Marantz CD-17

1 9 9 4 1994
1 9 9 8 1998

Slim bestseller which however did sound better than it... felt.

First mid-end Marantz CD player to abandon the indestructible CDM-4 and its many versions for the flimsy, plasticky and -let's face it- cheap CDM12. The drawer operation really is a full-tilt deception compared to the rest of the player.

Inside, the CD-17 is also quite industrial and undistinguished - the days of the CD-12, CD-94 or CD-16 really were gone : one simple trafo, lots of SMD caps (beware of those - they leak !), a single board for the power-supply and d/a conversion, pressed metal and no copper-plating....
If the CD-17 was meant as a first price in audiophile CD replay, it still was a bit meager, weight-wise.

Sound-wise, of course, the CD-17 (and its many upgraded versions) sold like hotcakes worldwide, Marantz taking the lead which Sony had kept for almost 15 years.

A fair player in stock form with its Taiwan-made TDA1547, said many upgraded versions allowed to get a bit closer to the 17's pretenses : better trafo (shielded & OFC), better versions of the CDM12, remodeled main board with New HDAMs instead of the original HDAMs etc - there are many web pages around which describe all of those differences.

Basically, and if I make no mistakes :
CD-17Ki = Ken Ishiwata tweaked version of the original CD-17

CD-17D = has a digital input to use as d/a converter

CD-17Da = same as 17D but with a VAM1201 mechanism which reads CD-RW

CD-19 = with digital input, double-differential DAC7 circuit but the normal the CDM-12.

The cheaper CD-19 closed the series in 1998 at a time SACD and DVD-A were (sort of ) about to happen.
Philips & Marantz were however so happy with their successful series that Philips' original stereo SACD prototype was housed in a barely modified CD-17 enclosure :)


Mods are described in detail at audionautes ; full-size mods are described at the lampizator.

Marantz CD-17, image 1 Marantz CD-17, image 2
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