A fantastic CD/SACD player
Dale from Newark, DE on 10/4/2024
By far the best CD/SACD player I've owned. I've bought less expensive components in the past -- Onkyo, Yamaha, Adcom, & Rotel. The extra expense of this Marantz is well worth it. CDs sound like the artist is in the room (e.g., Paul Simon, David Lindley, Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt, etc.). You'll hear instrument parts that you never realized were on the CD. Everything is crystal clear with amazing sound field depth. All I want to do is listen to more music in the sound room. Have only had for about a week so am still learning, but a super happy buyer.
Pros: --Wonderful sound quality. --Streaming capabilities are also fantastic. --Built like a tank.
Cons: I don't believe the SACD section plays multi track SACD, just stereo. Can't A/B SACD 30n DAC easily with integrated amp DAC.
9 of 9 found this helpful
Nice piece of gear
Scott from Piedmont, SC on 7/29/2024
Great unit just wish they had good old paper manuals to go into further explanation of features and functions. Even the pdf is a bit lacking
Pros: Build out, sound quality.
Cons: None at this point
7 of 7 found this helpful
Refined sound - increased realism
J.E. from @Home on 4/8/2024
Last December I upgraded from a PM8006 to the Model 30. The improvements in sound quality were significant, if not striking: More clarity and dynamics, better instrument separation, more 3D-like sound stage and more accurate instrumental and vocal timbre - all resulting in more realism of the musical reproduction. Recently I upgraded my ND8006 to the SACD 30n. The improvement in sound quality was not as striking, yet noticeable. The SACD 30n improved by a notch what upgrading to the Model 30 did before. However these improvements were more subtle. At first they did not seem overwhelmingly clear. But when going back to the ND8006 I realized what was missing. In short, the SACD30n sounds overall a bit more refined.
Pros: Sounds great with any format or input used. Even streaming my favorite radio stations at 96 kbps sounds amazing with this Marantz combo.
Cons: a) CD-tray feels quite cheap and flimsy. It's plastic molded - not made from machined and anodized aluminum b) Remotes are useless for me (64 yrs. of age) due to the extremely small letters and buttons. c) Two-prong power cords do not sit reliably in a NEMA 5-15 outlet. They accidentally disconnect very easily. d) No hi-rez direct streaming through HEOS; no direct Qobus streaming with HEOS.
26 of 28 found this helpful
Superb Disc Player, Ignoring the Network Feature
Daniel from Yorba Linda, CA on 9/2/2023
This is a hefty SACD player that plays discs without drama. It seems to be constructed with very high quality build based on the sheer weight. It is essentially silent. The musical output from its internal DAC sounds great, and I prefer the fixed aux output over using the digital signal directly. I found the network functionality redundant for my needs, which consists of the KEF LS60 speaker system, so I do not use it. Without networking needs, one could consider instead the Marantz CD60 since it does not have networking and is less expensive. However, I read a professional review concluding the CD playing quality to be better with the 30n so I never tried the CD60.
Pros: Very musical sound and solid build quality
Cons: Networking features not needed
13 of 15 found this helpful
Listen to More Musin
Carl from CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA on 6/29/2023
I realize that the main function of this Marantz is as an SACD player, but I don't own SACDs so I spent a lot of time using it as regular CD player and music streamer. I streamed music using WiFi, Bluetooth, the built in Heos technology after I downloaded the app on my phone and iPad, and also used Apple Airplay just depending on which service I wanted to listen to such as Qobuz, Pandora, TuneIn. I happened to also have a Marantz home theater receiver, so the sound was fantastic. Using this player also prompted me to upgrade my speakers and speaker cables, and just listen to more music instead of always turning on the TV.
Pros:
Cons:
12 of 12 found this helpful
THE MARANTZ SACD IS EXTREMELY MUSICAL
Robert F from Reno, NV on 4/24/2023
My background is as a classically trained pianist and percussionist in orchestral and concert bands. Upon reading so many positive reviews about the Marantz SACD 30n from other end users, I recently acquired one. Everything written about this piece of incredible audio equipment is absolutely true! - at least to my ear. I own nearly 2000 CDs and SACDs. Therefore, my comments are confined to the musicality of the SACD/CD playback portion of this remarkably versatile stereo playback system. I'll leave the network player features to others better qualified to comment. I also own, or have auditioned 4 different CD players or transport systems within the last year. My impression is the Marantz SACD 30n tops the list for sheer musicality - warm, detailed, with a spacious soundstage. Marantz does not disclose the DAC or circuitry design used in the SACD/CD playback portion of the 30n. The Leak Stereo 130 with its ESS Sabre ES9018 K2M DAC is my second favorite, followed by the Rotel 1572-RCD MKII with a Premium Texas Instruments DAC. Last, in my listening experience is the Cambridge CXA81 integrated amp with a Sabre ESS 9016 K2M DAC. None of these named CD or SACD/CD playback systems are bad; some are just better than others IMHO. The circuitry design of a piece of particular equipment also has to be taken into consideration. Nonetheless, and in the final analysis, Marantz hits it out of the park with the SACD 30n. If you buy one, I do not think you will be disappointed.
