Listening
I’m starting off with a CD. The tray opens lightning fast and also the reading of the disc goes faster than what I’m used to. The sound is less typical Marantz than you’d expect. The warm base, typical for Marantz, is less pronounced here. The 503 sounds more like a typical hifi receiver, and that can be considered as a compliment. The sound is sufficiently detailed and everything seems very well controlled. This control remains nicely when the volume is increased. Not only reading a disc goes fast. After plugging in a USB-stick while listening to the radio, it took less than 5 seconds to automatically play the first notes of music on the stick. This is very fast.
The one feature I’m less enthusiastic about is the tuner part. Not functionality wise, but the FM reception was only average. The antenna was not a very high quality one. It’s probably possible to get better reception when using a higher quality antenna. When connecting to the cable signal, the reception is perfect. Very convenient to incorporate this connection. There is no bass boost or ‘loudness’ available, a thing I appreciate. It does offer a high/low tone control, and this by a large extent. Another reason the tone control is more than sufficient.
Conclusion
You can get the device for less than 500€. It does not come with speakers included, which is a good thing. This requires you to look for accompanying speakers. Please do not connect it to some old pair you found in the attic. Select decent quality speakers and you turn this mini into a real mini hifi.
Set
Marantz M-CR-503
Speakers: Focal Profile 908 / Energy 3.1e
