Marantz NA7004

[Pio]

Wanted to share, I have been listening to the NA7004 for a few hours now and I gotta tell you, I LOVE this piece!! I've had it for over a month now and it is wonderful!

This coming from someone who is a vinyl fanatic. The experience is totally different from the glorious ritual of cleaning the needle, placing the disc on the turntable, clamping it down, etc.

Airplay (wireless streaming / free upgrade) is awesome and not only for Apple products, you can stream radio.com, iHeart Radio, Tune In, etc. Walking into the room and being able to connect my iPhone and just listen is extremely convenient and way cool!

Via Airplay, I've been going through my iTunes library - revisiting songs that I don't pay too much attention to because they are 128 Mp3s. Of course they don't sound as good as the lossless files, but totally listenable through the 7004.

Listening to songs I hadn't heard in years was soo refreshing! Have you ever heard of salsa greats like Gran Combo, Grupo Niche or Frankie Ruiz? Well, I was jamming and my wife came downstairs to dance!! Ahh yea! What music is all about!!

The 7004 can also be used as an outboard DAC. Using my Wadia and iPod classic, switching back and forth between it and my Benchmark DAC (both are 192/24 and USB 96/24). Both are excellent! The Marantz sounds warmer and richer than the Benchmark which is pretty ruthless and transparent.
Even though I do think the Benchmark is better, I could be totally happy with the Marantz! I believe it uses the same DAC as the Pearl Lite gear which isn't too shabby.

Ditto for tunes I've downloaded from HD Tracks via my Macbook pro through the USB. The NA7004 has modernized my 2 channel set up!!