marantz vs nad cd players budget range

Regarding Bass and Tonality...I can vouch for Nad.
As you have said rightly and even I have heard from people that Marantz are smoother in the highs but havent auditioned one.
The point is, if you already have brighter sounding setup Marantz can do a good job of taming the brightness else it may MAY dullify the sound
One thing I am sure about is Nad's tonality....just excellent...throughout the frequency range they are well pronounced but still balanced. In a phrase "Warm & Punchy" would be my description.

Hey Steve,

If anybody participating in the Blr meet next weekend has a NAD or Marantz, why don't you ask them to bring it over so that everybody can hear it with your setup and compare the sound.

Hmm nice idea...I will try to bring in the Nad and Sudarshan may bring in his Marantz but the problem is his Marantz Cd-17 is a mid-end Marantz whereas my Nad is at the extreme entry level..

good idea. sudarshan has offered to get his marantz. if you can get your nad nothing like it abhi! am trying to get an isolation transformer. if it comes before 3rd then cool otherwise i might have to postpone the meet. dont want u guys running your cd players through the wall outlet. lets see how things go...

Hi Steve,
I suppose there shouldnt be a issue with running the CDPs from the wall outlets.

But as I said you cant directly compare the Marantz CD-17 and the Nad-C521 since both are at different price points. You need to compare Marantz CD-5001 to the C521BEE to actually decide. Nevertheless, what you can really gain is atleast you can hear your setup with a decent CDP and hear the difference for yourself and you can also see if Nad gels with your system or not. That will help you come closer to the decission.

an isolation transformer

Just a quick pointer....

An isolation transformer, does Not regulate the mains voltage.

Mains fluctuations will pass through conpletely.

Cheers

hi amp nut,

i dont think there is much fluctuation in my area. in that case the isolation transformer take care of sudden spikes and things like that. am aware that regulating the fluctuation would be more the job of a stabilizer. is the thinking right?

is there a way of determining whether there is fluctuation or not? would observing tubelights and bulbs flickering or not flickering be enough to judge this? or should i be doing something different? other than buying some costly equipment to determine this

thanks

stevieboy schrieb:

hi amp nut, i dont think there is much fluctuation in my area. in that case the isolation transformer take care of sudden spikes and things like that. am aware that regulating the fluctuation would be more the job of a stabilizer. is the thinking right? is there a way of determining whether there is fluctuation or not? would observing tubelights and bulbs flickering or not flickering be enough to judge this? or should i be doing something different? other than buying some costly equipment to determine this thanks

in that case just get a good spike buster..its fuse will go off before the components..

if I'm game then you'll see the legendary high end Marantz 94 paired with your gear for real time comparo..

Marantz CD-5001 Vs. NAD C521BEE ?

Just toss a coin and you will have the choice made for you !

I have used both - they are equally good. Just see who has the authorised dealer in your city - if both - then who gives better deal.

If I were compelled to choose only one out of the two - I would probably go for Marantz - but I have no valid reason for the preference - I just FELT that it is slightly better.

SUB_BOSS schrieb:

if I'm game then you'll see the legendary high end Marantz 94 paired with your gear for real time comparo.. :*

hey cool. was just wondering to which pub you had crawled into without showing your head for so long drop in to see viren's like you put 'milk bottles' perform

SDhawan schrieb:

Marantz CD-5001 Vs. NAD C521BEE ? I have used both - they are equally good.

hmmm then i'll just have to hear them with whatever i get and take my pick. since you've heard them both doc, did you find the marantz little thin in the bass? seems a popular complaint against the cd5001.

Hi Steve,

Don't find the Marantz CD5001 thin in the bass at all! Maybe it's just an equipment pairing thing.

I guess you'll have to hear both players yourself, and decide.

Viren.

stevieboy schrieb:

SDhawan schrieb: Marantz CD-5001 Vs. NAD C521BEE ? I have used both - they are equally good. hmmm then i'll just have to hear them with whatever i get and take my pick. since you've heard them both doc, did you find the marantz little thin in the bass? seems a popular complaint against the cd5001.

I don't think so - no complaints on the bass department.

I played both through NAD 320BEE & KEF speakers.

is there a way of determining whether there is fluctuation or not? would observing tubelights and bulbs flickering or not flickering be enough to judge this? or should i be doing something different? other than buying some costly equipment to determine this

Fluctuating brightness of Incandescent bulbs is indicative, but a rather crude way.

