I've been hearing and reading all I can about this player during this last year. I have a 6005 right now and it's a nice player but not as good as my analog rig (10k) so it's not a fair comparison. Elizabeth mentioned that her SA-10 is better than her analog. I will be comparing the 2 SACD players side by side. I have at least 3 CD's in which I have duplicates. I'm fascinated about how the circuitry upsamples to DSD SACD. Well not exactly but somehow an improvement over Redbook CD. I have a 2" thick maple block coming in the same day for it. It's going to be a long weekend. I know it can't work miracles on all CD's. If there is jitter in the recording then supposedly you will never get that out. Speak up if I'm wrong about that.
for the update. Elizabeth is a strong resource for this player, as not many people, have auditioned/owned it. I look forward in reading more about this player as you massage into your system. I am trying to find a demo myself.
There is a guy on Audio Asylum in the Digital section who goes by the name of Toothpaste that owns one. From his threads, He is in love with it. I think this one may be a winner. Good luck with the new player. I love the thrill of the anticipation waiting for it to arrive, then the unboxing...…..
Thanks for your encouragement. I just wonder if this will be Marantz's last audiophile player like the path Sony took. I have close to 600 CDs and I'm not just going to let that investment gather dust. I thought about using the money and get a Bryston DAC and streamer but I felt the MQA issue hasn't been settled fully and when we get the 5G networks going and optical fiber to the home then the hi rez files won't have to be compressed.
I think you will need to break it in for a few weeks before you can judge anything. Actually a few months, but I'm trying not to dampen your enthusiasm.
@chayro Come on. You know, because you have been told so many times that there is no such thing as "break-in". Can you measure it? What objective data do you have to back up the "break-in" assertion? You must be as deluded as I am!😝
The 8005 sounded bad when I first played it but smoother out playing 24/7. The SA-10 is a refurbished unit so expect it a little broke in. It was a well known eBay seller with good feedback and I felt comfortable doing the purchase.
@blueranger - you definitely don’t need 5G or fiber to stream hires music in your home. Even streaming DSD doesn’t require more than WiFi “N” or “AC” if your network is operating properly. I have tested streaming DSD 128 files to a Lumin U1 and a PS Audio Directstream DAC with Bridge II simultaneously without issue. Both the Lumin and the Direcstream were running on a WiFi to Ethernet Bridge at the time
You’re right - there is no such thing as break/burn-in. And bumblebees can’t fly. But while I do believe CD players take a few months to reach their potential, I can’t understand the fact that so many Esoteric owners say they take 500 hours of burn in. Exactly what is burning in, say after 100 hours? That one I could never figure out. I had an Esoteric X-05 for 6 months and I never liked it. Maybe I only had 490 hours on it when I sold it.
I think there is a breaking in to some degree. I believe that. I also believe if your system hasn't been played for a couple of weeks then your new equipment arrives and you turn on everything and it might not be as stabilized electrically. Then the break in effect will be exaggerated. I leave my equipment on 24/7. It makes a difference in the Bryston 14bsst. It idles at 150 watts but in the winter thats not a bad thing. I thought I'd made a mistake when I purchased the 8005. Very closed in soundstage. I dont know how much the refurbished SA-10 has been operated so I might not see ass much. Hey hifiman5. The 18x24x4 air dried maple is breaking in good under my 80 lb TT. I think the atoms are slowly being compressed.
@sfseay It all depends on your situation in terms of wifi strength and crowding on the bands. I live in downtown DC tons of interference here and the 2.4G band is super crowded I was getting dropouts streaming Flacs and Tidal. Switched to 5G and no problems at all streaming anything.
You would think for the amount of money they charge for the SA10 and the sister amp we could get the classic gold / champagne color. Limiting color selection to black is just poor marketing,
Hey you can get the champagne color. There is some on eBay from Japan. However after I looked into it decided it wasn't a good idea. The Japanese electric paradigm is 110 and the electronics there are made for that. We are on 120. The electronics would not be stable in our system or they could be damaged. I read its a small chance but a chance I don't want to take.
Many so called refurbished products are simply products that may have been returned for whatever reason, but cannot be sold as new. I would have no problem buying a factory-refurbished product as long as it came with a decent factory warranty.
