u/Dinamitel

I can't post to r/Marantz, so I'll ask this here.

I bought a brand new Marantz CD6007 a few months ago (my first proper hi-fi/premium setup) here in Germany, and pretty quickly, I noticed that it sometimes “skips” CDs. By “skip”, I don’t mean it jumps forward in the track - it’s more like the sound cuts out for a brief moment, almost as if somebody muted or turned off the speakers (Q Acoustics M20) for half a second.

At first, I thought it only happened with used CDs, even though most of them were bought in very good condition. Since I didn’t really want to get into cleaning discs all the time, I started buying brand new CDs instead - but the issue still happens, although not with every CD. Weirdly, I have a feeling it happens more often with certain bands.

I know this probably sounds bizarre, but I had a very similar experience with vinyl and certain bands - especially The Strokes. Almost every Strokes vinyl I bought (on an Audio-Technica AT-LP60XUSB) had some kind of defect in exactly the same spot on the record. I exchanged some albums multiple times, both through Amazon and Rough Trade, including different pressings (black and coloured vinyl), and the defect was always in the same place. Really strange. And now I’m noticing similar issues with several of their CDs, too.

But, it’s not only The Strokes.

At first I suspected the Marantz only did this at higher volumes, but later I realised that volume doesn’t seem to matter.

I asked ChatGPT about it after it happened a few times, and it suggested that it was probably caused by micro-damage or dirt on used CDs, recommending cleaning them with a microfibre cloth. I tried that, and it didn’t really help - and, as I said, it also happens with some brand new discs.

So now I’m wondering:

• is something wrong with the Marantz CD6007?
• could this be a laser/reading issue?
• could it somehow be related to the speakers or cables instead?
• or am I just incredibly unlucky with physical media?

Has anyone experienced something similar or has any suggestions?