Tubelights will flicker only under EXTREME Conditions.

A Chinese Digital Multimeter, can be bought for about Rs 200 and will provide good resolution, and repeatibility, though absolute accuracy may be questionable...

Still WELL worth the Rs 200 IMHO.

However, dont use a Multimeter unless you know what you are doing... setting it to the wrong range and connecting it to the mains can be catastrophic !

thanks amp nut i'll get one from murthy since i'm going to him for the isolation transformer anyway. depending on the results i'll see what to get. 200 bucks is not too bad!

he also had an interesting suggestion. check the fridge stabilizer. i remember playing with the switch when i was small. never knew what it meant. i guess that would be a more accurate way of seeing how the voltage fluctuates at different times. so i'll be upgrading my stabilizer to noe with a meter and sending the old one home

incidentally today morning there was a hum before i started playing music. does a hum through the speakers when no music is playing indicate voltage fluctuations and hence a stabilizer needed?

stevieboy schrieb:

incidentally today morning there was a hum before i started playing music. does a hum through the speakers when no music is playing indicate voltage fluctuations and hence a stabilizer needed?

maybe your very musical componets are enjoying the music soo much that they hum along !!

jokes apart..hum ucould also mean earthing is not correct and there is a ground loop due to common ground..could you just connect the Amp to another socket and try ?

the hum wasnt there before today. and then some time after that the power went off. bout 10 mins or so. so dont know if thats an isolated problem. will check in the evening and with another socket and see.

thanks

then it could be some Active Component Eg Motor etc in the same network which is contributing some noise into your supply.

or maybe the hummingbird outside my window. ah must have been it

man its extremely frustrating and unsettling when these things happen to a complete technophobe but the funny part is i couldnt hear the noise during the parts where tracks change. ie the silent parts when one track ends and before the other begins. i guess i'll just see what happens in the evening.

and to complicate things this hum used to appear when i plugged my tv in to the amp and not be there when i played the discman. volume zero i cant hear the hum. turn the volume up with no music playing, hum appears.


hum bug. pun intended

Then like Arj said, its due to earthing issues with one of your components...even I feel a slight hum in my set up when I plug in my phono...

Disconnect your TV from the loop. Your problem is solved. The hum is from the tv/cable connection and it travels through the component video connection to your dvd player and the amp is picking it up through the RCA connected to the dvd player. I have the same problem with my setup. It is actually not a problem. Tubes and TV and such stuff do not mix. Keep the dvd pleyer connected but remove the cable connection. This should solve the problem. When watching tv, do not turn on the hifi.

The hum is from the tv/cable connection


Square is right, it must be your cable TV. Just disconnect TV & see.

Nad hands down
Deaf.

hi guys,

tried couple of things yesterday night as per all your advice. took out the tv cable, disconnected the tv. only thing plugged into the socket was the amp power cord. i even took the dvd player and dumped it far off there was still a hum. slight hum. funny thing was as at zero volume the hum was slight and at 12 o'clock position the hum was pronounced. then as i moved past 12 towards max the hum reduced to same level as it was at zero!

also tried shifting the entire rig to another socket as advised by ampnut. still same problem.

even when i was listening to the tv days back through the speakers amp, with the tv volume max and the amp volume low, little or no hum. turn down the tv volume and up the amp volume and the hum was very loud.

what do i do now? is this an earth loop? how do i solve it? it doesnt really affect listening though i suppose if its not there the music will be clearer. will an isolation transformer take care of this problem?

Steve,

You have to isolate the source of the hum. for that a systematic check will help you.

1. Connect the source outputs to the amp and switch ON the amp
2. Dont plug the source to its power.
3. Chk for hum at different volume settings.
4. There may be slight hum at higher volume levels depending upon your amp
5. If you can hear hum from your listening position when you set the volume control at your normal listening position you have to check your amp.
6. If there is no hum then the hum is from your Source(CDP)

Note. You should not keep the inputs of the amp open(ie wihtout any source connected)while checking for hum because the open input can pick stray noise and amplify it.

Regards'

Anil

PM Viren

funny thing was as at zero volume the hum was slight and at 12 o'clock position the hum was pronounced. then as i moved past 12 towards max the hum reduced to same level as it was at zero!

Clearly this is a Stray pick up either internally from the amp, from within its own innards or from some (nearby ) external source.

At the 12 O clock position, the Volume control presents the highest resistance to the next stage, making it prime position for stray 50 Hz pick up...

