Marantz CD70 - CD Player

Marantz Built the CD 70 for the Discs You Already Own

Marantz has been building CD players since 1982. The CD 70 is the newest one, and it takes over from the CD6007 at the entry point of the range. It is a full-width component with a metal front panel and a real disc tray, built to do one job well.

On the back you get a pair of RCA line outputs, plus coaxial and optical digital outputs. On the front sits a USB-A port for high-resolution files on a flash drive, and a 6.3 mm headphone jack with its own volume knob and three gain settings.

Everything You Need to Hook It Up Ships in the Box

The CD 70 measures 17.4 inches wide, 13.8 deep and 4.3 tall, and it weighs 14.3 pounds. Marantz packs in a remote, two AAA batteries, an RCA audio cable, a remote connector cable and a detachable power cord.

Where Marantz Spent the Money Inside

A high-performance DAC sits at the center of the player, working alongside what Marantz calls its DAC Master Clock Design. The aim is tighter timing as the data on the disc becomes an analog signal your amplifier can use.

In the analog output and headphone stages, Marantz fits its own HDAM-SA2 modules in place of off-the-shelf op-amp chips. These are discrete circuit blocks the company has refined across its range for years.

Three Switches That Change What You Hear

Two digital filters give you a choice of impulse response, so you can match the player to your system and your music. The DIMMER button steps the display down four levels or shuts it off. A menu setting turns the digital outputs off when you are not using them.

What the Measurements Say About the Background

Marantz publishes a signal-to-noise ratio of 110 dB and 100 dB of dynamic range from a 16-bit disc. Harmonic distortion is 0.0016% and channel separation is 98 dB. Frequency response runs 2 Hz to 20 kHz at CD sampling rates. Quiet passages stay quiet.

The mechanical side matters too. A second metal plate stiffens the chassis, the feet are rigid, and copper hardware is placed through the unit. Separate rectifier circuits feed the analog and digital sections. The headphone amp delivers 163 mW into 32 ohms on high gain, and standby draw is 0.3 watts.

What Reviewers Are Saying

Andy Madden reviewed the CD 70 for What Hi-Fi? on July 28, 2026, giving it five stars for sound, features and build. He called it "undoubtedly the new go-to recommendation at this level."

Who Is This CD Player Best For?

• You still own a wall of CDs — a dedicated player with its own clock and analog stage gets more out of those discs than a DVD player or a laptop drive, so your collection earns its shelf space again.
• You are building a first real two-channel system — one RCA cable into any integrated amplifier and you are listening, with no app or account between you and the music.
• You listen on headphones late at night — a discrete headphone amp with three gain settings and a front volume knob drives easy earbuds and demanding 300-ohm cans, so you can skip a separate headphone amp.
• You keep hi-res files on a thumb drive — the front USB-A port plays FLAC, WAV and AIFF up to 24-bit/192 kHz, plus DSD, so your downloads play without a computer.
• You want the CD 70 to feed your system, not decode it — the digital section is output only, so a TV, streamer or laptop cannot route sound through it. Add one of our DACs and those sources get the same treatment your discs do.

How Does It Connect to Your System?

Run the included RCA cable from the LINE OUT jacks to any line-level input on your amplifier or receiver. Use the CD input if you have one, or any spare input if you do not. Then add the power cord and load a disc.

Prefer an outboard converter? Take the coaxial or optical output to your DAC instead. Marantz amplifier owners can add the supplied remote connector cable and set the rear switch to EXTERNAL, so one remote runs both boxes. Two cables, ten minutes, music.

Pairs Well With

A few things worth adding when you build around the CD 70:

• Integrated amplifiers — the partner the CD 70 was designed for, with a line input ready to go.
• Interconnect cables — a better RCA run than the one in the box, in the length your rack needs.
• Headphones — the front jack and its gain settings deserve better than the pair that came with your phone.
• Audio racks — a solid, level shelf keeps footfall and speaker energy away from the disc mechanism.

Frequently Asked Questions

What comes in the box with the Marantz CD 70?

You get the player, the RC006PMCD remote with two AAA batteries, an RCA audio cable, a remote connector cable and a detachable power cord. A quick start guide and safety instructions are included as well.

Which discs does the CD 70 play?

It plays standard CDs, plus finalized CD-R and CD-RW discs, including data discs burned with MP3 or WMA files. This is a Red Book CD player, so SACD owners will want a dedicated SACD machine.

What files will the USB port play?

FLAC, WAV and AIFF up to 192 kHz, Apple Lossless up to 96 kHz, DSD at 2.8 and 5.6 MHz, plus MP3, WMA and AAC. Use a flash drive formatted to FAT16 or FAT32.

Can I listen through headphones?

Yes. The 6.3 mm jack on the front panel has its own volume knob, and the menu offers low, mid and high gain so you can match the output to your headphones.

Is the CD 70 hard to set up?

Setup takes minutes, with no tools and no software. Connect one stereo cable to your amplifier, plug in the power cord and press play. The settings menu is there when you want to explore the filters.

Does it work with a Marantz amplifier?

It does. Link the two with the supplied remote connector cable, set the rear switch to EXTERNAL, and Power On Sync turns the amplifier on and selects its CD input whenever you start the player.

See It in Action

John at Peter Tyson takes a first look at the CD 70 and the MODEL 70 that replace the 6007 series:

GearBrain walks the features and the sound of both new components:

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Learn More

Want to learn more about CD players, digital filters, or matching a source to your amplifier? Visit our Learning Center for guides, tips, and expert advice.