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Of course, Marantz makes great stuff. side by side, without knowing which one was playing, doubt you would hear anything different. But then that's just me, my ears ain't up to an "experienced" listener level, as some analog lovers that review stuff can hear things beyond mortl abiltys. I use a few different SACD/CD players, if you didn't know which one was playing you'd have no idea. Whatever subtle minusia that is different, is undetecable, unless you can switch back and forth with exact same levels, and with no notice of which is which...besides, which one then is the better one, if you do detect the most miniscule differences. I can't but then my system may not be as revealing since I don't use magic fuses or cables. Neither did teh studio who recorded teh material originally. Marantz also has a longer warranty than many others. That matters. Anything can fail, the 3 years is priced in there, get teh Marantz.
I have a Marantz CD-67SEII CD player, and I use an inexpensive Sony DVD player (DVD-NS755V) for 2-channel SACD playback. I can definitely hear the difference between them on Redbook CD's. It's an obvious difference (I am not a Golden Ears type). It would be nice to have one player that did a good job on both CD's and SACD's. My home theater system has a Denon 3910 player, and it easily bests the Sony on SACD's. I'd get another one of them for the 2-channel system, except that it's been discontinued and the Marantz costs a good deal less than I'd pay for the Denon model that replaced mine.
I have not rec'd my copy yet. Does the reviewer mention any burn-in time for the Marantz?
No, there's nothing in the review about burn-in.
No mention about burn-in, but he apparently had the unit under audition for quite a long time and no doubt flushed out the post burn-in sonics.
I'm still using a Marantz 67SE and was considering either keeping it as a transport and getting a Benchmark DAC or going for the new Marantz 8001. The review didn't do much to lean me in one direction or another. Apparently, they both do what they do-do-do really well.
The reviewer doesn't mention burn-in, but I can give you my experience. Out of the box, the Marantz sounded awfully bright, crispy and analytical. I left it playing on "repeat" for a few days and it was much improved. Now it sounds great. I'm sure it wasn't my ears doing most of the "burning in" because I wasn't listening to the thing most of the time that it was running.
I had a very similar experience, by the way, with my Creek SE5350 integrated amp.
I liked the review about this unit (which I own), especially the Princess and the Pea metaphor for audiophiles.
I was hoping, though, that the reviewer would compare the SA8001 to the Rega Apollo, which is one of the main competitors at that price.
He did compare if to the Benchmark, which I had in my system for a month or so awhile back after borrowing it from a friend. Based on memory, it did seem to be of similar quality to the SA8001, although the headphone output seemed better with the Benchmark. Both blow away my five-year-old Rotel RCD-951 which I've now given away to a friend.
The Apollo doesn't play anything other than Redbook CD. Obviously.
If you want to put together a cake, you need a mixer not a food processor.
Particularly when taken together the three reviews made the case for the superiority of well made SCAD's over similarly well made CD's. What the reviews did not approach was the industry's lack of desire to actively promote SACD or DVD- A. If I could find the music I wanted on SACD, I would still have a decent hi-rez player. I can't and, at presnt, I don't. That may change as apparently no one is interested in buying even pre-owned SACD players at a reasonable price. SACD is, as far as I can see, an all but dead issue outside of a few audiophile labels. I read about some very nice food processors but I need to bake a cake.
What was the Marantz player in the review????
I have been looking at the sa-11s1 and sa-07s1
Cheers,
Jim Austin reviewed the Marantz SA8001.
I'm a little behind in my reading, so I just now read the review. I thought it was an outstanding review, at least as far as being a good read. I thought for a moment there Jim was going to renounce his audiophile faith! And more power to him for leaning that direction. The audiophile community needs regular reality checks, and to me that is what Jim Austin must have experienced lately. I'm glad he wrote honestly about it. Now I KNOW I can trust his reviews!
I don't beleive Austin ever had an "audiophile faith" to renounce... nor do I think he will ever develop one.
I have a question on the associated equipment used on this review. I am wondering if a reliable conclusion that the 3 players (SA8001, SA15S1, Benchmark DAC1) are nearly indistinguishable can really be drawn using this level of associated equipment. Are they revealing enough to expose the differences? I am not familiar with all the associated equipment, so this is really a question. Do you think the level of associated equipment is appropriate?