

I liked the performance of DAC magic plus and I am happy with it.
I have compared it with CD players from Cambridge audio (not top end model).The dac chip used in CA dac magic plus is same as network player stream magic plus from CA.
I want to play flac files and I felt that a good dedicated dac is always better than a cd player like Marantz cd6004.
I have not compared it side by side with same system.
But some experts suggested to go with DAC.

Thanks
Renjith

Hi Renjith,
Would love to hear your views on the DAC setup, I am also looking at a similar setup and wondering which way to go.. thanks in advance!

 

[abgohain]

Hi

I liked the performance of DAC magic plus and I am happy with it.

Thanks Renjith, I finally decided to go for Marantz 6004.
Plan to give this setup Marantz 6004->Dared MP-5->Mezzo 2 some listening for the time being.

Regards.

 

[raghavkrishna17]

Hi shanmune,

Nope. I got it on sunday evening and I have not connected it yet. Got tied up with work.
I got a stereo amp(used one). I will connect with AVR and check the performance.
I bought it from Audio planet koramangala.Price I have PMed you.

Hi Ranjith

Could you let me know the price of the DAC magic plus as im planning to buy one and i will have a fair idea of how much it costs.

Thanks

 

[renjith lal]

I have PM ed you the price.

 

[Skasera]

Ho could u PM me the price too ?