Sony SACD XA777ES V Apollo, Marantz 8003 HELP


I have a Sony SACD XA 777ES which I use for two channel CD listening. It is hooked to an Exposure 2010S with Cardas Neutral Reference ICs and Analysis Plus Oval 9 speaker cables. It is a beautiful machine and sounds great BUT I sometimes almost feel it lacks musciality or for lack of a better word "soul". I have started to use the optional filter setting as it gives a more vivid sound. it does not really do anything wrong. I has thinking about trying a Marantz 8001 or 8003, Rega Apollo, Or older Sonic frontier SFCD 1. Am I going backwards here or am I wrong? Anyone with experience withg these chime in. Thanks,keith
128x128geph0007
I own a Marantz 8001 and am not impressed with it. I use it for sacd only. It does not impress me on redbook cd.
A couple of observations.
The Sony is a very good player and can be upgraded.
European/British integrateds tend to be a little dry.
You don't mention the speakers involved?
Stereo5,
I'm interested and been looking in the 8001 for quite sometimes, for point of reference, what other units have you experienced or compared the 8001 to? Thanks Stereo5.