1. Connect some source such as a CD player, to your amp. Select the CD player through the source selector switch on your amplifier. Turn the CD Player Electrically OFF ( Pull out the wall plug of the CD player, BUT KEEP your amplifier ON.

STILL GOT HUM at the 12 o'clock position ? ( Probaly yes )

2. Now physically Move the Amplifier about 1 or 2 feet away, preferably even turning it around the the horizontal plane ( so the rear panel faces you, and the front panel is at the back. ) This will move the amp innards particilarly relative to any external Hum inducing component.
( Note : Do Not disconnect that CD Player ! )

3. Hum still the same as before ?

Then you have an amplifier problem, get it serviced...

All the best & do revert.

Does your amplifier use a 2 pin mains plug ?

If yes, FIRST try reversing the 2 pin mains plug...

hi guys,

will do as both ani and amp nut suggests. spoke to viren. he says the problem might also be the ground in the interconnect gotten loose. i think that's more likely the prob cos i dont remember a hum when i connected the dvd player, which has a different set of interconnects. will connect the dvd player through a different set of connects, connect the same discman through a different set of interconnects and see. and yes more importantly, this hum seems pretty recent. couple of days old. dont remember it before. had played the tv perfectly before.

will be getting the el cheapo digi multimeter over the weekend also.

thanks guys!

Thanks for sharing Viren'sd wisdom on the forum. I think his diagnosis may be THE answer... though it does not tally with the fact that the Hum REDUCES beyond the 12 o'clock position...

Wonder why Viren did not share on the forum, insteasd of a pm

Anyways, do post the results, so that we can all be richer for the experience... and your labour

Amp_Nut schrieb:

Does your amplifier use a 2 pin mains plug ? If yes, FIRST try reversing the 2 pin mains plug...

no ampnut, its a regular 3 pin one

Amp_Nut schrieb:

Thanks for sharing Viren'sd wisdom on the forum. I think his diagnosis may be THE answer... though it does not tally with the fact that the Hum REDUCES beyond the 12 o'clock position... Wonder why Viren did not share on the forum, insteasd of a pm Anyways, do post the results, so that we can all be richer for the experience... and your labour ;)

i called him did not pm him. i think he's more of the old school thats more comfortable with face to face and voice rather than pm's and email. found that in the course of my interaction with him.

ok i'll try and reproduce what he said...

regarding the hum reducing beyond the 12 o'clock position his reply was almost the same as yours. ie at 12 o'clock there's max resistance/ impedance the amp sees from the source and it drops beyond that. its funny he said but its there. hence at 12 position the hum would be loudest and reduce in intensity as the knob went towards max.

also i find that sometimes after 12/1 o'clock even if i increase the volume knob there's no corresponding increase in volume. the max has already been reached. perhaps this explains the hum being max at 12?

does that make sense? viren do step in whenever you read this and correct what goof ups i've made.

while i'm at it and before i forget let me also share with all you guys who have the same level of ignorance as me the tutorial i got on how to use a multimeter.

you check the top pin in the three pin socket (which is the ground) and the right side pin (which is positive). this voltage should be around 220.

then you check the top pin with the left side pin. the voltage reading should be 0 to a few volts cos there will be some residual voltage.

then you check the bottom two pins and if the voltage is 220 your grounding is not right.

those who know please feel free to correct me if i've got it wrong somewhere. i think getting a 200 buck multimeter would be real handy before deciding whether to buy an isolation transformer which will clean up the noise or a stabilizer. rather than just going and plonking your money on a stabilizer.

the reason i feel his diagnosis is right is cos with the tv the hum is louder. now for music i'm playing thru a discman which is not as powerful as a tv. hence more powerful source, more hum appears, less powerful source less hum is coming thru. which points to something between the source and the amp.

also i've tried everything everyone suggested and the hum remained. the only constant that was still present was the interconnect and of course the amp. unless its the grounding problem

anyway night will tell

Amp_Nut schrieb:

1. Connect some source such as a CD player, to your amp. Select the CD player through the source selector switch on your amplifier. Turn the CD Player Electrically OFF ( Pull out the wall plug of the CD player, BUT KEEP your amplifier ON. STILL GOT HUM at the 12 o'clock position ? ( Probaly yes )

yes this happens. though i've got a discman. so no connection to the electrical wall outlet. you've given me an idea. will just put the amp on without connecting the source and see. along with changing interconnects i think things ought to clear up tonight

Hi Steve,

U R Well informed !

