Universal Players. Marantz 8400 vs.Denon 5900

I had 8400 for some time, and got rid of it as soon as it was possible, its redbook was just unacceptable for me. Very dark, closed, caramel coated and quite artificial sound. I realize that this is a matter of taste, I just like open and neutral. After further searches I ended up with Sim Nova, which is currently an ultimate CD player for me.

Dougdeacon,

At first I thought the same thing but, if you read on Wally's site, he mentions:

"In exclusive partnership with top-tier modification houses Parts ConneXion and ModWright, Underwood HiFi is proud to offer carefully tested, factory-authorized performance enhancement packages for select brands and models that honor the manufacturer's warranties."

Parts ConneXion is owned by Chris Johnson. Like you said, both modders are well respected so you can't go wrong doing business with Wally.

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I don't know if you care, but the most recent Secrets shootout just came out. The 8400 did not fare well with picture quality. For me, that would be a big issue, but am about 50/50 music/video. The audio section is well regarded.

Just for info, and with a grain of salt, there is a review of the new Sony SACD-XA3000ES in one of the current English magazines. I don't remember whether it is Hi-Fi Choice, News, or what. I was in a hurry when I read it.

The author compares the Sony to the Denon 2900 and the Marantz 8400. He found the Sony significantly outperformed the other two, crossing the threshold of what sound truly "real". The Denon was proclaimed to be close but, just unable to cross this same threshold. The Marantz was also close but a touch warmer or lusher sounding and lacking a bit of transparency on the top end. All models passed muster in the SACD mode but, only the Sony crossed that threshold in legacy CD mode.

However, none of these units outperformed his Sim Moon Equinox. Its performance in CD was virtually indentical to the SACD performance of the other machines.

Anyway, don't take these comments as absolute. I read the article quick and am going by memory (which, at my age ain't the best by any means). It may be a moot issue anyway as the 3000 is not availabe in America, though I believe this is a sibling of the new 9000ES.

It was the last TAS...
Being Simaudio fan now, I enjoyed the comment about Equinox, which is the smallest one in their range