Marantz 8300 "Universal "Player. Reviews/Comments?

PANNED big-time by one of the British magazines...I want to say it was Hi-Fi News. It came wrapped in plastic, so I couldn't pull my usual read-it-for-free-at-Barnes and Noble thing. I bought it, for nine damn dollars or something, and then the reviewer didn't like it much at all. He said that it sounded "muddled" in multi-channel, with poor separation of channels/instruments. He was only lukewarm about the two-channel performance. I was all set to buy it, but now I'm definitely holding off. Too much will happen with other brands/players in the next six to nine months (more manufacturers getting in, the possibility of FireWire hookups in a greater number of players and receivers, etc.). I wouldn't buy...it sounds a lot like this piece will be a $1300 dinosaur in a year, if not less, when cheaper, better players dominate the market. Right now I'm at my crappy, low-paying job that doesn't give me enough money to buy good equipment, but when I get home, I'll e-mail you more specifically about the article; I'm pretty sure I have it lying around my messy, dumpy, cramped apartment somewhere. Also, I'll try not to bitch so much in the e-mail.

I wouldn't mind seeing that article either. I was seriously considering this player as well for its universal playback. If you can email to me, I'd appreciate it.- Thanks!

I've been listening to the DV-8300 for a week and am very pleasantly surprised with its performance. It probably needs
many more hours to burn in and sound its best, but so far it
compares favorably with a Toshiba SD-9200 I've used for a
year or so. The Marantz is a bit more detailed in its
presentation of DVD-Audio material than the Toshiba, but not hard or edgy in the treble at all. Regular CDs sound a bit
more laid back through the Toshiba than they do through the Marantz. The video for DVDs is much better in the Marantz than the SD-9200. Both players are feeding information through a Krell HTS 7.1 pre/pro. I am quite satisfied with
the 8300 so far.

That's interesting Thedautch. I have the Hi-Fi News article, and they liked it very much. They actually put it on their cover. I have one, and I happen to like it very much also.

They most certainly did NOT like it very much. Period. To wit:

"While its music remains perfectly intelligible, it still lacks that invigorating sparkle and insight regularly achieved by ostensibly less ambitious high-resolution players."
TRANSLATION: cheaper universal players have done a better job.

"With Natalie Merchant's DVD-A 'Beloved Wife,' there's no escaping its instrumental muddling as the intensity of the music develops...Compression or muddling is equally apparent with multi-channel SACD choices like David Bridle's 'Sad", which simply did not sound as atmospheric as we know to be possible."
TRANASLATION: It's no damn good on SACD or DVD-A, the player's two "raison[s] d'etre."

"While Marantz is to be applauded for tackling this project, the DV-8300 still offers little advantage over Pioneer's FIRST generation effort."
TRANSLATION: Even OLDER cheaper players are better.

And by the way...the 8300 isn't really "on the cover," it just has a little 1-inch photo in the corner of the cover to let you know that's it's being reviewed in this issue.

Next time, read the review. Or learn the vocabulary that's used in the review...whichever you deem necessary. And STOP telling people that negative reviews are actually positive ones! It's misleading, unethical, and rude.

Thedautch,
You are probably correct about the HiFi News review, the review that I was looking at was the HiFi Choice piece in their October 2002 issue. I am sure HiFi News hated it, but HiFi Choice (another British mag) considered it signficantly better than the Pioneer unit, but not quite as good as the Townshend modified DV-747 which was quite a bit more money.
As for your judging a player that you have never heard, (especially without good equipment due to your crappy, low paying job), then advising people not to buy it without any first-hand experience with it, it might well be taken that what you are the rude, unethical one. At the very least, your opinion is only mildly useful as a regurgitation of someone elses'.
Now back to my opinion, which is based on use with three processors (Sunfire, Integra, Krell), Classe and Krell amps, and B&W Nautilus speakers. I found the Marantz to have a great soundstage, very good channel separation, never found the midrange to be muddy, and it's biggest fault would be a mild lack of energy at times, but certainly worth the $1300. Oh, by the way, I just happened to have a Krell DVD Standard around for 2 channel comparos also, and it sounded about 90% as good on 2 channel, with a slightly smaller soundstage, and slightly lesser dynamics, but the Marantz held up well overall.
Progressive scan video performance is mediocre at best with a picture softer, more video-like, with chroma bug, and more artifacts than good Faroudja equipped efforts out there, but still the quality may be quite acceptable if you don't use a big-screen TV.
As always, try it and judge for yourself...

I was only objecting to your wildly inaccurate summary of an article. I quoted FROM THE ARTICLE, NOT FROM MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS!!! Christ, you don't understand the concept of primary source material, either!