Marantz DR700 vs Technics SL-PG520A

[dj.gibby]

Hi folks,

Was wondering if anyone has ever used the Marantz DR700 cd recorder and if so, what is it like as a player. (I wouldn't be using the record facility). I can get my hands on a mint condition one for £80 and was thinking of using it in place of my Technics SL-PG520A as the Marantz has a digital out therefore I could use an external DAC at a future date.

I wouldn't want to spend money on the Marantz only to find that the Technics sounds better.

Your opinions/thoughts much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[vacdac]

As you seem to have a DAC upgrade pencilled in fairly soonish? I'd really not bother & instead start a DAC fund with the £80, you could likely better the DAC's in both players mentioned for around £100 spend on a s/hand DAC & for £200 & over many capable DACs under the £500 price-point new come within reach s/hand.

If you've got itchy feet & simply want to try summat new, Fiio's D3 Taishan is an upsampling 24bit@192khz DAC that has 2 switched SPdif* inputs on RCA/Coaxial & Toslink Optical & can be had for around £30 delivered from Amac***nz. I have one meself as a spare & slightly prefer it to the SBT's onboard DAC, which is well respected & prolly comparable to current £350/£400+ CD players.

 

[dj.gibby]

Thanks Vacdac. The reason I was contemplating the Marantz was because the Technics has no digital out. As the Marantz was £600 new but was a cd/recorder I wondered how much was spent on the player side of things and how much was spent on the recorder side. Just a pity that I don't have the chance to do a direct a/b comparison.

I wouldn't be going down the DAC route right away but probably around April next year.

 

[vacdac]

Ah.....I see Brian, well IIRC the Techy was a fairly modest budget machine & I've heard nice things re the Marantz & Pioneer CDR machines at that price point. At a guess they're likely comparable to £250/£300 dedicated player only models of the same era.