Marantz SA-10 Review (SACD Player & DAC)

[pablolie]

In this case, $7500 for ... the pleasure of "tactile use?" Not for me.

If you don't get it, cool.

We all hopefully know our passion for audio is not a rational thing for >99% of people out there. So IMO let's disagree in a zen way, but celebrate our irrationality.

 

[Chrispy]

If you don't get it, cool.

We all hopefully know our passion for audio is not a rational thing for >99% of people out there. So IMO let's disagree in a zen way, but celebrate our irrationality.

Still, $7500 for a limited optical disc player is probably for less than 1% by a good bit. Altho could make it feel more "exclusive"

 

[Zog]

They are for all practical reasons irrelevant. See my post here.

They are not irrelevant. Many people play SACDs.

 

[don'ttrustauthority]

Audibility is surpassed ? I know only 20hz -20khz human limit. Please post link for other limits.

amir says in the article:

Distortion is at -112 dB which makes it inaudible but again, is not competitive.

 

[skyfly]

Could you test "inter sample over"?

 

[anmpr1]

Heck, SACD players are rare these days on their own (esp outside of Japan). My guess is this is a competitive product for someone who is in the market for an SACD player.

Hen's teeth are pretty rare too, but I wouldn't pay more than the going price for a pound of chicken thighs for a bagful.

I think Amir's video conclusion was fair. If you need it, it's there, and will probably satisfy you, sonically, if you can afford it. But for the dollars, considering it's electrical performance, there's not much to be happy about.

What I don't really understand, in this marketplace, is the pretty uninspiring 'black box' cosmetics of the thing. You'd think that Marantz could have spruced up the outside a bit. It's not like they are giving it away. It has all the cosmetic appeal of a five hundred dollar AV receiver.

 

[Foulchet]

For aesthetics and the tactile/relaxed experience I purchased a Marantz CD6006 on sale and it was pretty much enough. Then it depends of how much money you have, I would not pay irrational loads of money (relatively to how much your incomes are of course) for a CD player.

However if I had to pay that much, I would not go for a model that essentially looks like entry level one (mabe not on the details, but on the overall look) provided that we know that sound will probbaly be the same or almost the same (I have no measurements but event without them adding a DAC if it is truly required to an entry-level CD player will be considerably less expensive).

 

[pinpoint_oxford]

Hen's teeth are pretty rare too

Supply and demand.

 

[dadregga]

Honestly, this isn't a bad price for what it is. An SACD player that allows you to use its DAC via USB is very rare. Heck, SACD players are rare these days on their own (esp outside of Japan). My guess is this is a competitive product for someone who is in the market for an SACD player.

*stereo-only SACD player, that measures worse than USB DACs that will play ripped SACDs in stereo or multichannel for a fraction of the cost, and with better measurements.

Paying $$$ for a fancy, feature-complete SACD player because you want to? - I get that.

Paying $$$ for a fancy SACD player that only plays half of the content on most SACDs released to date, that measures worse than options that will save you at least 5 grand? - that I don't get.

 

[srrxr71]

The question isn't "why buy a CD player" it's "why buy a $7,500 CD player".

You can buy a very well-made universal disc player that will give you at least equal performance to this Marantz unit for under $1,000. Might as well light the other $6,500 on fire for all the good it's doing you spending it on this player.

Oh come on. It’s like jewelry for audiofools. Ever paid thousands for a diamond? Might as well burn that cash too. A fool and his/her money…

 

[srrxr71]

SACDs are absolutely irrelevant in the same way that vinyl is, and CDs are.

But technical relevance doesn't necessarily have anything to do with actual cultural relevance, or what people want. See also:

- American muscle cars.
- Film-based cameras
- Video game consoles
- Music itself
- etc

Disagree on American “muscle” cars at least in the current generation. Both the Camaro and Mustang are running circles around their European counterparts. A ZL1 1LE Camaro tracks with Ferraris and Lambos. At $75k. The engineering that went into those is incredible.

 

[pma]

Nobody is forcing you to buy this thing, guys. I do not understand that level of indignation. Stay calmly with your Toppings and be happy .

 

[symphara]

*stereo-only SACD player, that measures worse than USB DACs that will play ripped SACDs in stereo or multichannel for a fraction of the cost, and with better measurements.

Paying $$$ for a fancy, feature-complete SACD player because you want to? - I get that.

Paying $$$ for a fancy SACD player that only plays half of the content on most SACDs released to date, that measures worse than options that will save you at least 5 grand? - that I don't get.

This piqued my interest - what DAC plays ripped SACDs in multichannel? I haven't seen anything outside AV receivers with this capability.

 

[staticV3]

This piqued my interest - what DAC plays ripped SACDs in multichannel? I haven't seen anything outside AV receivers with this capability.

The dac8 Pro should be capable of 8x DSD128, at least if I understand the manual correctly:

 

[firedog]

This piqued my interest - what DAC plays ripped SACDs in multichannel? I haven't seen anything outside AV receivers with this capability.

Exosound

 

[sabristol]

Hi @amirm. I recently took the time to rewatch your excellent video on Understanding FFT in Audio Measurements. Wishing to put some learning in to practice and just out of curiosity I'm using my somewhat cheaper QA401 to test an old Cambridge Audio DacMagic to see how it compares to this Marantz SACD. So I can do a meaningful comparison, for your DAC tests, what do you set your AP to for Fs, FFT length and dBfs? Many thanks.

 

[amirm]

Hi @amirm. I recently took the time to rewatch your excellent video on Understanding FFT in Audio Measurements. Wishing to put some learning in to practice and just out of curiosity I'm using my somewhat cheaper QA401 to test an old Cambridge Audio DacMagic to see how it compares to this Marantz SACD. So I can do a meaningful comparison, for your DAC tests, what do you set your AP to for Fs, FFT length and dBfs? Many thanks.

My pleasure. Fft length varies per measurement. Dashboard uses 32k with 3 times averaging. Jitter and multi tone use 256k and 8 times averaging.

 

[staticV3]

Jitter and multi tone use 256k and 8 times averaging.

The title of your jitter tests says "16 Averages"

 

[amirm]

The title of your jitter tests says "16 Averages"

The title wins over my memory.

 

[symphara]

Exosound

Thank you, that’s a very cool product, but it’s even more expensive than this Marantz!