I would say No. The Marantz SA-11 s.1 is a $3K machine for starters. More like $2300 street price if you shop it.
Why would you spend almost double for the SA-11 s.1 when it could never reach the pinnacle of the Marantz SA-1 or Esoteric X-01 Limited Edition players.
Still up to this day the best SACD/CD player is a stock Marantz SA-1 player. Be sure to use a good power cable and run in balance XLR for maximum results. The Marantz SA-1 was a $7500 player to begin with and sets the standard for playback production.
Currently the Top sounding SACD/CD players are the:
Marantz SA-1
Esoteric X-01 Limited Edition.
Too early to say which one is better yet. Because we recently started listening and comparing the new
Esoteric X-01 Limited Edition player. We know for sure that the stock Esoteric X-01 player sounded outdated when compared with the LE version. And the Marantz SA-1 still has it's special place on top . But again it's very critical to have a great power cable and XLR balanced cables with the Marantz SA-1.
Everything else is a distance behind. Do yourself a favor and try to find a stock Marantz SA-1 before they all end up in Asia.
To answer the initial quesstion again . I would say NO. |
lawyerman,
What power cable do you like on the SA-1? |
Baranyi I ended up with a BMI Piranha 24K power cable. |
Thank you lawyerman,
Unfortunately, my cj amps aren't balanced. |
would agree with lawyerman... |
Lawyerman wrote,
"Why would you spend almost double for the SA-11 s.1 when it could never reach the pinnacle of the Marantz SA-1 or Esoteric X-01 Limited Edition players."
With all due respect...How do you come to this conclusion?
Based off listening? IMHO, the SA-1 is simply different from the SA-11 in it's stock form. The SA-1 being overly warmish and tubey while the SA-11 offering better pace and resolution though a bit colder. Your pick depends on taste and system matching. Both players may be heavily modded to sound superb. After hearing both machines in stock and heavily modded form I feel your statements are absolutely wrong and misleading. Listen first then decide.
Best regards,
Kyle Takenaga |
Flye
We've done so much comparing over the past year. I am part of a large Audio Society up in Boston. That the conclusion is a Marantz SA-1 can never be matched by a Marantz SA-11 regardless of the secondary mods.
It's almost like saying your modified Chevrolet Camaro is going to be better than my Austin Martin V12 Vanquish -which I do own too. The Camaro is cut from a lower cloth to begin with.
Not taking anything from a Marantz SA-11 or the mod. but the SA-1 is in a much higher league of performance.
Again there is a reason why Marantz SA-1 was $7500 and very limited and not discounted. Verse the Marantz SA-11 $3500 and highly distributed and discounted to street price to about $2250 average. Marantz wanted to make there statement when introducing the SA-1 since Philips their parent company did C0-invent the technology with Sony. More or less the Marantz SA-1 was released to put the Sony SCD-1 to shame. If you looked insided a Sony SCD-1 there is nothing really special about it. Verse the Marantz SA-1 is like a work of art and best of the best in parts. |
Dear Lawyerman,
Again, soooooo wrong. What is it inside the SA-1 do you understand/feel is so superior electrically versus the sa-11 or even the SCD-1 for that matter? Again, I like both machines in modded form and possible even prefer the SA-1 thus I am not biased toward the SA-11. My whole point here is that the (modded) SA-11 kills the SA-1 (stock) hands down, without any questions...something your grandma will hear.
Some Points:
-Parts quality for both machines are very equal
-Dac chips: SA-11(SM5688's) SA-1(TDA1547's) Both are nice
The problem with the SA-1 is the "fancy" multiple dac
mixing circuit which they implemented with 4 TDA1547's.
Looks good on paper though mutes resolution and
transparency.
-The SA-11 contains a far better clocking circuit over the
SA-1.
-Output Stage-SA-11 has the edge here. Much better HDAm circuitry with reduced number of coupling caps. Simply more transparent and resolving.
-Power Supplies- Equally average at best. Both use discrete voltage regulation circuits for the analog HDAM circuits. Nothing great.
Drive- Edge goes to the SA-1. Only based off the mechanical side. It is more heavy duty.
Chassis- The SA-1 weighs more.
One more point- The modded SCD-1 also kills the stock SA-1 hands down.
Best regards,
Kyle Takenaga |
Don't take offense Lawyerman,but the SCD-1's construction is beyond reproach,even better than that of the SA-1.It might not be as pretty inside,but nothing on the market is better built than the SCD-1.And I've never heard that there was a consensus one was better than the other.The SA-1 having a warmer sound and SCD-1 a more detailed sound.The SCD-1 transport is still one of the better on the market and puts the SA-1's to shame,unless you consider that one of those inconsequential parts.Gary. |
another reason NOT to upgrade -
Because it is "a marantz"....which are NOT exactly know for their reliability..
they do make fantastic sounding cd/sacd players.. but there are too many horror stories and actual "personal" experiences' with transports
maybe the latest models wont run into the MULTIPLE problems of the previous models..time will tell
too bad marantz doesnt make a seperate dac....i would buy one in a heartbeat... |
btw,
would suggest a killer power cord and very good isolation that can be used when you change out... |
Phaelon, call David Schulte at the Upgrade Company. He will have a bunch of info regarding the new Marantz units plus other people you can call and talk to regarding the upgrades. Go and look at the review on the Linn Schulte modded CD12. There is a reason why this man went with the Upgrade Company and not Ram and it was not a money issue. Earflapin's system is over a 100k. You could get the same upgrades that went into the Linn for about $1500 and it is totally safe. I have an upgraded Marantz SA12s1 and it destroys the stock Marantz SA-1. Both the Sony scd1 and sa1 have rolled off highs and are flat compared to the upgraded units. The new Marantz units are very good so do not be fooled by the pricing. The new Marantz units outperform the older Marantz units after upgrading. Stock wise who cares! Marantz units also need a good power cord and vibration control. It is critical what they sit on, not good on there own feet. I use BDR cones and pucks on 1" maple wood. David has also upgraded a bunch of Esoteric gear including the X01's which are over rated. Theta compli and Denon 5910ci sound better after the same modifications are done. Maybe you can talk to that person who owned all of them. The X01 also had the master clock generator and still could not compete. Again don't let the prices fool you. The x01 and generator were sold. Also my Marantz does not have the Schulte Signature upgrades in it like the Linn does. I am waiting to see now what unit I want to go with, maybe seperates. I also have an upgraded Denon 2900 that is excellent. No problems what so ever! The results are huge after upgrades especially if your other gear is up to the task. Right now I am using Nuforce 9.02 amps and p8 pre along with JM LAbs electra 936's. By this time though you may have made your decision. No need to bother with the 3910.
Music Matters! |
I have a battery powered SCD-1 modeled on the RAM upgrades,plus some of my own mods, and have compared this head-to-head with a stock SA-1. The modded SCD-1 beats a stock SA-1 hands down my any measure.
Dave |
I don't really think so. I think they all have their strength and weakness. I was there with Dave when we did the comparison. In fact, I think the stock SA-1 performs really good when compared to the highly modded SCD-1. |
Jazzmeup, you have had the opportunity for months now in your shop to compare a stock SA-1 to your own SCD-1 modded with many SOTA Audiocom components as well as extensive replacement of piece parts in the Analog section. Please comment specifically on the relative merits of these two players. Are you saying after all this work is done that neither CDP surpasses the other? If after all this work modding and listening to incremental changes (some of which were considered quite dramatic at the time), you are only observing a "distinction without a difference," then perhaps it's not worth the trouble.... My perceptions were very different. |
