[Crumhorn]

I know that the people on this forum probably have a built-in preference, but I'll ask anyway:

My Esoteric SACD player died catastrophically, & my turntable was already out of commission, so at the moment I have no way to play music. Unfortunately, this is bad timing for me to make a big expenditure on anything. The only candidates I've come up with in my current price range are the Marantz SA-KI Ruby or the replacement for the Luxman D-05U, which probably won't be available until September at the earliest.

Obviously, no one has yet heard the D-05U replacement, but has anyone heard both the D-05U & the Marantz SA-KI Ruby? If so, how would you compare them? If I opt for the Luxman, it would mean 3 months with no music for me, so it would need to be significantly better for me to wait. What do you think? Or any other alternatives? (The Ayon CD 10 II no longer supports SACD.)


SOTA Cosmos TT (vacuum, Electronic Flywheel), SME V, Koetsu Rosewood Signature
Esoteric X-05 SACD player, Alesis ML-9600 mastering CD burner, Nakamichi 700 ZXE Cassette Deck
Pass Labs XP-15 phono stage
Pass Labs XP-30 (SS) & Hovland HP-100 (tube) preamps
Edge G8+ laser-biased monoblocks & Classé M-700 monoblocks
Rockport Atria & Infinity IRS Beta Speakers
Audience AU24 SX Phono cable, MIT Shotgun ICs, Shunyata Alpha SCs
Revelation Audio Labs 'Passage' CryoSilver Reference DualConduit DB-25 umbilical cables for Pass XP-30
Shunyata Denali 6000T power conditioner (on BBA platform), Shunyata Alpha NR, Delta NR, & Venom HC PCs. Also PS8 & 2 Venom Defenders.
Audio Magic Ultimate SHD Bees Wax Fuse, Synergistic Research Blue & Black fuses, Hi-Fi Tuning fuses
Klaudio LP200 ultrasonic RCM