Pros: The very best listening experience I've had with CDs and SACDs bar none.
Cons: None come to mind.
28 of 28 found this helpful
Exceptional at this Pricepoint
Jason from JACKSON, MS on 4/9/2023
I purchased the Marantz 30n to play SACDs and my old CD collection (which has been in storage for over a decade). The SACD/CD player is fantastic. But here's what blew me away. I didn't intend to use the 30n's streaming functions because I have an Aurender A-15 streamer/DAC that costs literally three times more than the Marantz, and which I love. But, after weeks of playing only SACDs/CDs on the 30n, I decided to check out the streamer. So I downloaded the HEOS app and connected my Tidal and Amazon streaming services, and pushed play on Pink Floyd's "One Slip." I was instantly amazed. This unit competes with the Aurender, no doubt. I'll do an A/B comparison soon, but right now I'm just marveling at how good this unit sounds, particularly with Filter 2. The mix of detail, warmth, and wide soundstage is first-rate. It could very well outperform the Aurender. *gulp* I give this unit an unreserved 5 stars (except the HEOS app., listed in "Cons" below).
Pros: Very well built. Amazing sound playing SACDs and streaming. Great, sturdy remote. Competes with units costing much more. Incredible value for the money.
Cons: HEOS app. Marantz should develop its own app., like Aurender and Cambridge did. HEOS works and looks like it was designed 10 years ago. But it gets the job done.
17 of 19 found this helpful
Streaming Believer
William from Mechanicsburg, PA on 1/22/2023
Excellent product. Streaming is great. Nice improvement from my 18 year old Maridian.
Pros: Large soundstage and depth.
Cons: None
11 of 18 found this helpful
Marantz SACD 30n excellent!
Randy from Fallbrook, CA on 11/11/2022
I'd been contemplating this purchase for probably close to a year. A little expensive but I really wanted a player to make my SACD's sound the best they could. This player certainly doesn't disappoint. It's very heavy and quite large but the build quality and finish is excellent. I bought the silver version and it's very classy looking. Set-up was simple and it was up and running in minutes including a software update and signing in to my HEOS account. I was expecting another cheap remote but the one that comes with this is the opposite. While back-lighting would be nice it's very heavy and solid-feeling. The button arrangement works fine and it's easy to use. I've got two other HEOS devices in the house so integrating this one into the mix was a snap. The cons I have listed below are really nitpicking this device. Overall I'm very happy with this player and am glad I made the purchase. Highly recommended for those that want to showcase their CD collection and be able to stream using the HEOS app. A+.
Pros: Great build quality, beautiful finish Music sounds fantastic Nice solid-feeling remote Easy set-up CD tray almost disappears with front display
Cons: A bit expensive Remote should have back-lighting Should have balanced outputs
24 of 24 found this helpful
Verona
Preston from Verona on 10/29/2022
Excellent player. Replacing a Sony xa777es. I feel the marantz betters the Sony with a stronger musicality, more engaging, with slightly more detail. It sounds great with a amazon music subscription utilizing the heos app. The heos app is a little clumsy, but more than makes up for with sound quality. Highly recommended. Makes my kanta 3s sing! The only improvement IMO would have been to include balanced xlr outputs.
Pros:
Cons:
19 of 19 found this helpful
Marantz SACD 30n
Herbert from Apex, NC on 7/17/2022
This is a well-built classy product. On certain CD's that I have, I experience unbelievable transient response. Of course, your speakers and amp have to be up to the task. I have yet to hear a nasty sound from this product. There is dead silence in the background. The opening and closing of the cd tray is very quiet. I am very happy with the purchase.
Pros:
Cons: None at the moment.
