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.
Hey I see my name. Listening to my SA-10 right now.Playing CDs in a $40 bought on eBay five disc changer, to a $125 Toslink to the Marantz.Some folks think I am other people? I can't help if I seem to be "Where's Waldo" of the audio World. Fascinating to think I have Doppelgangers.
I think if the receiving device reclocks the signal it ’might’ be able to reduce the jitter. My stating this is only speculation from reading a few bits via Google (Not really reading in depth)It is an issue I do not care much about. (preferring to listen to the end result rather than speculate about stuff I do not deeply understand)And apparently is it easier to dejitter single bit data. like DSD. Also I was thinking further on the idea that a Woman has to be known who she is at all times (IE the A.A. moniker thing). So all the others there can be anonymous, but for some reason, folks freak out that a Woman wants to be anonymous? A few members there take great pleasure in claiming they ’found’ Elizabeth. Did that person do anything criminal? Fraud? no, just because they think she should be fully labeled, is all I can guess. NO one else there gets dragged out and labelled. So I assume it is some sort of Macho thing going on? Also, if I was doing that, why just there? Why not everywhere? You would have to ask the guys on A.A. who hunt for Elizabeth for some answer. I have none. LOL
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...
I have to say the main things I noticed are treble purity, big increase, no grunge. The attack, notes have better 'pop' into existence with the Sa-10.Mainly I play CDs. All the time. (I own 2500 Cds. and maybe a dozen SACD.CD dual discs. Plus I do not actually use the SA-10 transport! I am 'saving' it and I use the SA-10 as a DAC for usually a five disc CD changer via Toslink to the SA-10.(Though I also have a Technics DVD-A10 I use via SPDIF RCA, sometimes)Anyway the main thing is how different CDs can vary in quality. Something much more apparent than before. The worst 'bad' meaning I can tell they used 14 bit encoding or something, cheap microphones??.. And that there are 'superdisks' just like there are in LPs. Some are just amazing recordings. Detail, depth, amazing performance..Can hear each breath, every detail.. Others fuzzy, muffled. So the medium is much more a part of the process than ever before.
You got a great musical instrument. Good as the recording mastering and will rival vial any medium, including vinyl. Good power cord will only built upon it's performance. Give a few weeks to settle in and turn it on in the morning if you going to play it at night, weekends leave it on. Most of all enjoy.
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
I do not share the pessimism about CDs with blueranger. I would say only a very few CDs I own have bad HF sound. All the stuff about the HF, to me is the rest of the system, and perhaps lack of (correct??) power conditioning? I am 100% a high frequency nutcase. It HAS to be perfect! and I own Magnepan 20.7s. They have one of the very best HF transducers ever. Everything in my system is geared to perfect high frequency reproduction. EVERYTHING.And I can say the Marantz SA-10 delivers!!!! SO I suggest to blueranger his system is busted someplace else and not from the SA-10? (sorry, not meaning to cause any insult) I use a tube pramp as a ’glorified tube buffer. mainly at this point I just like the added warmth, and no longer to ’hide’ the digital grunge. But I first got it TO HIDE THE GRUNGE. years back.Cheap ones are not worth the trouble. I had used a VAC Standard, until it went dead, and now just got a Conrad Johnson ACT 2 as a fancy tube buffer. ADDED: Now I am not using new,Rock recordings with grunge bands... So it may be true about recent CD recordings.. I stopped listening to ’new’ music at some point.. I own so much great stuff I do not need to find new stuff..
roxy54, Sorry I did not read your question at earlier posting.I enjoy stuffing my five disc players and letting them play for many hours. I have done this since the late 80’s. The first thing I tested when I had a loaner Marantz SA-10 to audition from my dealer was to hook up the five disc! I played that via Toslink for a day, then I played a Technics DVDA-10 with Cd via SPDIF for a day, Then I played the few SACDs I owned and CDs via the SA-10 transport. Then went back to playing via the five disc/Toslink. The fact the SA-10 could play CDs so wonderfully from the five disc is THE REASON I BOUGHT IT. And of the 3 ways, the least good was the five disc. I could tell it was playing, but the loss is so small it just does not top the ease of use,(I would call the difference the same as swapping two nearly as good IC) plus saving the SA-10 transport. (saving the transport, If I plan on using the SA-10 as a DAC, it will NEVER wear out. never is a longer than rest of my life long) The Technics sits, I use it once in awhile to play a single disc now and then. It DOES sound slightly better than the $40 from eBay five disc changer...And the SA-10 playing CDs or SACDs sounds really nice. But NOT enough nicer to use it all the time, instead of the five disc changers (of which I own ten. Yup ten distinct CD five disc changers. I like them. They like me. I have a lifetime’ supply. No kidding. Obviously not all five disc changers are great as a transport. But I like the ones I have. They sound great Toslink out. used them that way for fifteen years at least. And no. I would not say which brands and models I use. I may want more of them???So the sound is nearly perfect ,and certainly can give me goosebumps if I run the signal through a tube preamp used as a glorified tube buffer. My current glorified tube buffer. (which does go to my main preamp, Bryston BP-26 which has the important task of powering the 7 meter XLR to my amp) is a Conrad Johnson ACT2. A $13,000 list Conrad Johnson ACT 2 as a tube buffer????? yes as a tube buffer, it adds that final tiny touch of life music needs to sound wonderful. Prior to the recently acquired ACT 2, I used a $4,500 list VAC Standard I had used for over seven years nonstop. (which sadly has had a power supply failure, leading me to find the ACT 2 for sale. I could have purchased a VAC Standard SE, but I decided to move up a notch. eventually the VAC may get repaired) I also own an Audio Research SP-15 I use just for the tubes phono section, with my Kuzma Stab/Stogi S turntable. And a Audible Illusions 3A I use for it’s phono with a Rega P5.Besides five disc changers, I like preamps. But only own five.So after reading all that.. Any questions??? (as I see head shaking slowly...)
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
90db? 100dB wow, I listen at 50db to (mainly playing opera arias max 80db), most of the time I am mid 50's to 60's high to low 70's dBs. ('C'weighted at ear).I need to listen quietly and make up for my youth playing loud in apartment buildings. Now I am in an 'over 55" apt building and all the other old bags would start gossiping if they were annoyed by any music they could hear through the walls. So mainly bass is the no no. One reason I chose Magnepan speakers is the bass seems to be less likely to go through the walls. The previous manager was here six years and said he never heard any music from my apartment! Anyway, I agree buying a pile of new stuff takes time to set it right. Do you have a power conditioner? My #1 favorite is my Furman REF20i. I bought it used here, and was able to go pick it up. Saved on shipping. Anyway I would be unhappy without it.
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