Marantz SA7S1. A good choice?

[Doug Lax]

AVS their ref stuff is really nice ! The complete ref system is really nice TAS liked those amps better than a lot of other high end gear

[tom1120s]

Originally Posted by avsBuddy

Well still, it's good price even for a demo. There is only one Marantz dealer in my area and he doesn't normally stock Marantz Ref stuff. Classe and Mac mostly. Still he commands sticker price for everything but the demo, where he discounts no more than 30%. I bought Classe gear from other dealer, also demo amps at close to half the price. But unlike small shop, it's a bigger chain hi-end store, and relationship there not the same.

I really like Marantz gear, I have their processor amp and love it. Always wanted to try their ref pieces, but never had a chance to get it. I actually was wondering how Marantz 9S2 would compare when I bought my Classe CA-M400s.

I am sure the Classe amps are great. I never had the chance to audition those. At some point, I would love to hear the McIntosh MC1.2 kw monoblocks...that would seem to be overkill for me but I think too much power is just right.

[Coppy]

Originally Posted by tom1120s

...at this time? (5/5/11) This player has been out for a while. I suspect the digital format has been improved upon over this time span. Thoughts?

I've had one almost since they came out three or so years ago. This unit was a bargin then as it is now. And, hard to get at first as it did perform so well for the price. I enjoy an extensive SACD collection and bought it for that reason. The reference level CD performance has been a wonderful bonus. My other most loved recordings are on Ref's HDCDs so i kept my Theta GEN5 HDCD equipped DAC in the system to play them. When I finally got around to A-B the SA7 vs. Theta I couldn't hear any improvement from the HDCD equipped DAC so I only need the one player. Maybe the SA7 decodes HDCD as well but there's no claim to do so. Must be the CD playback capability is just so good it doesn't need to. Good luck.

[vandenplass]

Before I purchased this cd player, I made a 2 days comparison between the Mark Levinson ($18,000.00) and the Moon Andromede ($14,000.00) Bothe the ML and Marantz had SACD feature not the Moon. With the red book cd's the soud was the same for the 3 contenders but with sacd'format, some disc sound a bit better on the Marantz and someones on the ML. So I bought the Marantz. My older cd player was the Nu Vista CD3 which I also made a comparison in the store. By the way , this store have the same gears I omned; Moon P8 and Moon W8, loudspeakers are Dynaudio Contour S5.4

[Coppy]

Smart move vandenplass... enjoy the music. You'll never look back. Especially for that money. One thing I recommend. Especially for SACDs... don't put the disk in and push the play button on the right directly. It can confuse the programing. Push the drawer return button first and then the play button. If it does get fowled up and won't respond; just turn it off to re-boot. Good listening!

[tdelahanty]

Are you guys using the stock powercord with your SA7S1 or an aftermarket pc ?

[tom1120s]

Originally Posted by Coppy

Smart move vandenplass... enjoy the music. You'll never look back. Especially for that money. One thing I recommend. Especially for SACDs... don't put the disk in and push the play button on the right directly. It can confuse the programing. Push the drawer return button first and then the play button. If it does get fowled up and won't respond; just turn it off to re-boot. Good listening!

Seriously???? Why would a reference piece need to "re-boot"? That does not seem right. Am I missing something?

"confuse the programming" ?

Why?

[tdelahanty]

I use mine primarily with red-book CD. It makes no difference which way I start play

[tom1120s]

Thoughts from you guys on this deal: trade the SA-KI Pearl plus $2300 for a new SA7S1.

I think it is a great deal since I paid $1600 for the Pearl and have used it for about 2 years.......

Gotta' get the wife on board.......

[Coppy]

In answer to all the questions...

I don't know why it sometimes confuses the programing... and neither does Marantz. Remember, I have one of the early units. Maybe it's fixed now. I have no problem as long as, when playing an SACD, I close the drawer and then push play.

Yes, IMHO trade your unit in... the SA7-S1 is a distinct improvement; that's why it cost's more. But, you'll need a good supporting system to hear the difference.

I use an after market power cord, MIT in this case, but with the Shunyata Hydra and cords to it from the wall along with clean power here (everything is underground in the community) I can't hear a difference. But, why not and maybe it helps keeps digital stuff out of my amps etc.

Enjoy the music!