This diminutive system may look simple but its wide-ranging capabilities make it a superb buy, says Andrew Everard

No apologies for the fact I’m featuring another Marantz streaming audio product just a couple of months after reviewing the NA7004 Network Music Player: the company is grabbing the computer-stored music concept with both hands and its range has no shortage of intriguing products.

Apart from the network “tuner” I looked at in the December 2010 issue, there are network-capable AV receivers, able to stream internet radio stations as well as music stored on home computers and networks, and the excellent little system we have here, an all-in-one CD/internet receiver, to which the buyer needs add nothing more than a pair of speakers.
The M-CR603 is a development of the rather impressive M-CR502, launched by Marantz into the highly competitive micro-systems market back in the summer of 2009. From that CD receiver, the range has expanded into what Marantz now calls its “Melody” range: there’s an updated M-CR503, otherwise known as the “Melody Music”, a multichannel version complete with built-in Blu-ray player, the M-ER803 “Melody Movie”, and the system we have here, the “Melody Media”.

All three share a slick style and an overall impression of quality, from the fit and finish of the panels to the operation of the controls. Fascias are simple, the units neat and compact, and clever touches abound, such as the extension of the casework gloss-finished lid to hide the connections to the rear of the unit.

That’s not new – it reminds me of Quad’s system components of recent years, which have a similar top-plate overhang for the same purpose – but it’s indicative of the attention to detail here. This is proper hi-fi made home-friendly, designed for those who want serious performance without the clutter of conventional hi-fi separates.

In fact, the M-CR603 is styled like a miniature version of the company’s Reference Series products, and that means the look and feel is rather more expensive than its £500 price-tag might suggest. Take into account the range of facilities available here, and that price begins to look even more of a bargain.

Not only does it have the usual CD playback, DAB/DAB+/FM/AM tuner and a 2x60W output, it also allows digital connection and control of an iPod via the front-panel USB socket. That removes the digital-to-analogue conversion duties from the circuitry within the portable Apple players.

It also has network capability via an Ethernet port on the rear: plugged into your home network, it will stream thousands of internet radio stations, allow you to access streaming services such as Napster or even access music stored on your home computer or network storage.

Furthermore, with the addition of a £40 upgrade – not quite ready at the time of writing this review but expected by the time you read it – the Marantz will also act as an AirPlay client for iPods, iPhones, iPads and computers running Apple’s iTunes 10. This enables it to act as a networked speaker system for the Apple device, which can stream music to the system over a home network.

You can also add a Bluetooth audio receiver module via the rear-panel M-Xport, allowing you to stream music from the likes of mobile phones and computers, and the system will also play music from USB memory devices via the socket on the front panel.

PERFORMANCE
As with the NA7004, the M-CR603 has no wireless network capability, so will either have to be used with a wireless adapter at a cost of perhaps £40 or so extra, or connected directly to a wired network using its Ethernet connection.

As I’ve mentioned before, I tend to favour a wired connection for music these days, for reasons of stability rather than sound quality, so for me this limitation is no hardship. However, if you only have a wireless home network, you will have to factor in that extra cost.

That aside, the M-CR603 is simple to set up and use, thanks to logical menus and a helpful instruction book, and I soon had it tuned in to radio stations both terrestrial and online – though for the former a good outdoor aerial will prove advantageous – and streaming music from a range of server devices on my network, including my usual NAS drives, a couple of laptops and Naim’s UnitiServe ripper/server.

What soon became clear is that, as well as being remarkable value for money, this system deserves to be used with pretty good speakers. Having tried it with several of the usual suspects in the £150-£300 arena, I finally settled on the PMC GB1 speakers (normally used on the rear channels of my surround system) for most of the testing.

That’s a pair of speakers selling for over £1500, yet the Marantz system proved more than capable of both driving them and making them sound rather special. A brief listen to the system with the smaller DB1s suggested these would also be a suitable pairing, and represent a useful saving, but it’s a tribute to the capabilities of the little Marantz system that it’s far from outclassed by speakers this good.

The presentation here is consistently fast, well-weighted and very open and detailed – in fact, very identifiably Marantz. The sound is above all extremely musical – one of those terms certain to get the “measurements are all” brigade wrinkling their noses, but here I use it to mean that the system gets out of the way of the music, allowing you to listen to the performance.

True, it’s revealing of low bit-rate content, be it internet streamed, on the home network or fed in via an iPod, but that’s to do with encoding limitations, not those of the system. With better content, however, this system can sound quite magnificent.

Combine that with a specification so comprehensive as to make most of the immediate competition look old‑fashioned, and you have a stylish, compact system that’s remarkable value for money, not to mention being extremely enjoyable to use.

Marantz M-CR603
Type Network music system
Price £500
Inputs USB, 3 analogue, optical digital
Outputs Speakers, one analogue, subwoofer, headphones
Other connections Ethernet
Disc compatibility CD, CD-R/RW, MP3, WMA
File types via network MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, FLAC, Real Audio
Tuner DAB/DAB+/FM RDS, 99 presets, plus internet radio
Output 60W per channel
Accessories supplied Remote handset, DAB aerial
Dimensions (WxHxD) 28x30.2x11.1cm
Made by Marantz, Japan
Distributed by D&M Audiovisual Ltd, 4-10 Donegall Square East, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT1 5HD
Telephone +44 (0)2890 279 830
www.marantz.com

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