18 of 19 found this helpful
I made the right decision
Richard from Dyer, IN on 6/22/2022
I purchased the 30n after considering the Yamaha CD-S2100. I went with the Marantz SACD mostly based on having a SA-10 in my house. This unit is replacing a 20 year old Sony SA-222es. Set up was very easy. The unit needed a firmware update that took about 5 minutes with no hiccups. The build quality is excellent. The remote has a solid feel to it and has a lot of functionality. I first played an SACD of Diana Krall to get a feel for the clarity and brightness. The sound was a significant upgrade from the Sony. Mid range was strong, very warm and detailed, with no noise. It impressed me right from the start. In other SACD's there was no harshness yet highs were very apparent. I played my Bluesound Node through the n30 DAC and was surprised at the level of detail coming from Quboz. Again, detailed and warm is the best way to describe its performance. The 30n has two filter options you can use. To me, filter one offers a very detailed sound with mid- range a bit muted. Filter 2 did not lose any detail but sounded richer as the mids opened up. I did play around a little with the HEOS app. Seemed to work well but is a limited version of Blue Sound. Not sure I will use it. Thanks to my advisor Tom for helping me through the decision making process
Pros: Outstanding sound Build quality is tank-like Great features and DAC seems to be outstanding.
Cons: Discs take sound time to load
12 of 12 found this helpful
Marantz SACD 30n
Brian from Cincinnati, OH on 5/5/2022
9 of 13 found this helpful
Marantz SACD 30n
Terence from Smithfield, UT on 3/4/2022
Pluses: excellent aesthetics, apparent quality in manufacture, and critically, impressively clean CD outputs to amp and headphones, my primary reasons for an expensive purchase. Negatives: narrow angle of usefulness for both the minimal display and outdated remote. Crude operations for data entry through the latter are made worse by errors in the badly written and/or translated manual. Thank you to Crutchfield's excellent tech assistance even to get my network connected. Marantz should create a phone App for more convenient display of play status and function control.
Pros:
Cons:
18 of 22 found this helpful
5 stars
Gustavo from Guaynabo, PR on 2/7/2022
Bang for buck Highly recommend
Pros: Beautiful in silver. Sturdy remote
Cons: None at this price
13 of 20 found this helpful
Marantz Knocks it Out of the Park
Crutchfield customer from Soddy Daisy, TN on 1/4/2022
This unit was a move-up from my Arcam CDS50. It exceeds my expectations in every way - build quality is outstanding, the MMM is not marketing but a serious DAC, the connectivity makes it a true digital center of my system. Bonus - HEOS is very useable as a streaming app, replacing my Bluesound Node 2i. Well worth the money, easy to use, striking ti look at. I love it in every way, and so far have found no flaws in it.
Pros:
Cons:
15 of 15 found this helpful
Marantz SACD 30n - Fantastic
Billy from PHILADELPHIA, PA on 12/26/2021
An excellent piece of equipment, I'm very happy with it (upgraded from an Arcam CD player). SACD's sound incredible and I'm hearing new life from my CD collection. This is the first time I ever streamed music but got myself a Tidal account and was very happy with the 30N's streaming capabilities. And the unit is build like a tank. As always, Crutchfield delivered a fantastic customer experience. A few small complaints about this product would be that you have to go online for the full owners manual and I found it a bit difficult setting up the streaming side of things but those are minor issues. I highly recommend the SACD 30N. I'm using it with an McIntosh MA 5300 Integrated Amp and Dynaudio Special 40 speakers.
Pros:
Cons:
15 of 15 found this helpful
Beautifully organic sound
Craig from Indianapolis, IN on 12/23/2021
This is an amazing disc player. In my system it elevates most CDs to near SACD quality, and SACDs are magnificent. This replaced a Marantz SA8005 in the system, and it's an easily heard improvement. They both share the company's warm sound signature, but this restores detail I felt the older model masked. The best way I can describe the 30n's sound is smooth, organic, warmly enveloping without feeling like highs were rolled off. If you're looking for a hyper-detailed clinical presentation, you'll be disappointed. If you're after music, you'll love it. And to the reviewer who said it doesn't display disc info, that depends on the disc. I have SACDs that display artist name, album name and track name. Standard Redbook CDs may not. The 4 stars are the result of the hobbling of DSD data, forcing you to use the machine's DAC for SACD playback. Digital out only works for CDs and the Redbook layer of hybrid discs. This isn't anything new, but prospective purchasers should know about it.
Pros: Fluid, organic warmth
Cons: The usual inability to output raw DSD data files to an external DAC (a licensing choice by the company).
27 of 33 found this helpful
One of the best network steamers and disk olayers on tbe market.
Crutchfield customer from Manteca, CA on 11/4/2021
This is a audiophile grade, industry leading disk player/SACD/network streamer that is competitive with players triple it's price. Everything, including basic CDs and even *low bitrate* streams and files sound better than ever before. We've connected our SACD 30n to the paired marantz series 30 hfi amp and the result is mesmerizing, beautiful audio playback from any source. This is what they call a very "musical" device! The only criticism we have right now is the lack of MQA. However Marantz confirms they are working on adding it.
Pros: Warms, clarifies, brightens every source we play through it, making it a new experience to listen to all our disks, files, and existing streaming accounts.