Since you are familaiar with the Multi Meter, can you check that your Amplifier's Ground pin is electrically connected to your amplifier's metal chasis ?

Sometimes, there is a 2 core mains wire that is connected into a 3 pin plug, leaving the Ground pin un-connected.

I doubt if this is applicable to you, since you indicate that the Hum came up... One fine day ..

The danger with using a Multi meter, is if it is connected to the wrong function ( eg Current Range of Ohms ) and connected accross the Live & Neutral of the mains !

Amp_Nut schrieb:

The danger with using a Multi meter, is if it is connected to the wrong function ( eg Current Range of Ohms ) and connected accross the Live & Neutral of the mains ! :KR

please elaborate!!!!!!! i dont want to fry myself!

also i find that sometimes after 12/1 o'clock even if i increase the volume knob there's no corresponding increase in volume. the max has already been reached. perhaps this explains the hum being max at 12? does that make sense?

Which amplifier is this ?

Could be a dry solder / broken wire inside the amplifier.

viren's integre 15 watt. this happens with the discman so probably the discman's power is only that much? it cant go louder?

The A318B generates a lot of heat and requires plenty of ventilation. I found that it needed to be on for about thirty minutes before it sounded its best. The amp is extremely quiet. With the volume at zero, I had to put my ear up to the tweeters to hear any noise. I did note something peculiar, however. As the volume was increased, the noise increased slightly, but then decreased as the volume approached maximum. I've never heard an amp do that. When I informed Muramatsu, he thought it might be due to a bad tube, and immediately sent out a new batch. The new tubes did not solve the anomaly, but I never found it to be an issue, as the A318B was one of the quietest tube amps I've heard. The noise was never discernible beyond about a foot or so from the speakers.


found this while searching for SETs to wake myself up in the afternoon. someone somewhere has the same problem! the amp in question is an almarro

hi guys,

tried everything suggested yesterday. the best result was when i put interconnects into all three sockets and connected them to discman, tv and worldspace. hum was lower not discernable so much at listening position. and the hum is now a constant level hum. no peak at 12 o'clock position. guess its the grounding?


this is the only thing remaining to check. ampnut i'm not familiar at all with the multimeter. just got a verbal tuturial from viren and read up on the net. instructions will be most welcome. also do clarify your earlier post with the naughty i dont want to get fried using the multimeter. i'll be asking murthy for complete instructions but still...

"Since you are familaiar with the Multi Meter, can you check that your Amplifier's Ground pin is electrically connected to your amplifier's metal chasis ?

Sometimes, there is a 2 core mains wire that is connected into a 3 pin plug, leaving the Ground pin un-connected."

also when playing music through the discman, the hum increases when i take the connect out of the disman and reduces when i plug the connect back in. the connect at the amp end remains in throughout. does this bit of info help?

Steve,

If you leave an interconnect connected to the amp, but disconnected from the source, it will act as an antenna and pick up spurious noise (EMI/RFI) from the surroundings.

With your discman connected and turned on, if the hum is barely discernible through the speakers, then don't worry about it. You are probably hearing some electro-magnetic interference between the power and audio transformers, since they are close together. Your speakers being high sensitivity, it shows up. If you move a foot away, and not hear it, it will not interfere at all with your music listening.

Viren.

hi guys,

checked my sockets on the weekend with a multimeter. no grounding at any of the plugs! will try and get an electrician to do the needful sometime now.

thanks for all your help!

Hi Steve,

Before you call the electrician to provide a ground wire on the wall sockets, check if your Equipment (male ) Plugs are connected to the Chasis of their respective equipment.

Often, Hi Fi Equipment runs a 2 wire Electrical connection. A 3 pin Plug may have the Earth pin not connected at all....

Check with Viren, since your amp is the only thing that currently runs off the mains..

In such cases, save your money and dont call the electrician.

Amp_Nut schrieb:

Hi Steve, Before you call the electrician to provide a ground wire on the wall sockets, check if your Equipment (male ) Plugs are connected to the Chasis of their respective equipment. Often, Hi Fi Equipment runs a 2 wire Electrical connection. A 3 pin Plug may have the Earth pin not connected at all.... ;)

how to i check if its connected to the chassis? did not really follow you.

i did continuity testing on the earth point of the power cord and everything is fine in it. the earth pin is functional.