Marantz CD6007 review

What Hi-Fi? Awards 2023 winner. A small but significant improvement on its predecessor Tested at £399 / $499

Marantz CD6007 review
(Image: © Marantz)

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

The best affordable CD player just got a little bit better

Pros

  • +

    Class-leading insight

  • +

    More dramatic presentation

  • +

    Excellent build and finish

Cons

  • -

    Looks like previous models

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We couldn’t help but have a feeling of déjà vu when taking the Marantz CD6007 out of its box. Cover the model number and it’s impossible to differentiate this unit from the model it replaces. Did someone at Marantz’s styling department just copy and paste the previous design?

If so, they’ve been doing it for years. You’d need to go back over a decade and four model cycles to find a CD6000 model that looked notably different. Thankfully, the engineers responsible for the sound haven’t been taking things so easy.

Features

Marantz CD6007 features

(Image credit: Marantz)

The big news here is the change of DAC chip to an AKM 4490 (the CD6006 used a Cirrus CS4398), allowing the CD6007 to process high-resolution files.

Not through the CD disc drive, of course. You’ll need to use the front panel USB Type A socket to get the files into the player, as there are no other digital inputs here. You can play hi-res PCM music up to 24-bit/192kHz and DSD128. The last generation model could cope with 48kHz files at best and not DSD.

Other engineering changes between the two generations of player are a quieter power supply and improved HDAM amplifier modules, helped along by a sprinkling of higher-quality internal components. The headphone circuit now shuts down when not in use, which reduces unnecessary power draw on the supply and removes the potential for additional noise.

Build

Marantz CD6007 build

(Image credit: Marantz)

The CD6007’s build quality, as with its predecessor, is excellent. It feels solid and operates with a slickness that belongs at a far higher price point. The disc mechanism on our sample is quiet and responsive, all the controls working with precision. We can’t think of a rival CD player that feels as polished in use.

Marantz CD6007 tech specs

(Image credit: Marantz)

Frequency response 2Hz-20kHz

Dynamic range 100dB

Power consumption 32W

Available finishes Black, silver-gold

Formats CD, CD-R/RW, WMA, MP3

Dimensions (hwd) 10.5 x 44 x 34cm

Weight 6.5kg

The remote is a full system design and remains pretty much as before, though a few of the buttons do a slightly different job. It’s a nice handset, being easy to use and pleasant to hold.

Aside from the front panel USB, there are the usual single-ended RCAs for the analogue output alongside optical and coaxial for digital. Unusually, Marantz offers the option of turning the digital outputs off when they’re not in use. This is worth doing because it brings a little extra clarity to the sound, but you’ll need a pretty transparent system to notice it. The same applies to switching the display off.

Marantz also now offers a choice of two digital filter options for those that like to tweak further. Filter 1 has a slow roll-off and is claimed to offer a deeper stereo image while Filter 2, has a sharper roll-off and is meant to produce a more direct and brighter presentation.

The sonic differences aren’t massive, but we have a preference for Filter 1. It just sounds more natural to our ears. But there’s no right or wrong here and the choice comes down to taste and system.

Sound

Marantz CD6007 sound

(Image credit: Marantz)

Do all the engineering changes bring about a worthwhile improvement in sound quality? The short answer is definitely yes, however it’s not a step change.

We play a CD of Tchaikovsky’s Marché Slave Op.31 and the CD6007 gives a more vivid and dramatic rendition. Notes are defined with a touch more precision, particularly at low frequencies, and the scale of sound is notably bigger. Compared to the older CD6006 UK Edition, this new machine is a crisper, more open performer.

Stereo imaging has benefitted, with the new Marantz able to render a more expansive and better-focused sound stage. Instruments are easier to locate and stay locked in place more easily when the music becomes more demanding.

Similarly, larger-scale dynamics are delivered with more verve and punch. There’s a pleasing sense of composure to tie it all together. Tonally, there is a subtle shift too, with the new player sounding a bit more forward and a touch brighter.

Switching to India Irie’s Wonderful shows that it’s not all one-way traffic. The older player has more solidity through the midband and gives Irie’s voice a sense of body and natural warmth that the CD6007 doesn’t quite match.

Marantz CD6007 sound

(Image credit: Marantz)

The new machine responds in a more cohesive way with rhythms and a slightly better sense of drive. We can hear the leading edges of the bass notes more clearly and there’s a greater feeling of space between the instrumental strands.

This holds true when we play a variety of music files through the USB input. Both players prove admirably slick in use here, though using the relatively limited front panel display to navigate the music feels clunky. The last-gen CD6006 UK can’t play the hi-res files, of course, while the new one copes with hi-res PCM and DSD without issue.

We try the headphone output and are pleased to report that it’s a good one. There’s no obvious difference in quality between the two Marantzs in this respect (bar the inherent changes in the sound), and none was claimed. A built-in gain adjustment, found in the set-up menus, is a sensible touch that ensures wide-ranging compatibility with different headphones.

