Marantz CD-16
Marantz CD-16SE
(1993 - 1994 - 1996)

Marantz & Philips big ones - not to be mistaken for the later CD-16D which is a very different player, cheaper, slim and with the plasticky CDM-12.1 linear drive. The CD-16SE was introduced along the first version of the CD-23.

Both CD-16 use the CDM-4MD diecast aluminium swing-arm drive - everlast. The differences between the two, besides the real-wood front sideburns of the CD-16 SE, lie in the power supply, power supply filtering and type of the HDAM modules.

The CD-16 has regular HDAM modules and a single an EI-core transformer with three windings to feed everybody ; the CD-16SE (or CD-16 Special Edition) has a toroidal transformer, NEW HDAM modules and a noise-filter before the added second (smaller) power transformer solely dedicated to the FL display. Which renders the audiophile habit of always switching off the display... somewhat useless :)
The top board, next to the two smoothing caps, holds the two TDA-1547 Bitstream converters ; the two bottom boards respectively hold the servo & decoding functions (front) and audio stages (back). For the sake of the image, the copper-plated metal covers of both the TDA-1547 board and power transformers have been removed. The CD-16 weighs 13kg, the CD-16SE 14kg ; both measure 45,8 x 13,8 x 36cm ; frequency response is flat within 0,2dB, signal-to-noise ratio reaches 108dB and THD remains below 0,00135% at 1kHz.

All the rest is exactly the same : diecast aluminium Philips CDM-4MD drive, digital-to-analogue section, diecast aluminium copper-plated chassis, SM-5803AP, SAA-7350, TDA-1547, double-differential output stage, regulated feeds for the DAC7, digital and audio sections etc - the two respective block-diagrams accessible below will show all of this very clearly. Although the DAC7 scheme allowed for it, no balanced outputs were deemed worth including...

The next big step was the CD-15.