Hi sifu's I'm an absolute newbie who just wanted to get an entry level hifi set. I care more about music and couldn't care less about the boom and bang while watching movies. This is what I've set my eyes on:
Bowers & Wilkins 685 S2
Marantz PM + CD 6005
Would there be any major fallback with this set up?
I am also not sure if I want to use CD as my main source but I don't know what I can get if I have more digital source. Thanks in advance!

Thank you for your feedback. They're helpful yet reassuring.

Thanks to you now I am aware that there's a PM7005 out there with USB-DAC functionality and offers more juice (60W vs 45W from the PM6005).

Given that I do not have a CD collection to begin with. It might actually be more sensible to drop the CD player and go for PM7005 directly with the money.

This will pose a new set of questions for me:
1.) The price for PM7005 I found online is RM 5300. Where would you recommend me to pick up a unit for more reasonable price? (Amazon US sells PM6005 and PM7005 for USD 700 and 1k respectively).
2.) It's a USB-B port as opposed to USB-A. Can it play directly from portable HDD? (I don't plan to connect my laptop/PC to it in the living room.) If it can then I can drop the CD player entirely I guess.

Thanks again!

This post has been edited by everclear: Dec 16 2015, 09:51 AM

Thank you all so much for giving me your thoughts and sharing with me your experience.

I looked through the suggestions and did a bit of research. Given that my main source would most likely be digital. The most appealing choice is PM6005 with NA6005 and play my CD through my cheapo Sony DVD player occasionally. However the NA player is so new I can't find its price locally yet. The next option would be to replace the NA player with CD6005 and plug in my iPad via USB-A most of the time. Not so ideal.

PM7005 would be even better if I can source it locally and if it does not cost me >RM 3,000 but that's not the case. I feel it's marked up beyond proportion when compared to their prices in UK/US so I am taken aback.

Next is C-MR610 which I happen to like a lot too in terms of the all-in-one system concept. However I found out that there's a updated C-MR611 which hasn't reached our shore. It's great that I do not need a separate amp + I get both the media AND CD player at the same time (super love), so this saves me some money although at the cost of sound quality (is this true? Got this from reading other forums) and lower wattage. I would seriously consider getting the C-MR611 but review rated it's sound quality below C-MR610 although it's now packed with more features.

This comes back to where I started. The most ideal combination now is PM6005 + NA6005 given that I can source the latter locally. Otherwise I'd have to consider tha CD6005.

Thank you guys for giving me ideas and pointing me in the right direction. Really really, thank you all very much.

This post has been edited by everclear: Dec 17 2015, 10:53 AM


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Called Desa Home Theatre a minute ago. All marant amp are out with an exception of PM5005 until next distributor.

=\

3.5 weeks more to CNY. Any news on the new authorized dealer?

Cry. And I thought the price will get a downward adjustment.

Thanks. Are these the RRP (means likely can find lower price with some discount) or are they the discounted price say from Desa?

May I know how you got those prices? Because I'm interested in M-CR611. I know the melody series amp will not be the best choice to drive certain speakers say BW 685 S2 but well RM 5.3k for PM+CD 6005. =\

I suspect RM 1,790 isn't the RRP but more like the discounted price last year? Anyway I called Desa to check the prices for PM 6005, CD 6005 and M-CR611.

The guy said no stock and no idea when they'll be selling Marantz again. According to him, the new distributor hasn't spoken with their boss to start supplying any stock.

So I wonder. Where did you get those new prices?
I'd just like to call up any seller to have a chat so that I can have some clue how much to save up for my system. The price seems to be increasing non-stop though. =\

It's really driving me nuts. Until now Desa Still doesn't have PM/CD 6005 or M-CR 611. B&W is having promotion now and I'd like to get the 685 S2 but the only amps there I'm happy with is Roksan K2 / K3, which is a crazy match as they're more expensive than the speakers itself... (And I'll mostly go with digital source anyway)

And I hate and feel stupid to buy the speakers alone without matching amp.

