Few names carry as much weight in high-end audio engineering as Rainer Finck. With a career spanning forty years at titans like Philips and Marantz, Finck has been at the forefront of digital and analogue audio innovation. We caught up with the audio guru to hear about the products he’s most proud to have helped create – a list that includes some of the most iconic hi-fi gear ever made.
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From pioneering digital conversion methods to shaping legendary CD players and even launching a turntable against the tide, Finck’s journey offers a fascinating look at how groundbreaking audio technology comes to life. Get ready to explore the stories behind some truly special components.
Early Days: The Philips Bitstream Revolution
Finck’s remarkable career began at Philips Semiconductors in the mid-1980s, a pivotal time when the Compact Disc (CD) was changing how we listened to music. His work there focused on Digital-to-Analogue Conversion (DAC), the crucial step where digital data becomes the analogue sound waves our speakers produce.
At the time, a popular method for converting digital sound used complex chips with 16 different resistors. While effective, this “multi-bit” approach could sometimes introduce subtle errors, leading to less-than-perfect sound quality, especially at very low volume levels.
Finck was part of the original Philips team that developed a revolutionary new method called “Bitstream Conversion.” Think of it as simplifying the digital information dramatically before converting it. Instead of a complex 16-bit code, the signal was turned into a super-fast stream of just 0s and 1s (a “one-bit” code), processed extensively (oversampled 256 times!), and then filtered to create the analogue sound.
This pioneering work was designed to compete with Philips’ own highly regarded “golden crown” TDA1541 DAC chip, which was found in famous players like the Marantz CD-7 and Cambridge Audio CD1. The Bitstream team succeeded, and their technique laid the groundwork for what we now know as DSD256 – a high-resolution digital audio format.
Finck notes that this project significantly changed the industry: “Since then, multi-bit DACs disappeared from the market and today about 90 per cent of the DACs are built ‘differential’ and use a hybrid of bitstream and other newer technologies.” This early success set the stage for a career defined by pushing boundaries.
Joining Marantz: Crafting Icons
After five years at Philips, Finck moved to Marantz, where he would spend the next three decades leaving an indelible mark on the brand’s most celebrated products, often working alongside the legendary Ken Ishiwata.
Marantz CD-7 (1998-2000)
Legendary Marantz CD-7 CD player on display
One of Finck’s first significant contributions at Marantz came from a challenge by Ken Ishiwata about the impact of digital filters on sound quality. Through extensive testing, they discovered that most digital filters had noticeable effects – some good, some bad.
Their experiments led to the development of the Linear Music Filter (LMF), a phase-corrected analogue filter that provided characteristics they found audibly superior. This technology first appeared in the Marantz CD-7.
The CD-7 itself is a piece of hi-fi history. It was Marantz’s final reference CD player built using the beloved Philips TDA1541 multi-bit chip before it was discontinued. Despite the trend towards single-bit conversion at the time, the CD-7 stuck with the tried-and-true TDA1541, elevated by careful implementation.
Finck reveals a “nice little secret” about the CD-7: its low-level performance was improved by running the DAC in a special “Class A mode,” a technique typically associated with amplifiers for purer sound. This attention to detail solidified the CD-7’s status. “For quite a number of people, the CD-7 was the best Marantz CD player. It is today a collector’s item,” Finck shares. It remains one of the most sought-after CD players among audiophiles.
Marantz TT-15 (2006 – Still in Production!)
Marantz TT-15 turntable with clear plinth on a wooden surface
Perhaps one of Finck’s most surprising proud moments is the Marantz TT-15 turntable. Why surprising? Because it was conceived and launched in 2006, long before the recent vinyl resurgence took off.
As managing director of Marantz Germany, Finck pushed for a turntable to join their high-end Reference line. “Imagine… it was two decades before today’s vinyl boom!” he recalls, adding that most colleagues thought he was “crazy” except for Ken Ishiwata.
To make it happen without huge investment, Marantz partnered with German turntable expert Clearaudio. Finck and Clearaudio owner Robert Suchy saw that, contrary to market forecasts predicting vinyl’s death, new albums were still being pressed, indicating a small but persistent market.
