Breakin of Marantz SA8260 SACD player

I bought mine used, so I can't comment on break-in, but for what it's worth, I have tried leaving the Marantz on for a week straight, and have tried listening to it stone cold, and can personally hear no difference whatsoever. I do leave my amp on all the time, however, and do hear a difference between continuously on and "just-turned on". This may be why I don't hear a difference in the player, as I personally have found amps to sound better when left on, as opposed to CD players. I'm sure it depends on the player and your system. You'll probably get lots of opinions from both camps, so just judge by your own ears. As for the sound of the Marantz, I can only compare it to what I've had in my modest setup. To me, it was more refined, detailed and spacious than a Rotel 991, Denon 1650, and a few $1500 DVD/CD players. It also had better resolution than a Music Hall CD25 and a Rega Planet 2000. The soundstage is very wide and it sounds very balanced throughout the frequency spectrum. A few of the DVD/CD players had more apparent bass weight, but the Marantz bass is very articulate and blends well with the midrage and treble. It's possible that the Marantz bass is more accurate of what's on the disc. It's certainly not a lean player in my system. I heard little difference when using it as a transport verses the other machines. I agree that the review in Stereophile is not really a review, but I do agree with the statement that it really does a nice job with redbook. A lot of SACD players sound good on SACD, but the Marantz was a significant improvement over my previous player on redbook. I've been playing discs that I had written off as unlistenable a while ago, and they are tolerable now. The downside is that it can be a very slow disc reader, and there are tons of them out there, so there's no uniqueness to owning one (if that's important to your ownership pride). I'm sure there's better out there, but for the money, I couldn't be happier.

Audphile1 - I only ask this out of genuine curiousity becasue it doesn't look like you presently own this unit. Have you owned the Marantz in the past or demoed it against other players to come to the conclusion that there is better for the money? Can you list a few of the players or player/DA combos that you found were better than the Marantz, and in what ways you've found them to be superior? Also, are you referring to used players that cost $1000 or players that were $1000 new, and are being sold in the $600 range, like the Marantz's current value. I would be curious to try some of your winners in my own system to see how they stack up. Thanks.

Audphile1 - Thanks. That was what I was looking for. Your initial response did not upset me in any way whatsoever. Maybe since I asked so many questions right in a row, it may have sounded like I was upset. Not the case at all. I actually owned a Denon 1650, demoed a Music Hall CD25 and a friend of mine had a Planet 2000, so I did some comparisons after I purchased the Marantz. I had heard the Marantz DV 8400 before in a different system, so I took a leap of faith that the 8260 would be at least as good, given that it is audio only and shared some critical parts and design. I also tried a few DVD players as transports, a Pioneer PD-65 as a spinner, as well as a DIP Upsampler, MSB Link III with P1000 power supply, and a Monarchy 20 Bit D/A (can't remember the model). I preferred the sound of the Marantz to all the other one-box players. The sound of the player D/A combos was very good, but not quite as smooth from top to bottom as the Marantz. The difference in sound between the 8260 and the one-box players was enough to make a choice easy. The difference between the 8260 and the D/A combos was subtle (except for the MSB, which I thought was grainy in the treble, but had excellent bass). Given the price and sound of the Marantz verses the extra rack space, cost of extra cables, etc., I decided on the Marantz. I have heard good things about the Bel Canto, and the S7700 has a reputation as a very good transport. I agree that the Marantz likes discs that are clean and scratch-free. One last question. What specifically did you prefer in the sound of the Bel Canto and Audio Mirror over the Marantz, and what speakers/amp/pre were you using? --ok that was technically two questions disguised as one. Cheers!