Marantz sa-1 stop playing

Add the Sa11S1 to the list of Marantz players that can't be repaired for bad lasers as well. After much back & forth between a Marantz authorized service center and Marantz's service department, all involved pronounced my Sa11S1 with laser problems to be unrepairable. Marantz had supposedly developed a replacement laser protocol with a different laser and a package of electronics parts replacements to allow the Sa11S1 to remain in service, but the repair center said the parts did not work. When I contacted Marantz and asked them about their supposed pledge to maintain repair parts in stock for five years after a product is purchased, Marantz's customer service couldn't do anything but mumble insincere sounding apologies. That experience left me very reluctant to invest large sums of money in any digital player in the future.

Zar, I agree, it is extremely disagreeable to contemplate trashing a good bit of $1k kit over the lack over a $50 part. Manufacturers are at the mercy of their laser suppliers and it is obvious that Marantz chose some troublesome lasers, judging from the numerous online comments about frequent replacements. In fairness, it's not just Marantz that suffers from this problem. I would definitely call Marantz's customer service and see what they've got too say. It has been at least six months since I went through my experience with a bad laser, maybe their engineering department has worked out a replacement package that works. (I also wondered if the repair facility I used was simply tired of working on my player- that was its third laser replacement- and claimed they couldn't successfully install the Marantz replacement parts.) As to the Ebay seller's claim of a "one fits all" replacement, I'd be dubious about that one. Marantz customer service can verify the part number needed and you can judge from that point.

Sabai, a transport or computer + dac is one workaround for the problem of a useless player one can't get repair parts for. I just have preferred the convenience and neater appearance of one box players. We can all see the writing on the wall though, time's a coming when the one box player's going to be a technological anachronism.