Marantz 8300 "Universal "Player. Reviews/Comments?

PANNED big-time by one of the British magazines...I want to say it was Hi-Fi News. It came wrapped in plastic, so I couldn't pull my usual read-it-for-free-at-Barnes and Noble thing. I bought it, for nine damn dollars or something, and then the reviewer didn't like it much at all. He said that it sounded "muddled" in multi-channel, with poor separation of channels/instruments. He was only lukewarm about the two-channel performance. I was all set to buy it, but now I'm definitely holding off. Too much will happen with other brands/players in the next six to nine months (more manufacturers getting in, the possibility of FireWire hookups in a greater number of players and receivers, etc.). I wouldn't buy...it sounds a lot like this piece will be a $1300 dinosaur in a year, if not less, when cheaper, better players dominate the market. Right now I'm at my crappy, low-paying job that doesn't give me enough money to buy good equipment, but when I get home, I'll e-mail you more specifically about the article; I'm pretty sure I have it lying around my messy, dumpy, cramped apartment somewhere. Also, I'll try not to bitch so much in the e-mail.

I wouldn't mind seeing that article either. I was seriously considering this player as well for its universal playback. If you can email to me, I'd appreciate it.- Thanks!

I've been listening to the DV-8300 for a week and am very pleasantly surprised with its performance. It probably needs
many more hours to burn in and sound its best, but so far it
compares favorably with a Toshiba SD-9200 I've used for a
year or so. The Marantz is a bit more detailed in its
presentation of DVD-Audio material than the Toshiba, but not hard or edgy in the treble at all. Regular CDs sound a bit
more laid back through the Toshiba than they do through the Marantz. The video for DVDs is much better in the Marantz than the SD-9200. Both players are feeding information through a Krell HTS 7.1 pre/pro. I am quite satisfied with
the 8300 so far.

That's interesting Thedautch. I have the Hi-Fi News article, and they liked it very much. They actually put it on their cover. I have one, and I happen to like it very much also.

They most certainly did NOT like it very much. Period. To wit:

"While its music remains perfectly intelligible, it still lacks that invigorating sparkle and insight regularly achieved by ostensibly less ambitious high-resolution players."
TRANSLATION: cheaper universal players have done a better job.

"With Natalie Merchant's DVD-A 'Beloved Wife,' there's no escaping its instrumental muddling as the intensity of the music develops...Compression or muddling is equally apparent with multi-channel SACD choices like David Bridle's 'Sad", which simply did not sound as atmospheric as we know to be possible."
TRANASLATION: It's no damn good on SACD or DVD-A, the player's two "raison[s] d'etre."

"While Marantz is to be applauded for tackling this project, the DV-8300 still offers little advantage over Pioneer's FIRST generation effort."
TRANSLATION: Even OLDER cheaper players are better.

And by the way...the 8300 isn't really "on the cover," it just has a little 1-inch photo in the corner of the cover to let you know that's it's being reviewed in this issue.

Next time, read the review. Or learn the vocabulary that's used in the review...whichever you deem necessary. And STOP telling people that negative reviews are actually positive ones! It's misleading, unethical, and rude.