Marantz SA-11S1

Thanks for everyones help. I bought one that popped up yesterday on Agon. I am looking forward receiving it as I hear nothing but good things about the SA11.

I own a highly modified SA-11S1 (Apprx $4K in mods). It was already modded when I bought it, so I can't speak about the stock unit. However, I would agree with much of what Krisjan has written. I would charaterize the soundstaging as mid-hall, which is a plus to me. I actually sold a couple of more expensive CDP's too after I bought this one. I'm a vinyl fan first, and this CDP comes the closest to my $30K analog front end w/o investing a whole lot of money on digital. I don't think you could beat it for $1000. However, I have not heard the new $1500 Sony 5400ES that evryone is raving about.

I've had a Sa11S1 for a couple years now and really am very fond of it, a great player for the money. After experimenting with tweaking it, I've recently found that the Boston Audio Tuneblocks give a really remarkable upgrade to the performance. Krisjan's experience mirrors my impressions. As "mid-hall" or "upfront," I don't know. It seems a fairly neutral conduit that just lets through what ever the recording engineer's mike pattern was. As to negatives, sometimes it has a hard time getting direct access to a track deep in a disc with many tracks. Say if you want to access track 26 on an opera disc with 40 tracks, that sort of thing. I also like the fact that lacks the audio-autopsy hyped up detail that some players have.

Well, I've had the SA-11S2 player for a few years now. The S2 (as you probably know) shares a transport with the top-of-the-line SA-7S1 player so it is a step up from the 11S1. This player replaced a Cary 306 in my system at a big cost savings. The Marantz is splendid on both RBCD and SACD. Always musical, never harsh (unless the recording itself is harsh). It gets the upper harmonics of violins right. I'd classify the soundstage as mid-hall in general but this is more dependant on that actual recording than anything else. At the same time, I find it reproduces plenty of detail - what one would hear in the concert hall, not the hyper detail that "audiophiles" seem to crave. Hope that helps in your decision process. I can highly recommend the 11S2 (haven't heard the S1).

Could you please tell me how the soundstaging is? Is it upfront, middle row, or back row? What do you like about it the most and if there are any negatives what would they be. Thanks again :)

There was a great deal on one that was marked sold yesterday and the seller would never return my emails. Not sure if it was the offer system that Agon has implemented or what. Do NOT like the new system.

I've had one for about a year now and like it alot. Its built like a tank and has a great sound. I'm not planning on replacing it in the near future.

Great player- loved it in every respect. Sold it to a great guy who is loving it too.

I only sold it to move to a music server, which suits my lifestyle more right now.