Marantz CD-67mk2 (mid-1990s)
The Marantz CD-67mk2 is a late-1990s budget-to-midrange CD player that survives more in the memory of enthusiasts than in the period press. The record is thin. The most complete documentation that survives belongs to the CD-67mk2SE, a special edition of this base model, and even that is fragmentary. What follows is what is actually known about the CD-67mk2 itself, separated from its better-documented sibling wherever the sources allow.
The CD-67mk2 is a single-disc player built around the Philips CDM-12.1 transport mechanism and an 18-bit DAC, with Marantz's HDAM circuit in the analog output stage. It has two digital outputs, one coaxial and one optical, plus a single analog unbalanced output and a headphone jack. It measures 439 × 86 × 312 mm (W×H×D), weighs 4.3 kg and draws just 12W. Specs as recorded: frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz ±0.3 dB, dynamic range of 98 dB or better, signal-to-noise ratio of 110 dB, channel separation of 103 dB or more at 1 kHz, and total harmonic distortion of 0.002% at 1 kHz. The original Japanese price was ¥35,000, dated approximately 1998. It came in gold and black finishes, and a wireless remote was included.
Retrotech Audio, a UK dealer that has handled both the SE and OSE variants, dates the CD-67mk2 to 1996 and lists a 1997 price of £300. That same source records the digital converter as an SM5872 and describes the chip as "1 bit linear." An Audio Science Review forum post calls the SM5872 a two-channel 16-bit design with an 8x oversampling FIR filter. The two descriptions disagree, and the record doesn't settle it. Retrotech's spec sheet for the SE/OSE variants shows a frequency response of 5 Hz to 20 kHz, dynamic range of 96 dB, S/N of 104 dB, channel separation of 102 dB, and a THD figure that is cut off mid-number in the source capture ("0.0025..."). Those figures belong to the SE/OSE variants as listed by that dealer, not necessarily to the base CD-67mk2. The Audio Database source gives slightly different (and better) numbers for the base model, so don't mix the two sets up. On a forum comparing the CD67Mk.2 to the Magnavox/Philips 624, one enthusiast called them "both budget players, but still heralded."
Several things are not documented: production years for the base model (only the approximate 1998 price date), any period magazine reviews of the CD-67mk2 itself, and essentially all reliability and repair history. The CDM-12.1 mechanism is well known to the broader CD service community, but no specific failure patterns for this player have surfaced. If you own a CD-67mk2 with its manual or any period literature, the archive would welcome the documentation.
Known specs for the base CD-67mk2:
- Disc format: CD
- Transport: Philips CDM-12.1
- DAC: 18-bit (HDAM circuit in output stage)
- Outputs: analog unbalanced ×1, coaxial digital ×1, optical digital ×1, headphone ×1
- Frequency response: 20 Hz–20 kHz ±0.3 dB
- Dynamic range: 98 dB or more
- S/N ratio: 110 dB
- Channel separation: 103 dB or more (1 kHz)
- THD: 0.002% (1 kHz)
- Dimensions: 439 × 86 × 312 mm; weight: 4.3 kg
- Power consumption: 12W
- Original price: ¥35,000 (circa 1998); £300 in the UK (1997)
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