New Reference Gear?

[jeffkrag]

Originally Posted by bobschneider

Music Direct now has the new 11 series integrated amp and SACD player on its website, in black (but not gold). I read somewhere that the network player (the piece I'm interested in) has been delayed until after the first of the year, so Marantz can get a better idea of what the market wants.

I hadn't heard about the AV preamp before.

There have been rumors for several months about an "8000 series" version of the highly regarded av7005 (now 7007?) pre/pro. Possibly called an av8007, it hopefully has a much better analog section as well as Audessey XT32, and might sell closer to 3k. This is all rumor right now, with no hard substantiation at this point. It would certainly fill a great void. Other than the Integra 80.3, there is nothing around this price point and beyond (until you hit the $12k Mac MX151 with Room Perfect) with the more sophisticated auto room correction/EQ, and the Integra is still not that great at analog passthrough. The old Marantz av8003 supposedly had a very nice analog preamp section, so there are big hopes for the 8007. Could be a killer unit for Marantz (although it might very well canabalize sales from the Mac MX121, which has the lesser grade Audessey XT system).

[tdelahanty]

Originally Posted by joeinid

It looks like something is coming because there is almost nothing in the reference section of the Marantz website.

Marantz US | Reference Series

As soon as I read your post I looked at Marantz's web site, I'll be very disappointed if the Ref seperates are discontinued.

[joeinid]

Originally Posted by tdelahanty

edit ... I'll be very disappointed if the Ref separates are discontinued.

+1

[tom1120s]

Originally Posted by tdelahanty

As soon as I read your post I looked at Marantz's web site, I'll be very disappointed if the Ref seperates are discontinued.

From what I read on another forum, the reference gear is discontinued. I have not heard about any replacements.

[bradleyc]

Don't believe everything you read on those other forums. A quick phone call to Marantz Sales this morning confirms there are no plans to discontinue the Reference Series, although they could use a new Webmaster.

[tdelahanty]

Originally Posted by tom1120s

From what I read on another forum, the reference gear is discontinued. I have not heard about any replacements.

If I remember correctly, the 11 (eleven) series pre-amp and power-amp are discontinued. The CDP and integrated-amp from that series will be retained. The top end stuff will remain also.

[tom1120s]

Originally Posted by bradleyc

Don't believe everything you read on those other forums. A quick phone call to Marantz Sales this morning confirms there are no plans to discontinue the Reference Series, although they could use a new Webmaster.

Well, I posed a question to a dealer about the reference gear as well as the NA-11S1 and this was the response:



Tom,

All of your reference components have been discontinued, and replacements are under way. There has not been any notification regarding the NA-11S1, but perhaps later/end of the year.

Prehaps he is wrong, although they certainly are not listed on the website.

[bradleyc]

My SA-11S3 is on it's way, black is beautiful!

Sent from my iPhone using A.Aficionado

[bradleyc]

Originally Posted by tom1120s

Well, I posed a question to a dealer about the reference gear as well as the NA-11S1 and this was the response:



Tom,

All of your reference components have been discontinued, and replacements are under way. There has not been any notification regarding the NA-11S1, but perhaps later/end of the year.


Prehaps he is wrong, although they certainly are not listed on the website.

Yes, models are changing, many discontinued but Reference Series itself is not being discontinued according to Marantz Sales dept.

[tom1120s]

Great! I would like to hear your impressions.

Also, if anyone is interested, I asked if he knew of any changes to the reference stuff. His response:

'Not a clue except that the player will have digital inputs for music servers/streamers and computers.'


By player, I wonder if he means the SACD player............