In Reply to: MARANTZ SA-1: CD performance on par with $5,000 CDPs? posted by DKb on September 7, 2000 at 10:39:35:
After having the SA-1 on on home loan for three days, there was no question that I had to purchase it.SACD, as presented through the SA-1, offered me that lifelike continuity and emotional animation that I have worked in futility to attain for years through expensive upgrades and excrutiating tweaking that provided some degree of pain relief, but never cured the harsh flatness of digital. I feel I have just awakened from a horrible Nightmare.
In addition, I find CD playback of the SA-1 so incredibly better when compared directly with the EMC-1 and Meridian 508.24. For the CD players, subtle musical detail seemed to be loped off at the most subtle dynamic levels. It is these details that are needed to provide ambient cues and expressive nuance. With the SA-1, subtle nuances seem to project, hang and extend downwards into an endless abyss of silence. Not quite up to SACD level, but reaching towards it. The 16/44 data is also processed by the great sounding 1547 bitstream DAC that processes the DSD signals, which gives it that analog smoothness.
When first installed it, its cold performance is EXACTLY as described by other posts: pinched, dense, muddy. However, I do believe that transparent sounding equipment is not more immune to break-in and warm up, but even MORE SENSITIVE to such preparations.
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Follow Ups
- MARANTZ SA-1 is irresistable. - Dkb 09/9/0010:48:35 09/9/00 (0)