I'm about to go buy a marantz m-cr 603 as a main system...

Hi 72,

 

I have this system about 1 year and it is brilliant. Does just about everything... you won't be dispointed

Thanks for the speedy reply. What speakers are you running with it? Like I said, I've looked at other OBS and I can't help but think that for the price, the little marantz has win written all over it. 

Hi womble just added a new thread as ive bought one yesterdzy will be delivered next week . Got it from sevenoaks for 389 on 30 day trial.so if i dont get on with it il go back to separates

 

I went to Richer Sounds, Kingston, quick demo. They wanted £400 but when I explained sevenoaks was cheaper at £389, they priced matched and knocked an extra £10 off. I'm now sat here with a silver unit and a smile on my face It really is a nice sounding system and is a big improvement on my old Denon system.... Even with my cheapo Kef Cresta 30 floor standers. 

You won't be disappointed... I've got mine as a second system but its ran Neat Motive 2's, Monitor Audio RX6's and currently Monitor Audio RX2's!

 

its soundstage belies its price tag

In the last 20 months I have never had a moment's regret 'downsizing' from a seperates system to the M-CR603.

I made over £1580 profit on the old system (after ebay/Paypal fees and the cost of the Marantz were taken into account) and bought it without any auditioning because it was the only 'all-in-one' - at the time - that had the exact connectivity and functionality that I needed.

The 'box count' went from four (including a Beresford DAC but excluding speakers) to one. My cable count went from fourteen to just six. (Six = mains lead, speaker cables, optical digital, FM aerial co-ax and ethernet.)

Mains sockets needed went from four to one. (So I could chuck away a 4-way mains extension as well.)

I was able to sell an ugly Quadraspire equipment stand too.

We gained a lot of space (and eye-relief from looking at ugly black boxes) and the whole room seemed to be visually airier and lighter afterwards.

I have not mentioned the sound quality yet.

Not quite as good as the seperates it replaced. (I never expected it to be. The 'bar' was set a bit too high for that.)

But far better than I had hoped it would be before buying it and no subsequent 'itch' to return to seperates at all.

I still love it.

you.got a good result.womble and thanks.chebby cant wait to get mine now

 But I'm sure that you have an 'itch' to have a better all in one system and better speakers.

Unfortunately all of the 'better' all-in-one systems have some connectivity/function shortfall.

Any Naim all-in-one would need AirPlay added on in the form of a £99 Apple TV.

The two cheapest Naim options lack either (a) an FM/DAB option as standard or (b) lack a CD player. (The cheapest Naim all-in-one with both FM/DAB and CD player is now £2800 so that's out.)

Name me a significantly better (than the M-CR603) all-in-one system that has AirPlay, at least one optical digital input, integrated CD player and FM/DAB as standard, that comes in at twice or even three times the price of what I have now. (Say £900 - £1350).

I'm running a pair of dali zensor's. I use it as a second sysyem for the kitchen/dining area and it works smoothly. I have used my EB Acoustic's eb1's on the same system and the sound is better.

yeah and aint there a review that used a pair of gb1s which i think are 1500 quid odd so how much better can you get ? especially for that money, plus also the naim sound is not for everyone. luckily for me i have thirty days with which to return it so ive got nothing to loose and who knows, i might decide another stack of boxes aint worth the hassle. i also bought a pro-ject phono box to run my sl1200 through so im quite looking forward to testing this thing out.

Yup, review by Andrew.

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/editorial/marantz-m-cr603-a-compact-solution-packed-with-performance

I became the proud owner of a M-CR603 just a few days ago and I have to say that I am absolutely delighted by it, not only because of the excellent sound quality whan paired with Monitor Audio BX2s, but also because of the sheer versatility of the unit ; ahead of it's competitors in this respect.

If you haven't spent your cash yet, be aware that there are some very good package deals around. I paid about £100 more than the M-CR603 would have cost alone, and got the BX2s and some speaker cable as part of the package. The retail price of the BX2s is around £250, so this represents a huge saving. 

Strongly recommended!