The collaboration resulted in the unique TT-15, a turntable that Finck says was distinct from Clearaudio’s usual designs – a true win-win. When shown at the High End Munich show, demand exploded globally. Astonishingly, over 18 years later, the Marantz TT-15 is still in production today, a testament to Finck’s foresight and the product’s quality.
Marantz SA-10 (2017-2024)
Marantz SA-10 SACD player as part of a hi-fi system
The Marantz SA-10 SACD/CD player arrived in 2017 to widespread acclaim, hailed as a top-tier digital source component. This product saw Finck tackle a new challenge posed by Ishiwata: “Can we do our own DAC?”
While managing another audio brand, Finck took this on as a side project. He developed tools to convert music files to DSD and experimented with digital filters and noise shaping. He found a clever way to convert the high-speed digital bitstream into analogue sound that matched the performance of expensive high-end converters.
This “simple trick” was patented and became the core of Marantz Musical Mastering (MMM) technology. MMM combined elements of earlier single-bit conversion with advanced new filtering and upconversion techniques.
The SA-10 was the first product to feature MMM, and its success cemented this technology as a key differentiator for Marantz digital players, appearing in subsequent models like the SA-KI Ruby and the current 30n SACD player/streamer. The SA-10’s legacy brought significant fame to Marantz’s digital playback. The SA-10 was recently succeeded by a new model in the 10 Series, but its impact remains.
Marantz KI Ruby (2019-2021)
Introduced to mark Ken Ishiwata’s 40th anniversary at Marantz, the SA-KI Ruby player and PM-KI Ruby amplifier drew on the brand’s flagship technologies. While the player featured the MMM technology pioneered in the SA-10, Finck focused significant effort on a special feature for the amplifier, knowing Ishiwata’s love for vinyl.
Finck developed a unique phono stage – the circuit that boosts the tiny signal from a turntable cartridge. What made it special? It was Marantz’s first discrete (built from individual components, not integrated chips) Moving Magnet (MM) phono stage designed without global feedback. Global feedback is a common technique to improve performance, but some audiophiles believe it can negatively impact sound quality. Removing it while maintaining excellent performance was a technical challenge Finck successfully met.
Marantz 6006 Series UK Edition (2020)
Marantz CD6006 UK Edition CD player close-up
Finally, Finck highlights a product at the more affordable end of the spectrum: the Marantz 6006 Series UK Edition amplifier and CD player. Born out of the need to adjust pricing in the UK market following currency fluctuations, these products required improving already award-winning designs under tight deadlines.
With Ken Ishiwata unavailable, Finck took on the challenge alone. He had just months to enhance the standard 6006 Series without adding significant cost, going beyond typical “Special Edition” tweaks.
For the amplifier, a “relatively simple modification” to the power amplification section improved its dynamic performance and stability. The CD player saw further reduction in noise in the analogue power supply and other minor tweaks to fine-tune the sound.
Finck emphasizes that the difficulty lies in balancing performance improvements with cost constraints on affordable products. The success of the 6006 UK Edition, proven by critical acclaim and strong sales, meant many of these refinements carried over into the subsequent, equally popular 6007 series. “It’s enjoyed and entertained by far the highest number of people and is, for sure, the most popular and well-known product in the UK,” Finck notes, making it a particularly rewarding project.
The Next Chapter: FinkTeam
After three decades with Marantz and Sound United, Finck’s chapter with the company closed. But his passion for audio design remains strong. Today, he works with FinkTeam, the speaker manufacturer founded by Karl-Heinz Fink, who received the What Hi-Fi? Outstanding Contribution Award in 2022.
Finck and Fink have collaborated casually over the years, but now their partnership can truly flourish. “We have now some interesting projects where I can work on electronics and he on speakers,” Finck says. “So it’s a perfect match and some fun before retirement!”
Rainer Finck’s career is a masterclass in audio engineering, marked by significant technological contributions and a hand in shaping many beloved hi-fi products. His journey from the dawn of digital audio to refining classic designs continues to inspire.
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