Verdict

Overall, it’s a clear win for this latest Marantz 6000 CD player, even if the result isn’t a knockout. Owners of the CD6006 shouldn’t rush to change their player as it still has much to offer as well as an easier-going, more intimate presentation – even if it is second best in most respects.

No one can accuse Marantz of pushing the boundaries on the CD6007, but it didn’t really have to. The company has taken an already excellent CD player and made it a bit better. At this point in CD’s life arc, at the affordable end of the market at least, that’s all it takes to ensure class leadership.

SCORES

  • Sound 5
  • Features 5
  • Build 5

MORE:

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What Hi-Fi?

What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.


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  • Hifiman2007
    Have to say I like this review I think WH is guilty sometimes of exaggeration in the difference. But I think it's made it clear that yes it's better..but not to the point it demands an upgrade. Good shout
    Reply
  • eoc69
    I think marantz have made a mistake in pricing for the new 600 series, £100 increase on both the PM6006 and CD6006 for marginal improvements seems excessive.
    Reply
  • Pedro Teixeira
    I have a CD6006 UK and a CD63 KI. I will wait for the CD6007SE. Greetings WH.
    Reply
  • maxmekker
    Could one say that the 6007 is the 'world' release of the CD6006 UK Edition , ore is it even better in terms of internal build quality and components used ?

    Today I use a yamaha CD-N 301 going to my Yamaha rx-v667( via optical cable) and then to a rotel RB 980 and in the end to my old Dali 710.

    I would think the DAC in the 6007 would be better than in my yamaha rx-v ?( just because of the age span) But I have no clue tbh what is the great differences of the dac's , so I quess a a/b test digital vs analog connection from a 6007 to my receiver is needed to point that out.

    the rx-v should have the Bur-Brown 24bit/192khz I belive
    the CD-N 301 should have 192kHz/32-bit Burr-Brown high precision DAC

    thanks for any input
    Reply
  • Morgan man
    What Hi-Fi? said:
    Marantz’s CD6007 marks a small but significant improvement on its Award-winning predecessor.

    Marantz CD6007 : Read more
    Hi there, I was about to but the CD6006SE when the CD6007 came out I made enquiries about possible SE edition for the 6007, couldn't find out anything so I rang Marantz UK customer help line. They tell me they have no plans to produce a SE edition. Disappointing for many I fell but I'm not in a hurry so may just wait. (I've signed up for their newsletter so perhaps we will hear it there first if at all) I think they have used the filters to effectively give two version performance in one unit perhaps?
    Reply
  • maxmekker
    Got a good deal on a unit slightly used/demo'd.
    hooked it up with a set of van damme RCA to my yamaha receiver rx-v667.power to the dali 710 is a Rotel rb980 power amp


    Marantz cd6007 - YouTube
    Reply
  • HiFiTom
    Marantz CD6007 does NOT support IPhone.
    This review and many others have annoyingly overlooked actually checking this facility.
    Unfortunately have purchased on the strength of the review.
    This would have been a deal breaker for me.
    A very disappointing omission on the part of Marantz.
    Is this upgradable in the future?
    Reply
  • beelzebomb
    I think the CD6007 is step backwards not forwards. No support for iPhone devices etc, plus removed the ability to ‘delete’ tracks in programme mode (a feature I found incredibly useful, and one that stretches back on Marantz CD players at least 20 years - now gone). Plus a change limiting display info available. I bought the CD6007 not ever thinking Marantz would actually remove so many features. Now bought the CD6006 UK second hand & will be selling the 6007. Well done Marantz.
    Reply
  • mcbrion
    The Marantz, following upon several other CD players I have had, including the Arcam FMJ CD 23, Schiit Ygdrassil DAC, Rega Apollo, a Cambridge player (forget the model #), shows itself to be a good performer. It does not, however, see "into" the soundstage in the sense of sounding completely organic. There is a sense of a "remove" from "being there" and is more like hearing it through a very slightly dry presentation with a very fine scrim over the sound. The sound approaches "liquidity" (which is how sound moves through the air in real life. We hear it every day). Considering its price, that might not be expected in such a modest player, but "organic" is, nonetheless, high on my list since the rest of my system (ARC/Shunyata/Nola) can do this.
    WHF stresses not as much the sense of - what shall we call it - the "absolute sound" aspects of a player, which is their prerogative, but would be nice for a reader to know how much it sounds like, say, a live mike feed from (in my case) The Metropolitan Opera broadcasts, which one can immediately, on even a decent system of around 2k with an NAD tuner, tell that the performance is happening live and not merely another "exceptionally good recording." But that is just one reader's wish to be included in reviews. Otherwise, it's just exceptionally good "hi-fi."
    Reply
  • 12th Monkey
    This is a two year-old thread that's been dormant for nearly a year - please feel free to start another in an appropriate sub-forum.
    Reply