It just came in today at 1. I got to sit down and listen while I had some time. I was floored when it played. It actually played analog like smoothness. Every note struck was the most profound note struck until the next one and then the next one with anticipation. It was an ear opening moment. It was like that classic SCI FI movie "The Man with X-ray eyes. When he could see things that he had never seen before and didn't even know was there. It was like digital on acid. Digital on steroids. Digital done right. All my bad memories of the mediocre meduim had been erasedI. I put in U2 Boy. It was a CD I had listened to last night on my SA 8005.(no slouch) and there is much more detail air and bass articulation and deepness. I put in tbe best of the THs and yes!! Everything was super smooth with detail. Its going to surpass my 10k vinyl rig. I remember Elizabeth said she rarely plays her vinyl rig. I also have a PS 1000 power regenerator tuned to 110 hz. My 18x15x2 maple block with heavy point brass feet came in today and along with a TOTL Pangea power cord. I wonder how much did these tweeks added to the total experience. Lets see I'm recovering from foot surgery and just had my oain meds refilled. That might have helped. Uuumm lets see, CDs are dirt cheap now at pawn shops and flea markets. And the best is yet to come after it has been broken in and I havent played an SACD yet. Anyway 6 stars for thus Marantz.
I have the lowly (😃) Marantz SA-15S2b SACD player and concur with your findings. Better base, extension, clarity and whatever else you care to cite.
I primarily listen to CDs and the occasional SACD and it can sound top notch, to my ears. It's all in the recording. All the lamentations and pearl clutching about all that can go wrong with those silver discs doesn't mean they will go wrong and when done right, they can sound so seductive and beguiling. 👍 Enjoy.
Glad it sounds so great but why such a big surprise when moving up from a ~$700 player to a ~$7,000 one! I expected - actually demanded, nothing less than excellent sound. Enjoy.
Sweet! blueranger take your time breaking it into your system. I am really looking forward to your thoughts, impressions on the SA-10. Additionally, it is nice to have a second spinner, the SA 8005, for a little shoot-out fun. Staying Tuned.
blueranger talk about the musical selections used to test the SA-10 as you massage this beauty into your system. Give it 200 hours then start comparing it to the 6005. Staying tuned...
Ibe been burning it in good, I have let my equipment idle and,cool down for a couple if hours to condition the solder joints at least once a day. The head phone section is amazing. I just wonder if my new amp and cables just haven't caught up yet. Especially the 8 ga kimber. On a side note, I wonder if anyone has bought something new and turned it on but couldn't listen during tbe break in and had to go on vacation or business for a week or two. Then they would notice a big change.
Excellent! bluerangera new cable or power cord can have that kind of effect (could not listen during the break-in) until it settles into one's system. You are fortunate to own the SA-10. Staying tuned...
Elizabeth, I don't see anyone else asking this question (surprisingly), so I will. Why would you buy such an amazing player, and decide to feed it a signal from a multi disc carousel player? I saw that you said that you are "saving" the transport in the S10, but from what? It should last for many years. I have been using a Pioneer PD S95 that I bought used here for well over 10 years and it still works perfectly. Have you A-B'd both ways to see what performance you might be missing by doing it this way?
I have been using a variety of rock music and dance (Madonna) to break it in. It still doesn't make a poorly mastered CD sound good. I just bought LZ HOTH double CD with bonus tracks andis very bright and very shrill. I used Shine ola and did a Bedini clarifier spin with a super black hole damper disc. Has anyone else noticed that a bad CD won't change much even on a good player. Now the Marantz does make a large proportion of my collection much more musical. I have found that many more records were mastered well than an equal amount of CDs
No I'm not insulted at all Elizibeth. I'm a perfectionist and but so impatient. With my old system if I listened at over 90 dbs for any length of time my ears would get fatigued especially with digital. In the last 3 weeks I bought a new amp, preamp, SACD player, new dedicated line, speaker cables and a new power cable to the player. Maybe I'm jumping the gun and not waiting long enough to break everything in. Now I can listen to a good recording for hours at near a 100 dbs with no ear fatigue. Another thing is a room problem right behind my chair. There are some great big windows. I know I broke a cardinal rule in room acoustic management but to mitigate that, I threw up some heavy damping curtains. Would that have totally blocked out the reflective affect of the glass? I do have 3 of the 4 corners of the room rigged with bass traps with 4 18x36 panels suspended off the walls and ceiling. (2 each). I do appreciate everyones input because I live way out in the country far from any large metro area and don't get to hear other people's systems to compare too. Audiogon is my main source of info and really value opinions here. So anyone in central NC come on down and I could drive to their place too. I will have to look at getting into a club. Oh it would be a major effort to switch walls with equipment but hey I could run some long speaker cables across the room. My stuff is on the long side of the 20X12X8 room. Thanks ,Mike
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