Marantz CD-50 CD-player Review

The Marantz CD50 compact disc player features double oversampling (at 88.2 kHz), digital filtering, and true 16-bit digital-to-analog (d/a) conversion. With one of the most sensibly arranged and easy-to-use control panels we’ve seen, the CD50 can be programmed to play up to twenty-nine selections in any order, and it has both fast search (with audible sound) and track-skipping capability. The repeat mode allows either a single selection, any memorized sequence, or the entire disc to be repeated indefinitely.

The CD50’s display, with large, pale-green numerals, initially shows the total number of tracks on the disc. In a few seconds it changes to “0” readings for its TRACK and MEMORY indications. When PLAY is pressed, the CD50 plays the loaded disc from its beginning, and the indicators show the current track and index numbers. In programmed playback, the display changes to show the current track number and its position in the memorized sequence. Toggling the display button switches the readout between track/index numbers, track/memory numbers, and a display of elapsed minutes and seconds in the current track.

Any track can be accessed by repeatedly pressing either the forward or backward skip button. Although there is no direct access to indexed portions of a recording, the fast-search mode can be used to move the laser pickup to the desired index point, which is shown on the display, and normal play can be resumed from there.

The rear apron of the Marantz CD50 contains a subcode-output socket for use with future digital accessories, one of which might integrate video displays with the sound program. The rear panel also has two pairs of output jacks, one carrying fixed-level and the other variable-level audio signals. Although there is no front-panel level control, the CD50 is furnished with a wireless remote control that includes buttons for adjusting the level through the variable outputs. In addition to duplicating all of the player’s front-panel controls except for the disc-drawer and power-switching buttons, the remote control also has a numerical keypad for direct access to any numbered track (up to No. 99) for immediate playback or programming into a memorized sequence.

The Marantz CD50, which is finished in black with gold markings, measures 16-1/2 inches wide, 10-3/4 inches deep, and only 3-1/4 inches high. It weighs 8-1/4 pounds. Price: $400.

Lab Tests

The output voltage of the Marantz CD50 was somewhat lower than its rated 2 volts. Driving an EIA standard load of 10,000 ohms in parallel with 1,000 picofarads, it delivered 1.65 volts from a 0-dB (maximum-level) 1,000-Hz test signal. The fixed output and the maximum variable output levels were identical, and the variable output could be reduced in 2-dB steps to essentially a zero level.

The A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio of 110 dB was among the best we have measured from a CD player. The dynamic range, relative to the total harmonic distortion (THD) from a — 60-dB signal, was 96 dB. The harmonic distortion at 1,000 Hz was a bit higher than rated. The THD (excluding noise, which was negligible) was 0.046 percent at 0 dB, 0.089 percent at —10 dB, and 0.078 percent at —20 dB. It contained harmonics as high as the seventh order.

Channel separation was 87 dB at the low and middle frequencies, narrowing to 70 dB at 10,000 Hz and 64 dB at 20,000 Hz. The frequency response was flat within ± 0.1 dB from 20 to 7,000 Hz, with a rise to a maximum of +0.5 dB at 16,000 Hz and a sharp drop to —1.2 dB at 20,000 Hz. Both channels had identical frequency responses and output levels.

The square-wave response of the CD50 was typical of machines using digital filtering. Although the manufacturer claims only 3 degrees of phase shift, this rating appears to apply only to the phase shift within one channel as a function of frequency. The interchannel phase shift rose from 2 to 4 degrees at low and middle frequencies to 39 degrees at 18,000 Hz, results consistent with the player’s use of an 88.2-kHz sampling rate and a single d/a converter multiplexed between the two channels.

In our standard test of track access time, the Marantz CD50 took 7 seconds for the transition from Track 1 to Track 15 of the Philips TS4 test disc. This is relatively slow by current standards, with 2 to 4 seconds being a more typical transition time. The track cueing was excellent, even in cases where there was no silent interval between the tracks.

The defect-tracking performance of the CD50 was not quite up to the standard of most of today’s CD players. It could not track the highest level of the surface errors (black dots) or the two highest levels of information-layer damage on the Philips TS5A test disc. This does not mean that the CD50 cannot cope with normal CD’s—we never experienced mistracking in playing any of our everyday CD’s on this machine. It suggests, however, that slightly damaged discs, which might be playable on other machines, could be a problem on the CD50.

The resistance of the CD50 to physical shock was good on its sides, but tapping the top of the case, especially right above the transport mechanism, easily induced mistracking. We heard some mechanical sounds as the laser pickup slewed to the next selected track, but they were not objectionable, and the player was totally silent during actual playback.

Comments

Although we could not identify any obvious cause for the CD50’s higher-than-usual (for a CD player) distortion readings, we are not too concerned about them. The measured levels were so insignificant compared with the characteristics of analog records and cartridges, to say nothing of typical distortion-audibility thresholds, that they should not be a major consideration when evaluating the CD50.

The sonic advantage of 16-bit CD players over 14-bit CD players has been highly touted in high-end audio circles. We were unable to discover any audible benefit from the 16-bit conversion of the CD50, however, and we consider the matter to be far from settled.

Despite the few respects in which the Marantz CD50 failed to match the measured characteristics of some other CD players we have tested recently, its actual performance in our music system was perfectly fine. Unless you have the habit of keeping time with the music by tapping the top of the player’s case or own a collection of scratched, dirty, or damaged discs, it is unlikely that you would be able to distinguish the listening and operating qualities of this machine from those of most others.

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