The treble in the Onkyo was a tad soft and its mid-range was also slightly less palpable. While the Onkyo sounded very neutral, the Marantz sounded more Organic, despite being an inferior player. Flipping back and forth between the two players I began to better understand the differences. But it also sounded a clinical and uninvolving. Yes, the Onkyo sounded neutral, detailed and non-fatiguing.
Something began to bother me after a while. Overall the Onkyo's presentation is natural, linear and non-fatiguing. The hall and venue information the Onkyo conveys within the soundstage makes it sound pretty life-like. The imaging and channel balance are so precise and spot on that I had to reposition my speakers, using very precise measurements to the tune of a mere inch here and an inch there, so that the central image was aligned with the sweetspot. But I let it play for a few more days before performing the AB comparisons with my Marantz, with both players connected to my Tube Audio Design TAD150 preamp with Audioquest Jaguar ICs.Ĭompared with the Marantz, the Onkyo's soundstage was wider and deeper, with more precise and believable imaging. After about 30 hours I could hear very few further incremental changes. Things began to settle after about 15 to 20 hours playing time, where the congestion began to smooth out and clarity began to improve. However, I attributed this to fact that this was a brand new player and then decided to go through the roller coaster ride of the break in period - before doing any serious evaluation. I did notice, though, that it sounded little rolled off on the top, somewhat congested in the mids (lacking smoothness) and the background not black as I expected. I then spent hours flipping through all my favourite CDs. It also producted more natural timbres with strings, horns and percussion. The mid bass was more authoritative, faster and less bloated than the Marantz. Looks wise it resembles the Cambridge Audio Azur 640c in its simplicity, while maintaining the classic 1980's Onkyo styling.Ĭutting to the chase on its sound, my first impression was that it sounded more detailed and conveyed more venue information than the Marantz. It's mid bass is not as articulate and authoritative as I would have liked, giving a sort of weak presentation.Īfter considering a number of players, including the Marantz CD5001 and Cambridge Audio Azur 640C (v2), I chose the Onkyo DX7555 due to its positive reviews and excellent specifications, including the Wolfson WM9740 24-bit/192 kHz DAC (that is also found in the Cambridge Audio Azur 640C (v2)), its anti-resonant chassis and its low-jitter clock circuit (said to be accurate to +/- 1.5ppm).ī has the Onkyo on sale for $479.95, not bad for what The Absolute Sound says "in the two-channel realm, it held its own against the Lexicon RT-20, a $5000 multichannel universal-disc player." Its main drawback is the treble glare that makes some kinds of music(especially brass bands and classical music) not very pleasant to listen to. Three years later, with many system upgrades including better speakers and much more revealing cables, the shortcomings of the Marantz shows. I once praised the sonics of the Marantz as being "silky smooth and the bass is deep and controlled. I was looking for a mid priced single-disk CD player to replace my aging Marantz CC4300 CD changer as the main digital source in my system. Model: DX-7555 Category: CD Player/Recorder Suggested Retail Price: $699 Description: Audiophile grade CD player Manufacturer URL: Onkyo Model Picture: View
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