Here it is, the complete list of the Marantz CD-9X series. Made in Japan with some “help” from Philips and some partnerships with other companies, made this series to what they are today: still desireable CD players despite their age. Some models even getting scarce, or can only be bought in Asia. That cannot be said about the CD-94; a lot of these players were produced and they are not scarce at all, although some people on eBay want to make you believe otherwise! Not all the models in this article were available world-wide, and there even are small differences between the models sold in North America, Japan and Europe. Most of them still work, recapped and upgraded with more modern capacitors and/or ICs. Some of you will have players from this series that are already celebrating their 34th birthday! …
To oversample, or not to oversample, that is the question. And do you need it? If you would believe all the stories that have been written about the subject, then we must be stupid that we are still running a CD-94 with oversampling. Non-oversampling is the way to go!
In my opinion, you first would have to start by asking yourself, what is oversampling doing in your beloved Marantz before you disable it. And if you do it, what are the benefits, if there are any. The oversampling in our Marantz CD-94 is done by the SAA7220p/a or p/b (depends on your model). …
In 1984 Royal Philips N.V. completed their first true 16-bit digital to analog converter; it’s code number was the N2990. In Nijmegen (Elcoma) B.J.M. Kup was the first person that was able to put both stereo channels into one IC. The development of the 16-bit IC had started in 1983, and after that Philips (Nat.Lab) even developed an 18-bit converter but it was never put into production because the lack of demand or commitment? The Marantz CD-94 and the Philips CD-960 were among the first CD players to receive a sample of the TDA1541.
A very important part of the Marantz CD-94 is the CDM1 drive. The CDM1 was produced by Philips in Hasselt, Belgium and at the Sagamihara plant of Marantz in Japan. The Philips CDM1 featured major improvements in the precision of all of its parts when compared to the CDM0. The famous Marantz CD-34 (1984), with its unprecedented price-tag, was the first model in which the Philips CDM1 was employed. Due to the success of the CD-34, Philips/Marantz decided to start producing the CDM1 at the Sagamihara plant. The Japanese CDM1 was also used in the CD-54 (1985) and CD-84 (1984). Later, a special fine-tuned version of the Philips CDM1 had been developed for use in higher-end players like the Marantz CD-95 and Marantz CD-99. …
After finishing my new ‘base’ for my Marantz CD-94 and constructing a new power cable, I saved up some money for restoring the player to its original glory. It was my uneducated guess that some of the capacitors would have worn out after thirty years, and a recap at least would be necessary. And it was evident that a technician had to take a look at the upgrades that were done to my cd player.
At the time you could buy the Marantz CD-94 in the shops, people and shops started “upgrading” these players. This so-called “modding” or “tweaking” was of course done with only one thing in mind: making the CD player better. Having owned one already years ago, I decided to buy myself a “new” one. And of course, it was already “tinkered” with. It was upgraded by a company called Siltech. They changed the op-amps to AD711JN, added capacitors/capacitance and did something that everybody should consider who owns a Marantz CD-94: change the TDA1541 to an S1 version (or one of the last production runs of the TDA1541a). But they also forgot one thing: change the SAA7220P/A to a SAA7220P/B version. Everybody should know that the TDA1541a should be implemented with a SAA7220P/B. Why even bother putting a TDA1541a S1, S2, or a Q selection and don’t change the SAA7220 to a P/B version. Heck, some people even downgraded other players who were fitted with a P/B version to a P/A version. I do not have to mention that you should always check before you buy a second hand Marantz CD94! Even on eBay you can buy examples with better TDA’s, but these still come with the SAA 7220p/a. The original op-amps that the CD-94 came with are the NJM5534, not a bad op-amp at all! Marantz also fitted them in the more expensive DA-12. If you are on a (tight) budget you should always consider the TDA1541a / SAA7220p/b swap/upgrade before even thinking about changing the op-amps, and if you do: implement them the right way, and do not just change them. …
If people would ask me what was one of the best CD players I ever listened to, it has to be the CD-94 by Marantz. The one pictured above is the second one I have ever owned. About thirty years old already, and still playing CD’s. O.K., It’s drawer belts need some servicing, some capacitors need to be replaced by new ones and some capacitors on the drive p.c.b./ display p.c.b. need to be replaced as well. But despite those things I love it to pieces, and it still is a better way of listening to your CDs than cheap streaming solutions. By the way, CDs are dirt cheap these days! The Marantz CD-94 entered the market on december 1986 and was designed by the Japanese team of Marantz. They used the Philips LHH2000 and the Marantz CD-63 as a basis for designing the CD-94, and of course, all the knowledge that was collected in Eindhoven at that time. I consider the Marantz CD-94 as one of the first audiophile CD players. It used design features that were relatively new to the audio-business like a big transformer with separate windings for the display, servo, digital and analog circuit. The regulator circuit is also discrete. The Marantz used five different printed circuit boards to eliminate/reduce interference and noise, and last but not least: It used one of the best (maybe the best) transports ever made; the CDM1, made by Philips. …