This will be my first setup so after buying the speakers I'm going to sit at home looking at the speakers not connected to anything for god knows how long like an idiot.

This post has been edited by everclear: Apr 17 2016, 04:06 PM

Hey thanks for your sharing Bryanyz.
My thing is jazz (blue), oldies, melancholic songs. But I do listen to pop and rock too.

Do you mind telling me where I can find this amp you're recommending? Thanks.

Listening to 'Louis Armstrong - A kiss to build a dream on' and 'Ed Sheeran - Photograph' as I type now. =]

This post has been edited by everclear: Apr 18 2016, 09:07 AM

Ah. Sorry for the confusion. I am new to hi-fi. I just bought B&W 685 S2 yesterday and I'll be receiving it in 1-2 months. After that I'll be hunting for amp.

Edit:
Just checked out the Elac B6 review. Seems like super value for money. Too bad I just pulled the trigger on the 685 yesterday. =\

This post has been edited by everclear: Apr 18 2016, 02:14 PM

Thanks guys for the assurance. I couldn't help but went checking the launch dates for Marantz PM / CD 6000 series. 6003 was launched in 2009, 6004 in 2011 and 6005 in 2013. Missing PM/CD 6006 last year.

I hope they come up with the new series soon since I'm gonna be getting an amp.

This post has been edited by everclear: Apr 21 2016, 12:53 PM

Congrats! Sounds like you really tested a range of speakers and amp and knew clearly what you're looking for.

What's your source? Laptop/iPad?

Hi guys

Just want to quickly run through my plan with you all to make sure I'm not missing out anything/doing anything stupid.

Already gotten: B&W 685 S2 and some cable (YXL or something RM 500 after 50% discount =\)

Planning to get:
1) PM 6005 at ~ RM 2100
2) Apple Airport Express ~ RM 450
3) mini jack to optical cable ~ RM ??? (Where can I get this, are there different grades since this is digital?)
4) Auralex MoPad ~ RM 280 (any better recommendation if I don't want to get speaker stand?)

I'm planning to stream Spotify music from iPad / iPhone.

The Airport Express allows wireless streaming from Apple devices to the PM6005 amp as digital source.

Edit: I just read that steaming via AirPlay would resample everything to 44.1kHz. Does this mean much lower quality music?

This post has been edited by everclear: May 13 2016, 02:42 PM

Checked out the site, it seems that PM6006 comes with 2 optical input compared to just 1 optical input on the PM6005. Price is hkd 4000, which is around hkd 1000 cheaper than the PM6005 in hk. Quality: Unknown but those guys seem impressed. Comparison against PM6005 is also not done. =\

How do these guys get their hands on the unit before it's even launched? Good that there's finally a PM6006, but when will it reach here?

This post has been edited by everclear: May 13 2016, 10:27 PM

Which could mean anything from 3 months (super optimistic) to 9-12 months (worst case scenario) since it's not even officially launched yet...

I wonder if I should buy the PM6005 first (my new 685S2 is ready to be collected) and then trade-in when the PM6006 reaches our shore. The PM6006 is likely to be a better amp given Marantz's track record at improving their 6000 series amp time after time. Would lose some money... =\

Maybe wait for one month to see how things go (can call up the distributor to ask I supposed). this should give me some time to re-think a system that's ideal for my budget.

This post has been edited by everclear: May 14 2016, 10:41 AM

I've tried K2 & K3 amp/CD combo. Really nice indeed. Problem is no digital input (besides the blue tooth) and most importantly out of my budget. =\

Found that Finnish Marantz website has announced a week ago that PM6006 & CD6006 are to be launched in summer 2016 (May-Sept).

Hmm. Wonder if I should wait.

This post has been edited by everclear: May 16 2016, 01:47 PM

Maranta UK website just announced the launch of PM6006/CD6006 early this week. Some websites have listed them for sale. Interesting observation is that HK price is 4K HKD (1k HKD cheaper than 6005 price) while in the European countries it's going for higher price (€600) than the 6005 (between €400-550).

Hope it reaches here soon and cheaper than PM6005. XD