12/07/2017
Here is a quick write up on the Marantz UD5007.
Prior to listening to this, I was usually hesitant to use a universal player as I never thought much about these all-in-one devices which plays everything. My bias mindset was not unfounded as they usually related to cheap supermarket players for under $100. I have heard of the Oppo players but have to try them out even though they were quite well regarded.
Then this Marantz UD5007 fell into my lap by chance as I thought I bidded on a UD7007 which was the bigger brother to the UD5007 and had extra outputs.
My previous experience with Marantz players wasn't fantastic as I found most of their consumer models to be too bright sounding, with the exception of the SA-15S1 , which is warmer sounding.
I was kicking myself as I thought I had gotten a rubbish player. This all changed when I hooked her up.
Forget about playing Blu rays and dvd , this UD5007 is an amazing CD/SACD player for the money. The amount of details that this baby pulls out is very very good . Although my Emotiva ERC-1 handles imaging slightly better, the UD5007 trounces it in every other aspect.
Strings and percussions are well represented without being too fatiguing . Vocals from the Korean pop group Urban Zakapa , phenomenal.
I can't think of enough adjectives to say about the UD5007. The onboard DAC just works. There isn't many output options as the rear panel only has HDMI / Line Out outputs. So unless you are using an AV receiver , you are pretty much stuck with only line out to your amplifier. Which to me isn't a bad thing. If you were using a DAC in the past to improve your CD source, now you can hock them off and just use the UD5007 on its own.
It also does network streaming through its ethernet port , handling protocols from YouTube and Nextflix. That to me isn't necessary but useful if you have an existing Netflix account.
So if you are planning to get a simple CD/Amp/speaker set up without the clutter of a DAC, just get the UD5007. You won't regret it.
It just works.
Time to sell my Marantz SA-15S1!!