Marantz SA-10 arriving Monday!

Thank you jayctoy,

That's encouraging, the burning time I had was about 24 hours on red book CD side and 24 hours on the SACD side.  I had an SA 11S3 that was a very sweet sounding player that played all my CD's very nicely.   But it just wasn't engaging one dimensional as opposing to three dimensional.  So I ended up playing vinyl 95% of the time.  A third of my collection is CDs and that's why I wanted to get the SA 10.  I'm hoping the SA-10 is as sweet as the SA 11s3.  But with more three-dimensional characteristics.  After the SA-10 is broken in is that what you're experiencing?  My system is a BAT VK preamp with a Macintoch MC152 Amp and Tara lab speaker cables with audio quest Ruby interconnects.

cmach, Hope you work it out with your SA-10.  I know how draining that can be.  I'm dealing with my Denon DP 72L which is a cherished table to me and it's starting to die on me.

Has there been any internal changes to the Marantz SA-10 sound since it first launched in 2016 to now 2024? Anyone have any experience with refurbished SA 10 units?
My local dealer says a refurbished one is better because they've gone through the unit twice and don't wanna see it back again.
But refurbished SA 10 only has a one year warranty, so not sure about that?

@jayctoy, Thanks for your input on the SA 10 but I burn in the unit for about 50 hours and played CDs I know play clearly.   On the SA 10 and then on an HHB 850 burner I have.  The HHB is not as refined as the SA-10 but was listenable and smoother then the 10.  You get disillusioned when a $700 burner you can listen to as opposed to an SA-10 that was still fatiguing.  Talked to a local Marantz dealer two people from that dealer and they both agreed there's something wrong with the unit or it should at least be checked out.  Because out of the box the SA-10 should sound smooth.  Maybe thin or tight which is fine before broken in.  But the highs should be smooth.

@jayctoy I have owned Cary equipment preamps before.

I looked up your manual on the Cary SLP 05, via balanced it says that pin 2 is hot.

If that's the case chances are it's the same as the European settings that the SA-10 comes with by default.  So if you have your SA-10 in default which is European standard you're fine.  But if you have any questions call Cary Audio.  They're very nice people and they'll help you out with it.

I’m reading that the SA-10 is as good as the Esoteric? Which is not good! From what I understand the Esoteric is cold clinical sounding. I’ve also read the SA-10 being closely compared with Ayre CD players. I know Ayre makes smooth equipment but it’s VERY BRIGHT! When I bought this Marantz SA-10 that’s not what i was looking for. I’m looking for the opposite.

I’m not a Detailed Hound. Detail is one part of music it is not all of music. I’m not sure if it’s because of lack of hearing highs or what? My hearing unfortunately is impeccable. So I’m wondering if the SA-10 is gonna be unforgiving with lesser CD recordings of red book and show flaws as opposing to rolling them off as the SA-11s3 did. The SA-11s3 was a very nice player! But I really wasn’t happy with it because it was flat, meaning one dimensional. It had the bass the richness and everything, very smooth but it wasn’t engaging.

That’s what I was helping the SA-10 would be. A warm three-dimensional sound, Like Vinyl. Now I don’t know. I am wondering if the unit I sent back was flawed because I talked to a dealer and they stated right out of the box it should be smooth but tight maybe bright, so you have to burn it in somewhat which is understandable.

But when my $700 HHB 850 burner is listenable compared to the SA-10 which is not, that’s pretty depressing. Even after 50 hours of burn-in time. Detail to me is a nasty word. I prefer separation, that has no reference towards brightness. Beautiful smooth rich separation is what I was looking for in the SA-10.

Am I wrong?

Is the SA -10 warm sounding or more center cold sounding?

Either way the SA-10 I had was not smooth.