Marantz SA-10 arriving Monday!

I usually purchase the sacd's if the price gap isn't too great.  They do sound better, not vastly better, but noticeable.

d2girls, I would say the difference between SACD and CD is all in the player.
With the Marantz SA-10 the difference is made even smaller than usual. Since the decoding of the CDs is done with DSD also.One of the main reasons I BOUGHT the $7000 Marantz SA-10 is to play a LOT of regular CDs. (I only own a few SACDs, but own over 2,500 CDs)I never liked SACD due to the strange effect of they have no ’background’. As if the music flows out of a Black Hole... Instead of a room. Some folks love that effect. I do not. So I stayed away from SACD. The Marantz SA-10 playing regular CDs does not ’do’ that to the CDs it plays. So IMO the effect is in the mastering? not the playback.And not the playback of CDs using DSD.So for the few SACDs I own that are dual disc, no difference worth shouting out about. And I have no plans to buy any SACDs. CD is fine by me.

blueranger

have you reached the 1st 100-hour mark of listening time

Happy Listening!

Well over a hundred hours. Got it July 30th. It's been running 80 percent of the time. I've been out recovering from surgery since June 29th. Listening maybe 4-6 hours a day. It's sound is captivating. It will draw you in. I found myself listening to the same CD twice in a row many times. The sound just makes listening pleasurable. I tried some badly made discs and even though it didn't transform them it took a large part of the stridency out. An example of some great discs are Victory at Sea by Telarc is awesome. The Theme from Shaft (80s version) is also superb. 

blueranger

Thanks! for sharing. I am looking forward in reading more as you accrue several more hundred hours on this player.

Happy Listening!