Cons: For us, only the lack of MQA matters. I've got confirmation from Marantz / Sound United that they are working on adding MQA, so this is good. We don't care about surround sound and would have bought a surround amp or disk player if we wanted that. We note some critics talk about lack of surround, but this isn't a surround device.
24 of 28 found this helpful
Good performance snd
Crutchfield customer from Walnut Creek, CA on 8/1/2021
Solid performance Good value Smooth sounding Well made.
Pros:
Cons:
2 of 7 found this helpful
Great piece of equipment
David from ELKTON, VA on 7/16/2021
This SACD & DAC is phenomenol. I was able to stream all my master recordings from Tidal to the Marantz in the Heos app. Setup was fairly simple as well I wanted to take advantage of the DAC in so ran the cabled from the fixed analog out and I was hearing instruments i hadnt heard in some these classic tracks. Only downside was I was not a fan of the HEOS app it was very clunky and constantly crashed on my iphone
Pros: Easy setup and sound quality was awesome
Cons: Heos app is clunky and crashes on iphone
9 of 10 found this helpful
1 best dacs but no mqa or xlr
joe from easley on 7/13/2021
one best dac players out there. down side is no mqa an xlr
Pros:
Cons:
9 of 13 found this helpful
Marantz SACD 30n
Crutchfield customer from Pearl River, LA on 7/4/2021
This was purchased with the M30. It does everything I need it to while delivering the warm, deep detailed Marantz sound.
Pros: Enough connections for what I need. Great sound. Great looks.
Cons: None as of yet.
6 of 6 found this helpful
Versatile digital source
Eric from CHARLOTTESVLE, VA on 6/30/2021
This was my choice of player for my first in-home experience with SACD, and it sounded amazing. It's really solidly built, and I love that it incorporates high-res streaming options. It acts as a kind of do-it-all digital source.
Pros:
Cons:
7 of 8 found this helpful
Marantz SACD 30n
ENRIQUE from CAYEY, PR on 6/10/2021
Wow!!! The only reason I gave 4 stars it's because when you play a CD it won't show any info (title, artist, etc), only track times, for this price range Marantz should've included it. Hopefuly they can take care of it with some update soon. Anyways love the MACHINE!!
Pros: Looks great, not as hard to setup as I thought
Cons: No CD info!!
15 of 20 found this helpful
WOW !
PTG from Detroit, MI on 4/28/2021
I've had this unit for about 3 months now. It is an incredible unit that does so much with digital music sources, both local, networked and in cloud based. Music sources, both PCM and DSD in a USB / NAS, wi-fi streaming (casting), bluetooth as well as CD and SACD's. UPnP / DLNA protocols are also supported . In short, it is a Swiss Army Knife of all things Digital Audio. HEOS, the app, can be improved though as its search functions is so weak. This is one of the few devices that support Amazon Music HD natively, within the HEOS app so with an Amazon Music HD subscription, you can get the highest resolution music available from Amazon Music HD.
Pros: Sounds amazing ! One of very few devices that support Amazon Music HD within its app !
Cons: Bluetooth 5.0 with LDAC support missing
10 of 12 found this helpful
Marantz SACD 30n
Crutchfield customer from New York, NY on 4/25/2021
I bought this to replace a temperamental Esoteric SA-10 that had many drawer issues although is sounded great. When it started not reading regular discs I had enough. I love this Marantz. The sound is beautiful; the internet radio is great. Best decision I ever made. The only minus is that the stylish remote is a little hard to read but I'll get used to it. Buy it. You'll love it
Pros:
Cons:
11 of 15 found this helpful
Marantz SACD 30n
Crutchfield customer from Shelbyville, IL on 4/4/2021
This is an excellent piece of equipment. It plays audio dvds and that is hard to find on a high end player. It also plays hd radio and the sound you get is top shelf. Very pleased with my purchase.
Pros:
Cons:
13 of 16 found this helpful
Fantastic player
Crutchfield customer from Eagan, MN on 3/30/2021
This player supports everything I need (and even more) - it plays music from the NAS, USB, CD/SACD, Tidal, Spotify etc. The sound is crystal clear and way better than my old player with Schiit Modi 3 DAC. The MMM DAC is very unique it works perfect but some audio players (like Linux-based Daphile) don't allow to use the direct DSD playback, but this is a problem of Linux drivers, there is no problem like this in Windows. I like how HEOS works. It is very convenient with one drawback - it does not allow to set up a sort order of music in the directory (uses alphabetical order).
Pros: A universal player with a huge number of inputs. Sounds perfectly clear. Perfectly pairs with Model 30 amplifier.
Cons: HEOS does not allow to change the default sort order of songs in the directory.
12 of 13 found this helpful
