Marantz SA-10 Review (SACD Player & DAC)

[Russ_L]

SACD. Oppo 205, Oppo 205. Stereo, multichannel, spinning disc or USB input, all the way to DSD 512! Just bend over, drop your pants and pay $2,850 like I did. Terrific machine. Well worth the money. See Amir’s excellent review of the 205.

Russ

 

[Russ_L]

Guy in Canada asking $6,250 for a NIB 205.

Oppo Digital UDP-205 FACTORY SEALED 4K ULTRA HD Audiophile BLU-RAY DVD Player New in Box

OPPO UDP-205 4K UltraHD AUDIOPHILE Blu-Ray DVD PlayerFACTORY SEALED, NEW IN BOXFactory sealed unopened box is shown in photosPictures of unit are stock photosProduced and shipped by Oppo in September 2018 (last batch)Seller is original buyer, direct from Oppo Digital USAStored in a cool dry...

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Russ

 

[Helicopter]

It is just a shame this doesn't have 5.1 channel output for Pink Floyd DSOTM and similar stuff.

As it is, you can get a high end Sony BD player and a Denon AVR with pre outs for less.

 

[McFly]

Look, if it's genuinely well made internally and uses a quality transport mechanism, it's pretty good value for money for a statement CD/SACD player. The top machines have never been cheap.

My TOTL players from Sony cost nearly $3k, 32 years ago and the best Marantz in my collection was $6k in 1991. Those machines all still function and test perfectly due to their absolute battleship build quality. So 40 pounds (18kg) may mean some thick steel plates to add weight and it may mean uncompromising componentry and build, attention to detail and hopefully (in this case for the reviewed Marantz) longevity.

Agree with John on this one. The objective performance is fine, and if the build quality is good, there is a sort of pride of ownership with the Japanese made stuff still. There stuff from the 80s and into the 90s was hectically overengineered and most of it still works to this day. Someone with this kind of disposable income should not be disappointed with this CD player, at all. Its a bit like a Rolls-Royce - "adequate".

 

[Chrispy]

LOL,7k and no multichannel out...you gotta be kidding me

Let alone any multich capability. (which are the only sacds worth bothering with IMO)

 

[MaxBuck]

For the many reasons listed above I voted "poor."

Just don't see the point of this thing. Anyone who owns SACDs would be best advised to purchase high quality downloads to replace that content. Unlike turntables, there's no magic tactile thrill associated with CDs.

 

[eddantes]

I have an old Sherwood SD-860, that I use for the occasional CD/DVD/SACD... It cost about a $100 CAD. I wonder how much worse it is than a $7500 USD SACD player?

 

[aj625]

Marantz supposedly upsamples the incoming pcm signal to dsd and then use analog low pass filter. Isn't it ? May be that lends it some sound signature which is perceived as richer by some ?

 

[beefkabob]

Marantz supposedly upsamples the incoming pcm signal to dsd and then use analog low pass filter. Isn't it ? May be that lends it some sound signature which is perceived as richer by some ?

Maybe some people just fool themselves, or maybe all that high frequency noise screws up the speaker's performance.

 

[vkhong]

I thought the appeal of the SACD format is multi-channel analog information with lower SNR and higher headroom. A high-end CD deck (stereo) makes sense and the SACD compatibility was probably thrown in at the request of the marketing team. Perhaps the strengths of the SA-10 lie in areas of jitter free data retrieval and correction for the CD and SACD formats, or even high-quality direct-to-headphones listening (noticed the phones level control).

 

[Billy Budapest]

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All that copper used in the player has to be very expensive. But . . . why?

 

[aj625]

A dac as small as Chord mojo 2 can do wonders at much much lesser price. Reason ? Clean distortion less output.

 

[Billy Budapest]

SACD. Oppo 205, Oppo 205. Stereo, multichannel, spinning disc or USB input, all the way to DSD 512! Just bend over, drop your pants and pay $2,850 like I did. Terrific machine. Well worth the money. See Amir’s excellent review of the 205.

Russ

Jeez. I bought one at cost and thought that was expensive!

 

[aj625]

All that copper used in the player has to be very expensive. But . . . why?

Heavy chassis is popular amongst audiophile. Alas that money could have been spent on technology and design to refine the measured performance.

 

[aj625]

Btw I have seen marantz SA10 go for much lesser price than mrp.

 

[aj625]

Some dacs using internal pcm to dsd conversion are Marantz SA10, rockna wave dream and may be PS audio ( if I am correct ). What advantage they get by converting pcm to dsd and then low passing the stream through analog filter ? Other also oversample pcm to multi bit( instead of 1bit dsd) stream but they don't pass the stream through analog filter instead use "switches" to convert stream to analog. Any idea about the differences lent to sound by the two methods ?

 

[NiagaraPete]

Marantz is another brand that just should have been left dead.

 

[aj625]

Marantz is another brand that just should have been left dead.

Going on it's past reputation when equipments had more moving parts and heavier construction was considered as a sign of better longevity. These days dacs have no moving parts so don't require that heavier build and chassis but still many audiophiles like big and heavy equipments even if internal area is mostly empty.

 

[Chrispy]

For the many reasons listed above I voted "poor."

Just don't see the point of this thing. Anyone who owns SACDs would be best advised to purchase high quality downloads to replace that content. Unlike turntables, there's no magic tactile thrill associated with CDs.

Last time I tried a dsd download I just couldn't do much with my internet service at the time (dsl). Now that I've had increased bandwidth have been collecting multich sacds....are there any multich dsd/dsf downloads for multich of legacy content?

 

[MC_RME]

@amirm : how long does this unit need from closing the lid until playback of a standard CD starts?