Marantz Melody Stream (M-CR510)

Rating: ★★★★★ / ★★★★★ (5 out of 5)

For:
Easy to use
Powerful amplifier
Detailed
Lots of connectivy options

Against:
Bluetooth missing

Marantz Melody Stream comes in 2 different finishes, one with black and a white front and one in all black. I think the older M-CR503 is a slicker looking unit with its classic Marantz finish, which they seem to have left out on these Melody Series models.

M-CR510 comes packed with Internet Radio, AirPlay, DLNA, USB input, Optical input, Spotify and a amplifier rated at 2x60watt.

Wireless setup
The wireless setup of the unit was rather easy, I just connected my iPhone to the front USB and it all by it self setup the wireless, by grapping the settings from the iPhone. Easy and neat! If you don't have an iPhone you can easily set it up manually.

When I was done with the setup, I quickly moved on and installed the Marantz Hi-Fi App, which can control the unit, volume, input settings, search on spotify, Internet Radio and several other things.

But what about the sound quality?

We've hooked up some Dali Zensor 5 speakers to this little unit, which it handled without any problems. Hooked it up with FLAC via DLNA with some Rammstein. The M-CR510 sounds quite detailed, with good punch in the bass and sounded like a lot bigger amplifier than the size indicated. As a typical Marantz unit, this is a little laidback and varm in the sound, and you won't find any harsh sounding in this little unit.

I must admit I'm quite fond about this little M-CR510. It is affordable with a prictag around 399€. The only thing I've been missing is bluetooth streaming, and maybe Spotify connect (instead of Marantz's own build-in Spotify).

My highest recommendation to the Marantz M-CR510.