Marantz CD63

The Marantz CD63 is a late-1980s single-box CD player, reviewed in the American press around 1989. Documentation is scattered. The record also confuses the base CD63 with the later CD63SE special edition, and a few sources treat them as interchangeable, so take any shared specs with some caution. What is fairly well established: it is a 1-bit design using the SAA7323 DAC, and it sold for $699.95 originally, with a typical street price around $548 in 1989.

The stereo-review.com page summarizes a review from "Stereo Review, August 1989". It says "the controls and layout were well liked" and that the sound "has a solid bottom end". The review also quotes: "the sound quality is too close to the CD63's for comfort" (stereo-review.com). Signal-to-Noise Ratio: "110 dB" (stereo-review.com), THD: "0.0015% (1kHz)" (stereo-review.com), Channel separation: "94 dB" (stereo-review.com). Stereophile also received the CD63 favorably in December 1994, and called it a "Killer $500 CD Player" Stereophile, Vol. 17 No. 11, December 1994, p.97.

It's a moderately sized unit at 459mm wide, 88mm tall and 306mm deep, and it weighs 5.3 kg. It has both coaxial and optical digital outputs. Frequency response is listed as 2 Hz to 20 kHz ±0.3 dB. The sources conflict on dynamic range: one says 100 dB and another says 95 dB. That figure is left out rather than guessed.

DAC: SAA7323, 1-bit decoding
Signal-to-noise ratio: 110 dB
THD: 0.0015% (1 kHz)
Channel separation: 94 dB
Digital outputs: coaxial and optical
Dimensions: 459 × 88 × 306 mm (W×H×D)
Weight: 5.3 kg
Original price: $699.95 (street ~$548 in 1989)

Production years aren't documented in the available sources, and there's no reliable information on common failure points or current used-market values. Anyone with one should check which variant it is, the plain CD63 or the CD63SE, since some documentation blurs the line between them.