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Shocker - CAL CL 15 vs Marantz KI Pearl SACD

I have recently auditioned the new Marantz SACD player and I was shocked when I hooked my old CL -15 back up to my system. There was no comparison in my humble opinion in my system. The CAL was so much better at doing things that I like that the Marantz is back in the box. WOW. I never knew the CL-15 was so good. It is much more emotionally satisfying. I do not have many SACD's. The SACD player in the Marantz is very good. Boy am I glad I listened to both. I saved myself 3 grand. The Marantz sounded great, but it did not do the little things as well. The Timbre of the instruments, sense of air, and bass is better on the Cal to my ears at least. Call me crazy but I will not be buying a new player anytime soon. I just learned because a CD player is older does not necessarily mean it is not as good as the new technology. I found that out.
tzh21y

Showing 1 response by steveaudio

steveaudio
331 posts
 
I had a CL-15 I bought used years ago. Really liked it; should'a kept it. I made the mistake of trading it for a CL-25, that broke a couple of years later, & by then CAL had gone out of business, or been bought out.

I now have a Cary 303-200 that I love, esp in it's price range used. I suspect it's roughly on the same level as the CL-15 (well I hope it's better of course), but hard to compare with a player I sold 10 years ago.
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