Marantz SA7S1 owners - stock or modded

it is ironic that two people have such diametrically opposed views of the same component.
Mrtennis (Threads | Answers)

Not so ironic, IMO, as no other Audiogon contributor shares your viewpoint on any component that has ever been discussed, as far as I can recall.

Nothing wrong with that. People just have to consider the source when making judgments about how your opinion relates to their perspectives.

I find the SA7-S1 "relaxing" and easy listening for extended periods of time. It is not overly focused, clinical, or analytical.

IMO, owners of Audio Aero, Audio Research, and Cary will find the SA7-S1 quite enjoyable.

Wadia, Krell, and EMM owners may not.

I sell none of these products.

I found marantz sa11s1 very precise, overly focused and digital sounding comparing to my audio aero capitol reference se. some days i like marantz and some days i enjoy capitol. both are totally different sounding players.if you ask me to sell one player, i will sell marantz. i have not listened to sa7s1

You hit the nail on the head...the sound may change and you may not like it...note the sound changes does not make it better IMO.

Buy a new unit if you don't like the sound of your current unit. At least you can take the unit home and listen to it before you buy.

Your room is the #1 issue that needs care that will impact the over all sound of your system, more then speaker wire or interconnects.

I am still amazed that moving two ASC panels about 4" on each side wall behind the speakers could make the whole system shut down and dead sounding.

Work on your room before you judge your system or any piece of gear. The Marantz SA-7S1 is about dead natural what of the best sounding units ever made to date.

If you can afford it, you should be very happy with it.

hi phillyb:

i own a marantz 11s2. it has about 500 hours of signal fed through it, including 3 hours of the purist audio design break-in disk.

i find the sound of the marantz very precise, focused, somewhat mechanical and definitely unnatural. perhaps, it needs a tube analog stage or a replacement of some of the caps. it deininitely has a "hard" sound to it, rather than a nautural sound. i concur with masilu, re his observations. it is currently up for sale.