I own the 8400 and their are a few points to ponder on this machine. The video is good, but so are many machines costing much less. I use an Iscan Ultra and get breathtaking video , and I dont care to knock myself out trying to get the best video DVD player because its "not for sale yet" . That will be some form of high def DVD video player. The second issue is the two 2 channel outs on the back of the machine. The first one which is used for high res , has an HDAM chip, the second one a cheap op amp, so I discovered if you play redbook Cd through CD 1 out {the one you are using for multichannel, the sound quality is much better}. the Third isssue is as a transport it can be quite good if you consider the following , it has a direct digital out mode which allows 24/96hz signals to pass digitally. Since the machine is your typical lightweight DVD player , simply adding some weight to the top of the machine, can be as simple as adding a couple of heavy books for example, yields a high quality transport sound. The 4th thing is, and I have no idea why, but it loves Cardas Power cords. I know PC's are system dependent , but I have been through two PLC's and 2 preamps and have tested it 3 seperate times and everytime The Cardas made the machine sound analog. The same PC sounds bad on my amp and only fairly good on other CDP's. Hope that is helpful.
Marantz dv-8400 as an audio-only player
I've somehow ended up with both a Marantz dv-8400 and Pioneer dv-59avi dvd player. I use the Pioneer for video, because its performance is bette, and I'm currently using the Marantz as an audio-only player (with cd playback via a digital connection to a Bel Canto DAC2 and muti-channel via analoge outputs).
The most important thing to me is cd playback. My question is, do you think the Marantz is a good cd-transport or would I be better off getting rid of it and getting either a Marantz cd7300 or sa8400 instead (again, to combine with the DAC2).
I'd appreciate any views you may have.
The most important thing to me is cd playback. My question is, do you think the Marantz is a good cd-transport or would I be better off getting rid of it and getting either a Marantz cd7300 or sa8400 instead (again, to combine with the DAC2).
I'd appreciate any views you may have.